Anti-slavery bugle. [volume] (New-Lisbon, Ohio) 1845-1861, 1861-05-04
EXPLOSION OF AN OIL WELL.

1.-The following narration Of the terrific ezplO-
sion Of an oil well, at Titustille, Pa. lie abridged
from the Bg6alO Courierl
"a we'll which had been drilled over two hun
bred feet by Hawley & Merrick, had struck oil,
but The yield being less than expected, the pump
ing was abandoned, and drilling recommended.
Over one hundred feet further were drilled, when
at half past 5 on Wednesday evening, o sudden
rush Of oil through tho FIVE inch aud q half tu-
hing, threw out the drills and gusbed up in the
air 40 feet above the surface Of the ground. AT
The least computation j. was throwing from 70
to 100 barrels an hour. Above this mass Of oil,
tho gas or benzire rose in q cloud, for fifty or
sixty feet. AS soon as the oil commenced gush-
ing forth, all the areS Of engines in the neighbOr-
hood were Immediately oxtinguisbed. AT abcu;
past 7, as a large number of men and boys were
around the well engaged in saving the oil, the
gas from the well which had spread in every d.
rection, took Ere from the engine Of a we'll over
400 rods distant, when in q second the whole air
was in q flame, with a era sh and a roar like dis
charges from a park Of artillery.
As soon as the gas took FIRE, the head Of The jet
of oil was in a furious blaze, and falling like a wa
ter fountain over q space one hundred feet in d.
ameter, each drop Of oil came down a blazing
globule Of boiling oil. INSTANTLY the ground was
3 a lame, constantly increased and augmented by
the falling oil. AT once a scene Of ipdescri5able
horror took place. Scores we're thrown fat, AID
for q distance Of twenty feet, and numbers horri-
n bly, burned, rushed blazing from the hell Of
misfortune, s~btieking and screaming in their an
g guish.
- ..I.- At. ..t. II - a. aa,11 hn
t seen four bodies boiling 10 the %seotbing oil, and
one man who had been digging at a ditch to con-
vey away the oil to a lower part of the ground
was killed as he dug, and could be seen, as be
fell over the handle of the spade, roasting in the
= fierce element. Mr.. II. r.. Rouse of the firm OF
t Rouse, Mitchell & Brown, of the village OF Enter
prise, Warren Co. a gentleman largely interested
10 wells in this locality, and whose income from
them amounted to $1,000 a day, vas standing near
! the pit and was blown twenty feet by the eXplo'
D sion. lie got up and ran about ten or fifteen feel
further, and was dragged out by two men, and
conveyed to q shanty some distance from the well
@ When be arrived not o vestige of clothing was
: left upon him except bic stockings and boots
, His hair was burned off as we'll as his finger nail'
e his ears and his eyelide, while the balls OF hi
n eyes we're crisped up to nothiDgness.
, The bodies Of ONE seven or eight persons wer'
e taken from the flames. In addition to these ar
the skeletons of five others visible within the cir
b Gle of flames, and as many are missing--stran
if gers, who came to witness the operations Of til
wells. 1t is supposed that a number of other
d have been burned to q powder, close By the mout
lie of the well.
10 AT the time OF the explosion, everything in til
p. neigaborhood-six or seventy rods-took fr'
70 and ,banties, dcrricks, engine houses, dwelling
ID were at once involved in Hames. Tho boiler
vs. Dobb's well, so rode from the original fire, blew u
ir. With q tremendous ex plosion, killing instantly til
p engineer, Wesley Skinner. adding another intel
RI sity to the evenings horrors. AT this time ii
whole air was on fire. The jet of ell rushing u
forty feet was almost a pillar of livid fame, viii
the gas above it to the distance of q hundred fee
vas flashing, exploding, dashipg towards Il
heavens, and apparently licking the clouds with i
furious tongues of heat. All this time, durir
this tremendous combustion, the sounds Of the G
plosions and burnings were so tremendous OF
continuous, that they could be compared to not
ing but The rushing Of q hurricane or a torna,
through q forest.
Id Tho heat Of the fire was 80 intense that no OIL
I'd. could approach within $50 feet without scorchiI
their skin or garments. 1t was the most fright,
and yet, the ~grandest pyrotechnical display ev
vouchsafed to a human being.
m, On Friday morning the oil was still rushing u
on fire, with the same regularity and speed, thro
% ing it was calculated ct least 100 barrels an hor
covering an immense space with flaming oil
: Ices to tho proprie,ors Of the we'll Of from 5000
to S25 COO daily. No human power can ext
guish the flames, and The oil must burn ON IN
the the we'll is exhausted. No pen can describe
ferceness-no tongue can describe the magnitu
tbo of its horrors.