Stay Away From A Squib Factory... Just Sayin'....

So I run across this while searching for info on a John Moss:

Fatal Explosion

Ok - I read it, and it's quite sad really. I set out to find a few more articles which I present to you, they may be a bit graphic in explanation.

What is a squib? Well it's used as a longer fuse in mining:

Powell's Squibs.... well this is ironic

EXCELSIOR SQUIB FACTORY EXPLOSION -

Oct 24 1883

Fatal Explosion
Nine Little Girls Burned to Death in Pennsylvania Squib Factory

Wilkes-Barre, PA Oct 23
An explosion took place this afternoon at J. H. Smith's squib factory, in Kingston. At the time of the accident nine girls were at work. Five are reported burned to a crisp, and the other four seriously injured and cannot recover. The cause of the explosion is unknown.

Wilkes-Barre, PA Oct 23
The people of Kingston were startled this afternoon by a loud explosion, and it was soon learned that the Excelsior squib factory had been torn to pieces and eight children employed there blown out with the flying timbers in every direction. No one appears to know the exact cause of the explosion, but it is believed they had been burning wood in the stove and a spark was blown out of the stove and fired the kegs of powder. The children, ranging from eleven to sixteen years, all are seriously injured. Mattie James, whose body is crisp and filled with powder, is dying; Mary Quinn, blackened and burned to a crisp, will die; Hattie Moss, who has her feet burned and was blown into the creek, will recover; John Evans was so badly burned that he has since died; James Steele, burned to a crisp, will die; Lizzie Edwards was seriously burned, but may recover; Mamie Morris is a terrible mass of scarified flesh, dying; John James, terribly burned, may recover. It is expected that four of the injured will die before morning.
Later - Mamie Morris and Mattie James died to-night.

(There seems to be some discrepancy with names here)

A Fatal Explosion
Wilkesbarre, Penn Oct 23
The little town of Kingston, about two miles from this place, was this afternoon the scene of a terrible explosion, by which seven young persons were fatally burned, two having since died. The names of the dead are Mattie James and Hattie Norris, and the injured are Lizzie Edwards, James Steele, Albert James, Mary Moss, Lizzie Quinn and John Evans. The factory was situated in the western part of the borough, and consisted of one frame building about 40 x 30. At the time of the explosion the proprietor, John Smith, was absent, the work being in charge of Mattie James. How the explosion was caused is impossible as yet to say, but about 2 o'clock the neighbors were startled by three loud explosions in rapid succession, which made the ground tremble and broke every window within a circuit of 300 yards. The terrified women living in the adjacent  houses  rushed from their shaking tenements, dragging their children after them. On turning their eyes toward the factory, which stood about 50 yards from the nearest house a terrible scene presented itself. The force of the explosion had torn off the roof of the building and blown out one side, while flames and smoke were pouring from every portion of the wrecked structure.
Through the blinding smoke the blazing forms of the unfortunate victims were seen to stagger, shrieking wildly in their agony. A small creek runs within 10 yards  of the factory, and two girls were seen to rush down the bank and endeavor to extinguish their burning clothing  by plunging into the stream. Willing hands were soon at work helping them. They were found to be Hattie Norris and Lizzie Edwards, both about 19 years old. They were terribly burned, there being scarcely a portion of their bodies not burned to a crisp. Hattie Norris died within an hour, and Lizzie Edwards cannot live til morning. One boy, John Evans, about 15 years old, was found on the other side of the creek, where it is supposed he had been blown by the explosion. He was fatally burned. Mattie James, aged 20, the forewoman, was found a blazing heap in a field 20 yards from the factory. Her clothing was burned and her body charred almost beyond recognition. She was removed to her home, but died about 4:30 o'clock. James Steele and Albert James, two young lads about 15 years old, were found near the building half buried in the burning ruins. They were both fearfully burned, but James Steele will probably recover, having no serious injuries except to his legs and feet; Albert James, a brother of Mattie James was burned principally on the head and chest cannot survive. Mary Moss, aged 18, ran toward the creek, but fell before she reached it. When picked up, her clothing was blazing. She is terrible burned on the head and body and will probably die before morning. Lizzie Quinn, aged 16, dragged herself, all blazing to a neighbors fence. Willing hands helped her over and soon extinguished the flames, but her injuries are very severe, and there is little hope of her recovery.
In the confusion of the moment it was reported that three or four more were within the blazing building, and a scene of terrible excitement ensued. A chain was formed to the creek and pails of water passed from hand to hand and flung upon the flames . Others sought to tear down the building with poles and ladders, while many of the women who had gathered around the spot fainted with the heat and excitement and were hurried off by their friends. It was finally discovered that all the inmates had been rescued and the useless effort to quench the flames was abandoned. The sad accident has cast a deep gloom over the community. All the injured persons resided in the immediate vicinity and were well known in by nearly everyone in Kingston. They are all of respectable families, and the two young women whose deaths are announced were daughters of well to do parents and were both reckoned among the beauties of the town. The suffering of the injured is terrible and several of them are praying for death to put an end to their unbearable agony. How the explosion was caused cannot be exactly ascertained, but it is thought that a spark flew out of the stove, into which some wood had been put into some loose powder the squibs are made of powder and straw and are used by miners as slow matches in firing their blasts. It is claimed by the owner of the factory that there was not more than 20 pounds of powder in the building, but the terrible force of the explosion seems to indicate a larger quantity. The factory had only been working for about five months, the process being one newly invented by Mr. Smith. It was by the purest accident that the work was being carried on in that building to-day a larger one is being built, and had it not been for the sickness of a man who was completing the internal decorations, the factory would have been removed two days ago. This makes the second fatal accident in Kingston within a month, the disaster at the Woodward mine occurring just 30 days ago.

