Allegheny County PA Archives- Obituaries: Flatly, John, & McGuff, P., 20 Oct 1890 Contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by: Martha Little, , Apr 2010 Copyright 2010. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/allegheny/ ________________________________________________ from The Pittsburgh Press dated Monday, October 20, 1890 (page 1): TERRIFIC EXPLOSION Shortly before 11 o'clock this morning, Engine No. 1, belonging to the Monongahela Connecting railway, exploded in the yards connected with Eliza furnace, on Second avenue, killing two men and causing dangerous injuries to two others. The engine was pushing an empty train of cars along the siding near the casting house of this furnace when the explosion occurred. The force was so terrific that the engine reared up on end, and remained in that position. The jacket of the boiler was torn in fragments, and the pieces and scalding water were scattered in every direction. The fireman, P McGUFF, was hurled against the brick side of the casting house and instantly killed. The engineer, John FLATLY, was blown into the Monongahela river, a distance of fully 300 feet. His body has not yet been recovered. The other two men who were on the train were so severely injured that it is doubtful if they can recover. (.....) The names of the injured were James FORAKER, 50 years of age, and Joseph HARRIS. Both of them were cut and scalded about the head and face. Engineer FLATLY was 30 years of age, single and lived on Forward avenue with his mother. McGUFF, the fireman, was 21 years of age, single and lived on Greenfield avenue. He had a brother killed at the same works about one year ago. (...) "But what perplexes me on this theory is that both the men killed were sober and trustworthy. It has been suggested that the men, or one of them may have been drinking Sunday, and that his mind might not have been very clear but this was not so. FLATLY had been in the employ of Jones & Laughlin since he was a boy - about 14 years. To show you the kind of man he was he had several Scriptural texts hung up in the frame of his cab. Usually fancy pictures decorate the cabs of locomotives. McGUFF was also a sober and reliable young man. When an engineer or fireman is known to drink he is discharged." (...) from The Pittsburgh Press dated Tuesday, October 21, 1890 (page 7): The Body Not Yet Recovered The body of John FLATLY, who was killed by the explosion of the engine at the Eliza furnace, on Second avenue, yesterday, has not yet been recovered from the river, into which it was blown by the force of the explosion. The coroner has sworn in a special jury that will hold the inquest upon the body of P McGUFF, the fireman killed at the same time, as soon as the necessary witnesses can be secured. McGUFF - Suddenly, on Monday morning, October 20, 1890, at 10 o'clock, Thomas, son of Ann and the late Thomas McGUFF, in his 21st year. Funeral from his mother's residence, Greenfield avenue, Twenty-third ward, on Wednesday morning at 8:30 o'clock. High mass of requiem at St Stephen's church, Hazelwood, at 9 am. Friends of the family are respectfully invited to attend. from The Pittsburgh Press dated Wednesday, October 22, 1890 (page 7): The Locomotive Explosion Coroner McDowell this afternoon commenced the inquest on the body of Peter McGOUGH, killed by the explosion of the locomotive at the Eliza furnace. A number of mechanical experts were called, and the inquest was still in progress when this report closed. from The Pittsburgh Press dated Monday, November 10, 1890 (page 2): The inquest on the body of John FLATLEY, the engineer that was killed in an explosion at Eliza furnace on Oct. 17 (sic), was held. The jury brought in a verdict of accidental death. (under an article titled, The Coroner Busy) from The Pittsburgh Press dated Monday, November 10, 1890 (page 4): Found At Last The body of John FLATLY, the engineer of the locomotive which exploded at the Eliza furnace on Oct. 17 (sic), was found yesterday morning at McKees Rocks. It was found in the river by Thomas CONNERS and Thomas SPROUT, who were out skiff riding. The body was blown over the Eliza furnace casting house, which is over 50 feet high, and then into the river, a distance of 200 feet. from The Pittsburgh Press dated Monday, February 2, 1891 (page 1): AN ILL-FATED FAMILY The death of James FLATLEY, who was run over and killed by a train on the Baltimore & Ohio road at Laughlins station, last night, is the third of a series of strange fatalities that seems to have been following the FLATLEY family for several months past. The strangest part of it all is that the three fatal accidents have all occurred at Laughlins station. In October last John FLATLEY was caught between two cars running on a switch at the Eliza furnace and instantly killed. He was a brother to the man killed last night. A few days later, another John FLATLEY, a cousin, was caught in a boiler explosion at the Eliza furnace and blown into the river. His body was recovered a week or two later at McKees Rocks. This is the strangest series of accidents that ever went on the coroner's record in this county. All of the men were well known mill workers. from the City of Pittsburgh Death Records: John FLATLEY, aged 32 years, single, railroad engineer, died on October 20, 1890, due to a locomotive explosion; was born in Pittsburgh; buried in Calvary Cemetery on November 10, 1890; his body was found in the Ohio River at McKees Rocks on November 8, 1890.