Democratic Sentinel, Volume 14, Number 2, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 31 January 1890 — NATURAL GAS HORROR. [ARTICLE]

NATURAL GAS HORROR.

-r ■■ e ■ I TERRIFIC EXPLOSION DURING A ’ F|KE AT COLUMBUS. Firemen, Police, and Citizens Mangled, Five Persons Being Killed Outright and Sixty Injured—List of the Casualties—A Scene of Terror. Columbus (Ohio) dispatch: This city has been visited by a horrible calamity. The fire department was at the corner of Wall street and Noble alley busily engaged in extinguishing a fire, when an explosion suddenly, occurred in the burning building. It was supposed to be gasoline, and no one was injured except a lady Mrs. who resided there. She was' taken across the streetto a house occupied by William James, a bookkeeper. A crowd of spectators surged close up to the building where the fire broke out, and when the flames wore got under control and the crowd was beginning to disperse another explosion occurred that shook the earth for several squares distant. A sheet of flame shot up into the air and the next instant Mr. James’ house was a mass of ruins and its occupants wore buried .beneath the debris. The scene that followed was terrible. Women and men ran to and fro, their face's, heads and shoulders covered with blood. Guided by shrieks and cries, the men who rushed to the rescue of the victims groped about in the darkness and dragged ont the injured, and now and then stumbled upon a lifeless body. The second explosion was of natural gas that came from a leaking gas-main in Wall street. The following is a list of the killed: CHARLES BECn. JAMES SEYMOUR, a colored boy. Mrs. MARRIOT. An unknown white man and an unknown child. Some of the wounded are: Dr. T. K. Wissinger. William Brody. Archie Neil. William James and wife. Mr. Bankinger. T. Shouting. Policeman Synsky, Charles Liokleieer William Reille, Bell Smith. Elmer Gates. Mrs. Conn. Ed. Keemer. Charles Lowery. Thomas Doyle. Flora Bowers. Taron Beer. Bemjamin Morgan. Marshal Kilbourne. All of the, above are badly burned and cut, some perhaps fatally. There were about forty others who received less serious injuries.