Clarion County PA Disasters

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Explosion of the Robert Torpedo Nitro Glycerine Factory
Death of James Barnum

The Indiana Democrat (Indiana, Pennsylvania) March 2 1876

Nitro Glycerine

A terrible affair occurred at St. Petersburg, Clarion county of Feb. 23d, about six o'clock. The nitro glycerine magazine of the Roberts Torpedo company, situated in a hollow a short distance northwest of the town, exploded with terrific force, shattering the windows, rocking the buildings and spreading consternation on every hand. Hundreds of people rushed to the scene of the disaster immediately after the explosion. As nearly as can be ascertained the facts are as follows: James Barnum, an old employee of the torpedo company, it is supposed was engaged in putting some cans containing about one hundred and twenty pounds of nitro glycerine in the magazine when it exploded. Barnum had just brought the expolosive from Edinburg.

The crowds that rushed to the spot were appalled by the sight that met their view. The unfortunate Barnum was torn to pieces, portions of his body being lodged in the surrounding trees. Upon a log, about twenty feet from where the magazine had been, lay a piece of his left arm and shoulder, togethr with the heart and some of the ribs, while equally distant in another direction were found the lower half of the spinal column and a portion of the trunk. One of the horses driven by Barnum was instantly killed, and the other was so terribly injured that it had to be shot.

Barnum leaves a wife and two children. A compaion who had accompanied him from Edinburg, left him only a few minutes before the explosion. There is another magazine about a quarter of a mile from the one that blew up, but owing to an intervening hill it was not destroyed.

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