MENIFEE, James - Fountain County INGenWeb Project

At noon today a terrible accident occurred on the Big Four Road which resulted in the death of two men. James Menifee, a section man, and I. F. Robinson, the pumper, were eating dinner at the pump house when the plug of the boiler flew out filling the place with steam and hot water. Both men were fatally scalded, the flesh dropping from their bodies in chunks. The cause of the explosion is not known.

Source: Crawforsdville Daily Journal Saturday, 18 February 1893

Covington, Ind., Feb. 18—A terrible accident Friday resulted in the loss of two lives and the narrow escape of three others. Isaac Robinson had charge of the engine and boiler which pumps water and dries sand for the Big Four Road in this city, and at noon four section hands went into the engine room to eat dinner. Three of the men had finished their meal and had gone out, leaving William Menefee and Robinson inside, when the wash-out plug of the boiler blew out, enveloping the men in scalding water and steam. Their flesh was literally cooked and fell from their bones, and they soon died. Both were the support of widowed mothers.