This was quite a story, on April 16, 1886. It had it all — an explosion, death, and destruction. The Phoenix devoted a full column to it, and even provided a small illustration showing the path of the flying boiler. I’ll get you started with the introduction to the story, and then provide a link if you’d like to read the full account.
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“Last Tuesday afternoon at about 20 minutes past three the boiler at J. A. Church’s general wood-work factory and grist mill on Frost street burst with a terrific explosion, the result of which was the entire destruction of the one-story engine-house attached to the main shop, the partial wrecking of the rear portion of the main building, serious injury to R.D. Brown’s barn, the killing of a valuable horse, and the shaking up of things generally in that vicinity. The boiler was driven, end over end, over the two-story store-house in the rear of the foundry, striking on one end in R.D. Brown’s garden about 260 feet away. The huge shell then rebounded and crashed through the side of the barn, killing a horse belonging to Myron L. Corbett of Bernardston, hitched outside, and barely missing a valuable bull in the barn, which was crowded up into its stall and extricated with difficulty. Corbett’s horse was struck in the neck and killed almost instantly.
H.W. Simonds and Mr. Corbett had just come out of the barn and were standing within half a dozen feet of where the boiler struck; they saw the huge missile coming through the air, but were spell-bound as they say and unable to move, though both expected to be hit. Both were covered with dirt, and as soon as the boiler had landed in a firm position and the danger was over they recovered from their “spell” and ran as if for dear life. The barn was moved several inches by the force of the blow.”
Can you imagine? A flying boiler coming over the second story of a house, right at you?
Read on at:
http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn98060050/1886-04-16/ed-1/seq-2/
There is also an interesting story about the meeting regarding the Soldiers Monument, if you have additional time.
