Craven County NcArchives News.....James City Boiler Explosion 1904 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/nc/ncfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Connie Ardrey n/a February 16, 2008, 10:54 pm Charlotte Observer 1904 19 Jan 1904 Seven Meet Instant Death - Boiler Explodes at James City Newbern, Jan. 18 - This morning about 9:30 o'clock the citizens of the town of James City, just across the river from Newbern, were thrown into a state of intense excitement by the loud report of what seemed to them to be that of a tremendous cannon in their midst. Upon inquiry it was soon found that the boiler in the mill of S.E. Sullivan had exploded, destroying the mill and killing seven people instantly. Six of them worked in the mill, and a woman had just arrived with her father's breakfast. All killed were colored. There was fifteen hands on duty when the explosion occurred. The mill had just stopped at the time of the accident to have some repairs made to a belt, and the day being a cold one, most of the hands were in the fire room, hence the great loss of life. There were two men on the northeast side of the boiler doing repairs to the belt, and they escaped without any injury at all. All the bodies have been recovered except that of Sidney Pritchard and it is thought that he was blown into Trent River. James Smallwood and his daughter were so mutilated by the explosion that they could be identified only by the clothing on their bodies. The mill and machinery is a complete wreck. The names of those who were killed are: George Blount, fireman; William Sparrow, Sandy Smithwick, Sidney Pritchard, Sam Neal, James Wood and his daughter, Mary Eliza Smallwood. File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/nc/craven/newspapers/jamescit203gnw.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/ncfiles/ File size: 2.0 Kb