Democratic Sentinel, Volume 14, Number 25, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 11 July 1890 — ACRES OF BLAZING GAS. [ARTICLE]

ACRES OF BLAZING GAS.

TEBRnMnSpSH plos io ff UsfcJmv il-l&;ky' The ina Tjnk • jear *1 du, RipWie* P With T’f all-ul The Caeimltie* ' I Det^ileit. | ! Loui Bvri sjfatcii, Five acres fcr fire jtfas sight,'wltnessetl at streets structure wM ’ heat-was »TO i ntensp that s a^ , n*two h‘un-dred-vtofls a wa)» puriou s ’were, oyer come. The fiSfWivJhg. of th^casual-" ticß: ' vANDiacEfr 13. badly injured about tjhe-lfetafifcu-na-lajaK'But wlh,ivH!fevVfi J o fl 1 ’roastUd al ‘ ve -. c 4'Ct tt'S A M «. . f ..Das EtL. :ige(i 12, burned almost to a hfl’isp D »* • - John ;Kwne.^2..frightfully burned! •allower||h)!.b|yla(shhifliraivt arebhrtfT.u in * t SEvkirex Skene, aged 41,. terribly burned v* 1 •** 1 >**-* * J. S. rthoughmsf fatally burned nbout the head and breast, AuuHinr YonkUlls, aged slightly burnal. '*'♦ -- r-‘ ’ "*'’** * ’ ' it was at first repoftc'd that seven had !pst their lives and. t Later , that three \fcre killed and thirty : five woanded, but It' Isf iiTow" blffibygd 'that the above •qo* 1 ? tjUVCr.-Uiii (‘iisnaltifti, The lire broke out at 8:45 o’clock and was in mpiy ro-pects one.. Tlqi re(h v VV\»f ehst. Y)t,A f»onisvil'e & railroad track, jl/it! the tanks are scattered along it llmtfi ’siiTes.” Oh'Tasf Saturday a tankof ” 'cfuUeoil calrte irv on’-a flat 'cAr- ftom ClcvchLud itnd- Jt waa tn.. hc. turjied. into .. the refinery vats. Some of the men thought the irplj .tank Ivd,s dot? hpk.for a thing to be done in safety. After 'Consultation it was postponed in the hope tbakiltP weather Mob day W’.pulft 1 be Cooler. It did not prove to be, and it, becaipe necessary to run the oil out of the car tank into another,,upe in the yard. ilAspcctor -Skene took-John Pettlgo..and another workman and climbed :<&»•“ the car. TUey mounted tho.riqanhead liivd were about to unscrew .--the "■' cap when tvhey felt -that- there •• was a tremendous.pressnre. ,troin—tho. .inside At- first they decided not to • »pei) it, but they finally did 4p Witknt there was a dull .puff as the vapor escaped, filling the air ail around. gas is heavier than the air, and over the locality, and moving with the the wind. Almost, ; to,.,ao:twlakHn.g, It,, reached one of the sheds under which tJfern , fjlje iiffl’ainmahre Vapor ignited, aha im- ' mediately after tliAre Was a' tromohdousl *' explosion. The firay to piOtA'*’ l and 1 - tho hundreefs-of. gallons of,,bubul.ug. oil . were scattered all over the great works. A wall .of fire 300 feet high and. nearly 5< ff .feet long, moved with rafiaity to the other buildings, 'fn 'less rtimb than ft.fakes to rehue it v . , pjpg house, filtecl with thousands 6f' gallons Of'carin f ed , dil, the cdopey 1 Afoop,’ carpenter shop, pumpr..itn4 .e«ginh> houses, the fllling and lubricating houses, tile*: sOorige houses,-the. paint, at»d glue houses,.and 0,00 feet of platform were all ablaze and'burned furiously. V At the first Intimation of the existence of the fire all 1 the men wllo cbfild‘started' to run. '* Johnny a Kline, -however. , Stumbled and fglhabdJrfS qlpthescaugjht fire, The men bravely returned to his assistance, but the fine thpt qiiygloped H him could not he extinguished, until he had been frightfully bßrned."’' In ' Three little boys, Daniel O’Neil. Andrew and John McDonald, were walking along the raifroad tr<ack when) the, Axplosion.oeeurredi Tliov • were sliglvtyiy of tank, and the wind blow, the blake directly down upon’ •them. Shrieking with pain they im-'t Dulsively jumped backward andlrmto the clear space oil the' western side of the track. Their clothes were on fire, ’and' thev ran down* the track with the bright blazes after, them-. ■ As, soon as the bystanders recovered from the horrified shock occasioned by thefr awful condition, they pursued the ■ three Covering them with coats, they soon extinguished the flarates and JAid them tfhder a'tree near by. When, an attempt was made to remove O’Neil’s clothes a great piece, of his flesh peeled off his face and oody at the slightest touqh. He was- conscious and never uttered a cry.' i ‘The buildihgs arid- stbeks* as burned will be a total loss. There Hs mq . insurance, according to the statement of Edward Ll jr'oodwib. vice president ■of .the Standard Oi i .company/ ~ f