Wilkesbarre, PA Oct 24
Hattie Moss, another victim of the squib factory explosion, died this morning. Lizzy Edwards is slowly sinking, and her death is expected at any moment. It is though by the physicians that the other victims cannot possibly survive many hours. They are suffering the most excruciating pain. The funerals of Mary Morris and Hattie Moss will take place to-morrow. Mary Quinn will be buried on Friday from St. Mary's Church, in this city. The disaster has cats a gloom over the entire community. The dead now number four; Hattie Moss, Mary Quinn, Mary Morris and Hattie James.

Oct 25 Wilkesbarre, PA
The funerals of the three little girls, Mattie James, Hattie Moss, and May Morris, who died from injuries received by the explosion at the squib factory in Kingston on Tuesday, took place this afternoon. The work was generally suspended in the mines, and the bodies were followed to the graves by immense throngs of people. The remarks of the clergyman were very touching. Lizzie Edwards, the fourth victim, died last night a little after 12 o'clock, and but little hopes are entertained for the recovery of the others.

Well this being bad enough, upon investigation I found a monument erected to those who died in the Squib Factory Explosion - but what is this? These are not the same names. I don't understand... oh I see - This is a monument to those who died in the 1889 squib factory explosion in Plymouth! Not the 1883 squib factory explosion in Kingston. - (Which mind you is a 6 minute drive from Plymouth to Kingston)


POWELL SQUIB FACTORY EXPLOSION -
[Here's a link to the monument on Find a Grave: Powell Squib Mill Memorial]

Feb 26 1889
Nine Killed - Thirteen Injured

Wilkes-Barre, PA Feb 25
A terrible explosion occurred in a squib factory, at Plymouth, in which nine girls were burned to death and thirteen others seriously injured. The squib factory was that of J. S. Powell, employing many women and boys. Following are the names of the nine girls, who were burned to a crisp: Katie Jones, Hattie Jones, Maggie Lynch, Goldie Reese, Mary Walker, Maggie Richards, Mary Lake, Ruth Powell and Esther Powell. George Reese was blown through the window of the building and fatally injured. Eight bodies had been recovered up to 3:30 p.m. and it is reported that four girls are yet missing.

A Horrible Explosion
A Squib Factory Blown Up, Killing a Number of Girls
An Appalling Accident
Pittsburg, Feb 25 - A Wilkes-Barre(Pennsylvania) special says:

A terrible explosion occurred in a squib factory at Plymouth, Nine girls were burned to death, and thirteen seriously injured.
LATER - It is now reported that nine women and two boys are killed. The cause of the explosion has not been learned. Everything about the scene of the wreck is confusion and excitement. The squib factory was that of  J. S. Powell, employing many women and boys.
Following are the names of nine girls who were burned to a crisp:
Kate Jones
Hattie Jones 
Maggie Lynch 
Goldie Reese 
Mary Walker
Maggie Richards 
Mary Lake
Ruth Powell 
Esther Powell
George Reese was blown through a window of the building and fatally injured. Eight bodies had been recovered up to 3:30 p.m.
It is reported that four girls are yet missing.

