THREE MEN KILLED
EXPLOSION OF A SAWMILL BOILER SIX MILES FROM MUNCIE

One Man Is Not Expected to Survive His Injuries and Three Others Are Severely Wounded

Special to the Indianapolis Journal.
MUNCIE, Ind., March 23-The sawmill of James Nickum, six miles sounthwest of Muncie, was
wrecked by the explosion of it's boiler at 5 o'clock this afternoon. Three men were killed,
one is not expected to live til morning, anf three others were injured. The list follows:

-The Dead-
THOMAS SULLIVAN, a farmer, forty-six years old. Left a widow and five children.
CLIFFORD VAN BUSKIRK, brother of the engineer, eighteeen years old, decapitated.
MARION CAREY, farmer, left a widow and six children: half-pound brass cup buried in his skull.

-Expected to Die
Alonzo Van Buskirk, engineer, has a wife and two children; skull crushed and both arms broken.

-Others Injured-
JAMES DRAGSTRIM, sixty-eight years old, no family; shoulder crushed and arm broken.
JAMES M'CREARY, head cut, leg broken and suffered internal injuries.
WILL GREEN, twenty-four years old, head cut and leg broken.

The feed pump for the boiler broke while a full head of steam was on, and this caused the explosion.
The engineer and proprietor had just discovered the trouble, and Nickum had gone to the blacksmith
shop to have the necessary repairs made. This saved his life, but the building in which he was was
buried in debris. The engineer was the only man in the mill, the others being engaged at two wagons
in the yard. The four horses were knocked down and two of them stripped of harness, but none were
injured. The boiler split in three pieces, which went in as many directions, falling 100 to 300 yards
distant. One piece knocked down a chimney on Nathan Dunn's house, across the road, the bricks falling
all around his three children, who were playing in the yard. The injured engineer was found close to
the boiler room. Parts of his skull have been removed to-night, and he has rallied somewhat, but he
cannot live til morning. The body of his brother was lying near him. The head was severed from the body
which was badly mutilated. The body of Mr. Sullivan lay near his wagon, also terribly crushed. Marion
Carey was not instantly killed, but died at 10 o'clock tonight. Had the accident happened a few minutes
later twenty or more school children would have benn playing around the mill. The property loss is $1,500,
with no insurance. The location is a 500-acre farm belonging to Professor Bell, late editor of the
Indiana School Journal, of Indianapolis.
[The Indianapolis (Indiana) Journal, March 24, 1900]