This was a news story published in an insurance company news-journal documenting steam engine accidents. This news article includes five illustrations of the wreckage at the Pabst Brewery. This magazine is also incredibly detailed in the tracking of boiler accident statistics and failure analysis.
Journal name: The Locomotive
By Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection and Insurance Company
Published by Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection and Insurance Co., 1911
Item notes: n.s.:v.28 (1910-11)
Original from Harvard University
Digitized Dec 11, 2007
The Milwaukee Boiler Explosion
A fearful boiler explosion occurred at 4:20 AM on October 25th, 1909, at the plant of the Pabst Brewing Company, in Milwaukee, WI. Owing to the early hour at which the accident occurred, the only persons in the boiler room at the time were two firemen, Frederick Stirn and Gottlieb Jehnert. Mr. Stirn was killed and Mr. Jehnert was seriously injured. The plant was badly damaged also, as will be evident from the illustrations presented herewith...
http://books.google.com/books?id=-LYSAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA1&source=gbs_selected_pages&cad=0_0#PPA1,M1
The magazine includes a really long and scary list of accidents all over the place involving boiler hardware failures. Something like at least two major disasters happening every single day, involving boiler explosions, boiler tubes rupturing, safety valve failures, and lots of people getting killed or seriously injured and buildings getting demolished:
http://books.google.com/books?id=-LYSAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA1&source=gbs_selected_pages&cad=0_0#PPA13,M1
The magazine goes so far as to list the number of boiler explosions from 1886 to 1909 (publication date), and includes followup reconstructions of how the failures occurred, and investigations of the accidents.
Take a look at these failure analysis illustrations for a later accident unrelated to the Pabst incident:
Fig 6 - Top view of boiler, showing initial rupture
http://books.google.com/books?id=-LYSAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA1&source=gbs_selected_pages&cad=0_0#PPA132,M1
-Dale
Journal name: The Locomotive
By Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection and Insurance Company
Published by Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection and Insurance Co., 1911
Item notes: n.s.:v.28 (1910-11)
Original from Harvard University
Digitized Dec 11, 2007
The Milwaukee Boiler Explosion
A fearful boiler explosion occurred at 4:20 AM on October 25th, 1909, at the plant of the Pabst Brewing Company, in Milwaukee, WI. Owing to the early hour at which the accident occurred, the only persons in the boiler room at the time were two firemen, Frederick Stirn and Gottlieb Jehnert. Mr. Stirn was killed and Mr. Jehnert was seriously injured. The plant was badly damaged also, as will be evident from the illustrations presented herewith...
http://books.google.com/books?id=-LYSAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA1&source=gbs_selected_pages&cad=0_0#PPA1,M1
The magazine includes a really long and scary list of accidents all over the place involving boiler hardware failures. Something like at least two major disasters happening every single day, involving boiler explosions, boiler tubes rupturing, safety valve failures, and lots of people getting killed or seriously injured and buildings getting demolished:
http://books.google.com/books?id=-LYSAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA1&source=gbs_selected_pages&cad=0_0#PPA13,M1
The magazine goes so far as to list the number of boiler explosions from 1886 to 1909 (publication date), and includes followup reconstructions of how the failures occurred, and investigations of the accidents.
Take a look at these failure analysis illustrations for a later accident unrelated to the Pabst incident:
Fig 6 - Top view of boiler, showing initial rupture
http://books.google.com/books?id=-LYSAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA1&source=gbs_selected_pages&cad=0_0#PPA132,M1
-Dale