Wilkesbarre, Pa., Feb 25
A terrible disaster occurred at Plymouth, a few miles from here, this afternoon, by which the souls of ten girls and one man were hurled into eternity. Back of the Gaylord shaft stood the factory of John Powell, used for the manufacture of squibs, used by the miners in loosening coal in the mines. The factory employed eighty-four girls, ranging from 12 to 20 years and several male workmen. While the majority of the girls were at their home eating dinner, the people were startled by the deafening thunder of a terrific explosion. They rushed, terror-stricken, to the doors and windows and in the distance saw clouds of smoke ascending from the squib factory. Soon a large crowd had gathered around and the women began wringing their hands and the men turned away from the sight presented. When the charred body of a young girl was seen lying in one of the rooms and the fact became known that at least twenty persons were in the building at the time of the explosion eating their noon-day lunch, the feeling was fraught with terror as the girls, some of them bleeding, others gasping for a few breaths of fresh air, rushed to the widows and screamed frantically for help. About this time a dozen miners from the adjoining colliery came upon the scene and as soon as they saw the bleeding forms of the girls calling for aid, rushed toward the building in a body, but fate prevented their proffered succor. As soon as they stepped near the door another terrible explosion took place and the entire building collapsed, burying in the ruins, the forms that a moment before stood crying for assistance.
The men, when the smoke and flying debris had settled, rushed among the ruins, and one by one the bodies were found and taken out, charred beyond recognition, bleeding and mangled. As mothers saw and recognized some familiar token or piece of dress by which they could tell their loved ones, the scene was one that represented the extreme throes of sorrow and destruction. The bodies as fast as they were taken out, were removed to an undertaking establishment, where they were placed in a row. Their features were so badly mutilated that they were scarcely recognizable.
The killed, so far as known, are:
Kate Jones, aged 18; 
Maggie Lynch, aged 21; 
Hettie Jones, aged 16; 
Gladys Reese, aged 15; 
Mary Walters, aged 17; 
Maggie Richards, aged 17; 
Mary A. Lake, aged 17; 
Ruth Powell, aged 19; 
Esther Powell, aged 22; 
Jane Ann Thomas, aged 16, 
Charlette Humphries, aged 18
John Powell, the proprietor, was badly injured. Business in the town of Plymouth stands still and a death-like pall hangs over the community. Several kegs of powder caused the explosion, but how they were exploded is, as yet, a mystery.
There were three stoves in the building. It is stated that on several occasions the girls, in order to have a little fun, would place powder in the stove just to see it shoot off. The proprietor of the factory claims that no powder was kept in the building, but was procured from a magazine 100 yards away when wanted.

Mar 7, 1889

Blown into Eternity

Eleven Lives Lost in an Explosion in a Squib Factory

Wilkes-Barre, Penn Feb 25

[A majority of the beginning of this article reads exactly like the one above so I'm just going to add the contents that are different enough to add on to]

The bodies as fast as they were taken out, were removed to an undertaking establishment, where they were placed in a row. Their features were so badly mutilated that they were scarcely recognizable. The cause of the explosion is a mystery. Reese says that the squibs piled in the box must have exploded from spontaneous combustion. He says he never allowed any large quantity of powder in the building. When powder was wanted it was taken from the magazine 100 yards away. Experts, however, claim that there must have been powder in the building or the force of the explosion would not have been so great. 

There were three stoves in the building. It is stated that on several occasions the girls, in order to have a little fun, would place powder in the stove "just" to see it shoot off. Another theory advanced for the explosion is that a pot of sulfur on the stove, which was used to dip squibs into, must have boiled over and ignited some loose powder, which fired the kegs. 

The scenes around the undertaker's establishment, where bodies of the victims were taken, were heartrending. Eleven bodies lay there, headless, armless, and legless. From pieces of scorched clothing and small buttons the victims were identified.

Feb 27 1889

The Bodies Identified

Wilkesbarre, PA., Feb 26

All bodies of victims at the Squib Factory, or what remains of them, have been identified except one, a girl of 14 or 16 years. It is said she was a stranger and came to the factory for work. No one in Plymouth is missing. The coroner's jury met to-day and proceeded to the residences of the Foreman Reese, who was so badly injured that his life is despaired of. In his statement Reese said:

"During the forenoon the proprietor of the factory came in and told the girls as they were not busy, they should sort a lot of loose squibs lying on the floor, some of which were loaded and others empty. The girls began to sort the squibs, and Kate Jones picked out what she considered the poor ones, or those that were empty and threw them into a stove. One of them happened to be loaded and it exploded, a spark igniting a lot of loaded squibs, lying near. The explosion followed, and the first thing I knew I was lying in a field outside."

Reese was the only witness examined today. Another pertinent fact was the presence in the building of two more kegs of powder than the borough ordinance allows.

Mar 17 1889

Dying Confession

Pittsburgh, Mar 16

George Reese, foreman of the squib factory at Plymouth, which exploded, killing ten girls, made a confession before dying that it was he, not Kate Jones, who caused the explosion. He was smoking a pipe in the basement, when a spark flew into a powder keg.

So that's pretty bad - two squib factory explosions in the 1880's ... at least they waited 15 years for the next one! Another factory that more girls were killed in, and still not that far from the other two. This one was in Dickson City[used to be known as Priceburg]. Just YIKES.

Try to find one and I find 3. Three!

