Locomotive explosion--Loss of life.
--A few days ago the locomotive Franklin
exploded on the Pacific Railroad of Missouri
, causing the death of two men, the engineer and fireman.
The train moved out of the station, and had proceeded as far as the "switch" when an explosion was heard, resembling a double discharge of the guns of a heavy battery; a moment sufficed to establish the cause of the terrific occurrence, the massive machine being shattered into a thousand pieces, and driven in all directions.
So great was the vibration caused by the explosion, that not only the panes of glass in the passenger cars in the rear, but those in many of the dwellings situated at a considerable distance, were broken.
One piece of the machinery, weighing over three hundred pounds, was precipitated a distance of a quarter of a mile, whilst other portions were shattered to atoms.--St. Louis Rep.