User:Mcabrejo/Fales & Gray Car Works Explosion

Intro:

On March 2, 1854, at around 2 pm, a steam boiler exploded at the Fales and Gray Car Works factory in Hartford, Connecticut. The direct cause of this explosion is still debated to this day. Contemporary witnesses and experts debated whether the explosion resulted from a faulty steam boiler or worker negligence. The steam boiler in question had been replaced a month before the explosion. The blast resulted in the death of 21 workers, 9 of whom were killed instantly, and a further 40 workers sustained injuries. The medical response to this event was so poor that it inspired the founding of Hartford Hospital.

Background:

Fales and Gray Car Works was a thriving enterprise that employed approximately 300 people and was located near the Connecticut River on Potter Street. Due to its proximity to Front Street, which contained various saloons, it was common for laborers to enjoy a midday drink during their lunch break. The steam boiler that had caused the explosion was new, replacing an older model only one month before the blast. The older model was often rigged with lead weights hung from the safety valve to keep the machine working regardless of potential hazards. The newer model had five flues, which expedited the process and worked the water very quickly. This meant that if it was left unattended for too long the boiler could produce more steam than expected and cause an explosion. When steam pressure exceeds the capacity of the boiler it explodes. At this time, there was a Joint Regulatory Agency which regulated steamboats and was effective in reducing steamboat explosions. However, the stationary steam engines operating in factories remained unregulated. It took a decade after the Fales and Gray Explosion for Connecticut to pass a boiler-inspection law.

Explosion:

Fales and Gray Car Works was responsible for constructing railroad cars. John McCune was the man in charge of operating this boiler that morning and afternoon. However, he had left for a midday meal at a Front Street saloon around noon, in which he had a few alcoholic beverages with a friend. Upon returning to operating the boiler he had engaged in conversation with a local printer named William Skinner. Skinner had entered the factory, which was against company rules, to have a conversation with McCune which had only served to further distract an already impaired McCune. The blast resulted in bodies and limbs flying through the air, most burned far beyond recognition. Families surrounded the scene in search of their loved ones but were unsuccessful in finding them due to the sheer brutality caused by the explosion.

Witnesses described the scene before them, explaining the damage done to the bodies of the workers, which left them unrecognizable. A pamphlet from the period explained:

“''Suffice it to say, that in many instances, they failed to recognize their own relatives, so blackened, and distorted, and mutilated were the bodies, by the dirt, bruises, and fearful scalds. Some were so badly scalded, that on touching them the skin peeled off in the hand. Many of the dead were only recognized by the clothing they wore, and as their relatives sought them out, and found them in the arms of death, the scenes which ensued on recognition were painful in the extreme…brought large troops of friends and acquaintances to the spot, many of whom, especially the ladies, exerted themselves to soothe the wild grief of the bereaved.”''

Aftermath:

Cries for a Hospital:

It was not uncommon for steam boilers to blow up as it was an issue throughout the country, but it hit Hartford right in the center of the town. At the time, Hartford did not have a city hospital. This meant doctors made house calls and went as far as performing surgeries in a patient’s home. This was terribly unsafe as these areas were prone to airborne infections and were not sterilized. The industrial era brought much prosperity to the area of Hartford due to its factories and with it many single men and poor laborers. This not only made it difficult for these lower income groups to afford medical care, but it meant they had to be treated in an apartment, which was more prone to infection and was overall an unstable environment. The only viable option for poor laborers was to go to a charitable sick home and hope there was a volunteer available. After the explosion, there were more patients than any of these charitable sick homes could handle. Thus, the catastrophe exposed how severely unprepared the city of Hartford was to deal with a situation of this magnitude.

After the explosion, a movement followed demanding that a hospital be built. The Hartford Courant was one of the main organizations which served to voice this discomfort from the community. In an article titled “A City Hospital”, they demanded government officials act to prevent such a catastrophe from occurring again:

“It is a proper time now, while all can see the evils which the wounded at the late catastrophe have endured for the want of just such a place, to put our citizens in mind of the necessity of its immediate erection”

Thanks to the public outcry, on May 2, 1854, the Medical Society of Hartford called a public meeting, in which residents voted in favor of building a city hospital. On August 1, 1860, Hartford Hospital opened its doors and admitted its first patient. The total cost of its erection would amount to $86,000.

Court Case:

Authorities investigated the source of the explosion and settled on two competing sources of blame. The first was ‘‘worker negligence’, which placed the blame solely on McCune and his drinking. The second placed the blame on the steam boiler, which had been upgraded a month before the incident, inspiring questions about its quality. Steam boilers were not inspected at this time, leaving further questions about how truly reliable this new steam boiler was. According to his coworkers, McCune had already voiced his displeasure on the new steam boiler:

“God, I shall have a blow up if I am not more careful.' He said he did not like the five flue boilers, it worked his water off so fast; he was always tired at night.”

Complicating any explanation based purely on the boiler, McCune’s colleagues did not view him as a reliable coworker claiming he was “careless’ and “slovenly”. His domestic life was also put into question as Thomas J. Fales testified in court saying McCune and his wife had “domestic faults”. After much deliberation, the coroner’s jury came to the conclusion that the blast was a result of too much steam being in the boiler and thus, found McCune to be negligible. The blame fell on McCune but still placed some liability on the company as they recommended a method of inspection for steam boilers and proper training for engineers operating the new and old steam boilers. This recommendation for a method of inspection led to the creation of the Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection and Insurance Company.