DICKSON SQUIB FACTORY EXPLOSION -

Mar 31, 1904

Fourteen are Killed

In an Explosion in a Squib Factory at Scranton and Factory is Wrecked

Scranton, PA, Mar 31

Through an explosion in a squib factory at Priceburg, a few miles from Scranton today, fourteen girls were killed, a majority of them being so badly mangled that it was with great difficulty that they were identified.

Six bodies have already been taken from the building.

The explosion, it is thought, was caused by one of the girls throwing squibs into the stove.

LATER - The number of dead is uncertain and is estimated at from six to thirteen, while five are fatally burned. The building was wrecked.

Mar 31, 1904

Explosion in Factory Near Scranton Causes Disaster 

Wounded Victims Burned Alive. 

Scranton, .Pa., March 31.

Six persons were killed and five injured, some of them fatally in a terrific explosion in the Dickson Squib company's factory at Priceburg, shortly after 11 o'clock this morning. Five of the dead are girls and the other a little boy who lived with his parents over the factory. All of the bodies have been moved from the factory. 

List of the Dead: Bessie Lewis, Providence; Lizzie Mahon, Dickson City; Lizzie Bray, Dickson City; Thomas & Mary Callahan, also the children of Thomas Callahan, Dickson City.

The injured are: Oscar Asher, foreman; Cassie Ealls, Dickson City. 

In the borough exists there today, and heartrending scenes are witnessed on every hand. Distracted mothers and other relatives of the dead workers are wailing through the street inquiring for the fate of their children. 

Only Two Escaped. 

It is thought that only a few of the twenty-five or more girls employed in the factory escaped uninjured. One family named Callahan, composed of father, mother and three children, living in an upstairs part of the demolished building were all killed. Two of the dead girls were blown out of the window and their remains picked up fifty yards away. The cause of the explosion is not yet known. When the shock came, the whole borough was shaken and windows broken in nearly every building. 

Wounded Are Cremated. 

Soon after the explosion, flames burst out from the ruins and the cries of the dying and wounded could be heard in the debris. Many of the girls on the lower floors rushed out, their hair and clothing aflame. Many of the dead and dying could be seen from the street pinned down with heavy timbers and being consumed with the flames, the fire alarm was sounded and hurried calls were sent to the local drug store aid and the physicians of the borough who administered to the suffering girls. The fire was soon under control and shortly after 12 o'clock the first bodies were taken from the ruins. Four in all were taken out. They were burned  beyond recognition. The work of searching for other bodies is still going on. 

Apr 1, 1904

Hoyden's Prank Hurls Six to Sudden Death

Girl Throws Squib Into Stove and the Explosion Wrecks and Sets Factory Ablaze

Scranton, Pa., March 31.—

Six persons were killed and five fatally injured by an explosion In the factory of the Dickson Squib company at Priceburg near here today. The dead are: 

Lizzie Bray, Priceburg 

Beckie Lewis, North Scranton 

Lizzie Matthews, Oliphant

George Callihan, Priceburg

Teresa Callihan, Priceburg

Lillian Mahon, Priceburg. 

Twenty girls were employed in the factory. What caused the explosion is not known but it is said that one of the girls threw a squib into a stove and that the force of the explosion was so great that it wrecked the building and set fire to it. The squibs are used in coal mining.

Apr 1, 1904

Squib Explosion Kills Six.

Five Persons also Fatally Hurt in Mining Town Accident.

Scranton, Penn., March 31.

Six persons are known to have been killed and five fatally injured by an explosion in the factory of the Dickson Squib Company at Priceburg, near here, to-day. The dead are LIZZIE BRAY, Priceburg; BECKIE LEWIS, North Scranton; LIZZIE MATTHEWS, Olyphant; GEORGE CALLAHAN, Priceburg; TERESA CALLAHAN, Priceburg, and one other.

What caused the explosion is not known, but it is said that one of the girls threw a squib into a stove, and that the force of the explosion was so great that it wrecked the building and set it on fire. The squibs are used in coal mining.

The Dickson Squib Company occupied only the first floor of the structure, the Callahan family having rooms on the second floor, where the two Callahan children lost their lives. Thomas Callahan, their father, was at work, and Mrs. Callahan had just left the room when the explosion occurred. The children aged three years and six months, respectively, were playing on the floor, and both were instantly killed.

The building caught fire and the flames communicated to two adjoining buildings, one occupied as a hotel and the other as a butcher's shop, and both were destroyed. The bodies of the dead were so badly burned that it was with great difficulty that they could be recognized.

Apr 6, 1904

Twenty-Five Girls Lose Their Lives

Scranton, Pa., March 31

Twenty-five girls lost their lives this morning through the explosion of Dickson's squib factory at Priceburg. Bodies of the victims were found blocks away from the scene of the disaster. Scores of other girls were wounded. Cause of explosion unknown.