The dangers of railroad construction

Blasting could cause vast amounts of shrapnel to rain down on the labourers, causing all sorts of injuries and even death.  In March 1881, the Portland Standard reported that a “most deplorable and fatal explosion,” had occurred on the 10th inst. at Grange City, beyond Walla Walla, on the Northern Pacific Railroad.  Barrels of giant powder had been moved close to a fire in a deliberate attempt to thaw the contents.  “Suddenly a flash was seen and a terrible report rang out upon the startled air, tearing up the earth in great fragments and hurling them about in every direction.”  The barrels of giant powder had exploded.  Two Chinese labourers standing close to the fire “were violently sent up into the air and killed, their bodies being almost unrecognizable from the effects of the explosion.”  Another labourer survived the blast but was “discovered horribly mutilated” and was doubtful whether he would survive his injuries.  The explosion created “immense hollows and deep cavities” in the ground and was “heard for a distance of twenty miles.”  While the Portland Standard declared it “hard to determine who is responsible for the sad catastrophe,” the truth was the dangers of the railroad construction could strike at anytime and anyone.^⁠1

 

Reference

¹ Portland Standard cited in Inland Sentinel, March 31, 1881.