From the Alexandria (Va.) Gazette, 8/26/1905, p. 2, c. 2

Explosion of Fly Wheel.

One man was killed and five others injured by the bursting of a twenty-eight-foot fly wheel in the bar mill of the Tredegar Works, in Richmond, yesterday afternoon. The shed in which it was located was wrecked and the wheel, broken into several large pieces, flew in every direction, parts of it landing on Gamble’s Hill Park, across the canal. Samuel Owen, a colored employee, working at a bench near the wheel, was struck by the largest piece of the flying machinery. His body was cut in two and a pile of debris was hurled upon it, killing him. Several other men were injured. The wheel burst with a dull report. It was being operated at a rapid speed by water power. The explosion and crash created excitement for blocks around the works, where the families of many of the workmen lived, and they flocked to the scene in frantic dread of the consequences to their loved ones. One workmen sitting in a chair in front of the wheel had a miraculous escape. His chair was crushed to pieces and the man pinned down by iron and wood rubbish, yet he escaped unhurt. The damage done by the wheel was several thousand dollars.

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