A Boiler Explosion Near Mukilteo Kills Two Railroad Men
The Great Northern’s southbound “Owl” wrecked when its locomotive boiler burst, throwing the engineer into Puget Sound and leaving the fireman missing.
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.
EVERETT, Feb. 10.—Engineer John Lenahan is dead and Fireman Carl Bloom, who cannot be found, undoubtedly lies dead under the wreckage of the locomotive of the Great Northern “Owl” train, southbound, which was wrecked early this morning near Mukilteo when the locomotive boiler exploded. None of the passengers were injured.
The accident occurred about 6:30 o’clock this morning while the train was running at about ten miles an hour. The force of the explosion hurled the engine over a steep embankment and Engineer Lenahan was thrown far out into the waters of Puget Sound.
Although internally injured and his left leg broken, the engineer struggled into shallow water, from where he was pulled ashore by the conductor and one of the passengers. Lenahan died soon afterward. Efforts to find Fireman Bloom of Seattle have been fruitless.
None of the coaches in the train was damaged except the baggage car, which was partially wrecked. The engine was completely demolished. The boiler was hurled down the track for a distance of more than 100 feet.
“Although internally injured and his left leg broken, the engineer struggled into shallow water.”
Boiler explosions were a recurring industrial hazard in the steam era, and this stretch of the Great Northern line was no exception. The wreck near Mukilteo killed two workers while passengers walked away—a reminder of how often the era’s transportation miracles were paid for by the people operating them.
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