The Weekly Lancaster Gazette

Gas Explosion in Salem, Mass.—The good citizens of Salem, Mass., on Friday morning were startled by the noise of a terrible explosion, shaking the buildings in the vicinity, and sounding like the discharge of heavy artillery. The cause of the explosion was this: In a new building now being erected for the Atlantic Bank, a mechanic removed a piece of gas-pipe which was in the way, and neglected to replace it. The gas, escaping, filled the space between the partitions and floors of the third and fourth stories, and leaked through the cracks into the atmosphere of the rooms, creating much annoyance. On Friday morning one of the gas operators commenced a search for the leak, and making a hole in the floor above a joint in the pipes, applied a lighted match to the joint. An instantaneous explosion of the gas confined between the partitions ensued, shaking the building to its foundations, and making several of the rooms a scene of devastation and ruin.