The incident happened early in the morning of September 10, 1884. As the noon hour approached, a Times reporter had prepared the following descriptive of what could have been a terrible tragedy:
"About a quarter after 7 this morning, an accident, which might have been
productive of fearful consequences, occurred at the Canning Factory on
Catharine street.
Mr. Brown, the manager,, and Mr. Brown, one of the cappers, were both
engaged in changing a gasoline stop-cock at the capping bench. They were in a hurry,
and a little oil remaining in the pipe sent forth fumes which were ignited by
fires next the pipes and the flames ran back to where the fixture was being
made.
The gasoline is of a very explosive nature, and in a moment a body of
flame was created, though but for a few seconds.
Brown stayed at the pipe as long as he could after telling Gordon to get
away, and then, calling for the hose kept on the premises, ran to the gasoline
tank and turned off the supply of oil.
By the time the fire brigade got there, the fire was under control.
The excitement among the girls employed in the establishment – and there
are many – was intense. At one exit, they knocked down and trambled under foot
a capper, who is a big man, and one of them, being determined to get out as
soon as possible, jumped from an upper window to the sidewalk. Though the
latter sustained no serious injury, she will have reason to complain for some
days of the severe shaking up she received.
Mr. Gordon was slightly burned on the wrist, and Mr. Brown was burned
from the elbow of his left arm almost to the tips of his fingers. For a week or
two, the limb will be of little use to him.
These two men were, for a moment, enveloped in flame, and had their hair
and clothes somewhat scorched. It is rather fortunate that the result was such
slight injury.
The damage sustained by the works is minimal." 1
Hamilton Times 1884-09-10
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