The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1880-06-05 00:00:00

THE GREAT OIL FIRES IN AMERICA.

American papers to hand give details of the destructive
fires which raged for over ten days in the oil district of Brad-
ford, Pennsylvania.

It appears that they swept over an area of country
about thirty miles in length and an average width of
three miles, and when the advices left, on the 19th
May, the fires were still burning in various places.
Rew City, Rixford, Oil Centre, Otter City, Morris-
burg, and Middaughville all important petroleum
centres, have been entirely destroyed, leaving 1,500
persons homeless, consuming about 300,000 barrels of
oil, 700 oil "rigs," with their engines, boilers, and ex-
pensive machinery, and thousands of acres of valuable
timber destroyed.

Some marvellous escapes are reported. During the
fire in the vicinity of Rew City, James Rathburn,
Walter Dye, and John Hutchinson attempted to save
a house belonging to the last named. There was an
800-barrel tank of oil on one side of the house, a 600.
barrel tank on the other, and derricks in every direc-
tion. The fire was in the woods 500 feet away, but
a strong wind was blowing it towards the house.
From a spring a short distance from the house, the
men collected several barrels of water, and were
trying to keep the fire in check. Suddenly the wind
changed, and carried a tongue of flame against
the 600-barrel tank, and almost instantly it was in
flames. Then the other tank caught fire, and simul-
taneously several derricks were wrapped in flames.
The men were surrounded by flames, and nearly
suffocated with the heat. There was no escape
through the circle of fire. Hutchinson had ploughed
his garden that day, and the only thing ke and his
companions could think of doing was to crawl to that
fresh turned plot of ground, and lie with their faces
against it. They buried themselves, as well as they
could with their hands, beneath the cold moist
earth, and there they remained from two o'clock in
the afternoon until eight o'clock in the evening.
The fury of the fire was then spent, and Hutchinson
and his companions were enabled to drag themselves
away in search of assistance. Their faces were so
badly burnt that they were blistered, and they were
nearly blind. It was thought that Rathbone would
lose his sight entirely. The men said they breathed
with comparative ease with their faces in the damp
earth, but that about four o'clock the heat was so
intense that they bade each other good-bye, thinking
they could not survive the torture long.
Hundreds of people are now living in the woods,
awaiting the replacing of their burned dwellings, and
several deaths have occurred amongst them from fright
and over•exertion.

THE LIVERPOOL DOCK LABOURERS.

The following is the full text of the arbitrators' award in
the dispute between the Liverpool dock labourers and their
employers. The effect of the decision is to advance the
men's pay Gd. a day and add id. an hour to the rate for night
work:—

" Award.--After full consideration and discussion
we have come to the conclusion that in the still un-
settled state of trade it is not at present in our power
to fix a rate of wages which shall be acceptable by
both parties as permanently satisfactory. We pro-
pose, therefore, that the present award shallrbe binding
for three months only, and at the expiration of that
time we shall Le ready if called upon to resume the
consideration of the question. We award, therefore,
that from the 10th of May 1880, the wages for the en-
suing three months shall 'be—for stevedores, 55. per
day and Bd. per hour for night work; for quay porters
and dock labourers, 4s. 6d. per day and Bd. per hour
for night work.

, _,_,
"Signed, .LJERBY, JAMES SAMUELSON, RICHARD
LOWNDES."