This is why children shouldn't manufacture explosives
Remembering the Victims of the 1883 Excelsior Gas Squib Factory Explosion
Today it seems unimaginable that any factory in the world, much less a factory in the United States, would hire young children. And it is even more unimaginable that anyone would hire young children to work in a factory engaged in the manufacturing of explosives. Yet that is exactly what happened in 1883 at the Excelsior Gas Squib factory in Kingston, and it was a tragic decision that resulted in the deaths of seven children ranging in age from 11 to 19.
But just what is a squib anyway? A squib is a small explosive device, resembling a tiny stick of dynamite, that was used in coal mining during the late 19th century to blast coal from rock. The Excelsior Gas Squib factory, according to newspapers accounts of the era, was staffed almost entirely by children, the youngest of which was 11-year-old James Morris, who died instantly when the factory exploded on the afternoon of October 23, 1883.
Also killed in the explosion were Mattie James, a 19-year-old girl who survived for hours after the explosion before dying at her home on Slocum Street. It is almost impossible to imagine the agony this poor girl endured; the Carlisle Sentinel reported that her flesh was "hanging in threads from her body". Mary 'Mamie' Norris, 16, was described as "a mass of sacrificed flesh", while Mary Quinn, 16, was "burned to a crisp".
Eerily, on the morning of the explosion, before leaving for work at the factory, 14-year-old Hattie Moss told her mother that she was going to die that day. Mary Norris also had a strange premonition. During her lunch break, less than an hour before she lost her life, she told her mother than a bird had flown into the factory that morning and had landed on her shoulder. A popular superstition of the day maintained that a bird flying indoors was a harbinger of death.
James Steele, 18, was the seventh victim of the disaster to expire, passing away from his injuries on November 3.
It was believed by many that the explosion resulted from a spark that blew out of a wood stove onto a keg of gunpowder, although the definite cause of the disaster was never ascertained. A coroner's jury ruled on November 8 that the explosion was caused by a squib being placed in a stove, though this has been disputed.
The factory, which was a large frame building perched on the bank of Toby's Creek, was owned by a company known as Phillips, Smith & Turnbach, which was comprised of Theodore Phillips of Plymouth, John Smith of Kingston, and John Turnbach, who was also the Luzerne County Treasurer at the time of the tragedy.
Turnbach is an interesting figure in the history of Northeastern Pennsylvania. During the Civil War he was taken prisoner by Confederate forces, who stripped him of his shoes and forced him, along with other prisoners of war, on a twenty mile march to a prison camp. He escaped during his first night of captivity and found his way back to Union lines. By the time he returned-- having traveled over 40 miles of rough Southern terrain barefoot-- his feet were mangled, bloody stumps. The explosion of the Excelsior Gas Squib Factory, however, sent him on a downward spiral from which he never recovered; he soon lost his mind and was committed to the Kirkbride Lunatic Asylum in Philadelphia, where he died in the spring of 1890.
Tragically, an even deadlier squib factory explosion took place just a few miles away in Plymouth in 1889, claiming the lives of eleven workers, of which ten were young woman between the ages of 15 and 22. On his deathbed the factory foreman, George Reese (the only male killed in the blast), confessed that he had caused of the explosion by smoking a pipe in the factory basement. A monument has been erected in Plymouth to the victims of the 1889 disaster; however, no such monument has ever been erected in memory of the seven victims killed in the explosion at the Excelsior Gas Squib Factory in Kingston.
Did you enjoy this article? If so, then pick up a paperback copy of Pennsylvania Oddities, which features even more true stories of the strange from around the Keystone State, as well as more in-depth versions of some of the more spectacular stories shown on this blog. Only $14.95 and free shipping is available!
Today it seems unimaginable that any factory in the world, much less a factory in the United States, would hire young children. And it is even more unimaginable that anyone would hire young children to work in a factory engaged in the manufacturing of explosives. Yet that is exactly what happened in 1883 at the Excelsior Gas Squib factory in Kingston, and it was a tragic decision that resulted in the deaths of seven children ranging in age from 11 to 19.
But just what is a squib anyway? A squib is a small explosive device, resembling a tiny stick of dynamite, that was used in coal mining during the late 19th century to blast coal from rock. The Excelsior Gas Squib factory, according to newspapers accounts of the era, was staffed almost entirely by children, the youngest of which was 11-year-old James Morris, who died instantly when the factory exploded on the afternoon of October 23, 1883.
Also killed in the explosion were Mattie James, a 19-year-old girl who survived for hours after the explosion before dying at her home on Slocum Street. It is almost impossible to imagine the agony this poor girl endured; the Carlisle Sentinel reported that her flesh was "hanging in threads from her body". Mary 'Mamie' Norris, 16, was described as "a mass of sacrificed flesh", while Mary Quinn, 16, was "burned to a crisp".
Eerily, on the morning of the explosion, before leaving for work at the factory, 14-year-old Hattie Moss told her mother that she was going to die that day. Mary Norris also had a strange premonition. During her lunch break, less than an hour before she lost her life, she told her mother than a bird had flown into the factory that morning and had landed on her shoulder. A popular superstition of the day maintained that a bird flying indoors was a harbinger of death.
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| Carlisle Sentinel, Oct. 24, 1883 |
James Steele, 18, was the seventh victim of the disaster to expire, passing away from his injuries on November 3.
It was believed by many that the explosion resulted from a spark that blew out of a wood stove onto a keg of gunpowder, although the definite cause of the disaster was never ascertained. A coroner's jury ruled on November 8 that the explosion was caused by a squib being placed in a stove, though this has been disputed.
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| Hazleton Sentinel, Oct. 25, 1883 |
The factory, which was a large frame building perched on the bank of Toby's Creek, was owned by a company known as Phillips, Smith & Turnbach, which was comprised of Theodore Phillips of Plymouth, John Smith of Kingston, and John Turnbach, who was also the Luzerne County Treasurer at the time of the tragedy.
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| Harrisburg Daily Independent, Oct. 25, 1883 |
Turnbach is an interesting figure in the history of Northeastern Pennsylvania. During the Civil War he was taken prisoner by Confederate forces, who stripped him of his shoes and forced him, along with other prisoners of war, on a twenty mile march to a prison camp. He escaped during his first night of captivity and found his way back to Union lines. By the time he returned-- having traveled over 40 miles of rough Southern terrain barefoot-- his feet were mangled, bloody stumps. The explosion of the Excelsior Gas Squib Factory, however, sent him on a downward spiral from which he never recovered; he soon lost his mind and was committed to the Kirkbride Lunatic Asylum in Philadelphia, where he died in the spring of 1890.
Tragically, an even deadlier squib factory explosion took place just a few miles away in Plymouth in 1889, claiming the lives of eleven workers, of which ten were young woman between the ages of 15 and 22. On his deathbed the factory foreman, George Reese (the only male killed in the blast), confessed that he had caused of the explosion by smoking a pipe in the factory basement. A monument has been erected in Plymouth to the victims of the 1889 disaster; however, no such monument has ever been erected in memory of the seven victims killed in the explosion at the Excelsior Gas Squib Factory in Kingston.
Did you enjoy this article? If so, then pick up a paperback copy of Pennsylvania Oddities, which features even more true stories of the strange from around the Keystone State, as well as more in-depth versions of some of the more spectacular stories shown on this blog. Only $14.95 and free shipping is available!
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