The Tragedy of a Blasting Accident
After an industrial accident left a laborer blinded and injured, his family is left destitute and appealing for public charity to survive.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
John Barto, who lives in the Madison Street addition, is the victim of peculiarly unfortunate circumstances. Up to last summer he was an industrious mechanic of more than ordinary intelligence. Failing to get work at his trade, he accepted other employment, which has proven very costly to him. July 28, 1893, he was engaged in blasting hard earth for the purpose of making a cesspool out on Jackson street. The fuse of one charge failed to burn, and he removed it and proceeded to drill a hole for another blast. The abandoned charge must have been ignited by a spark from his drill, for a terrible explosion took place, and Mr. Barto was taken to Providence hospital more dead than alive. He has been an acute sufferer ever since. One of his eyes has been removed entirely, and his physicians say the other can only be saved by months of careful nursing. The family is without means and Barto’s father was killed last summer by a runaway team. It is a case of most bitter misfortune, and an appropriate one for the exercise of real charity.
“It would seem that this is a case of most bitter misfortune, and an appropriate one for the exercise of real charity.”
This story highlights the lack of safety nets for injured workers in the 1890s, where an industrial accident resulted in immediate poverty. In the absence of workers' compensation, the burden of survival fell entirely on personal charity and the support of community members.
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