Holmes County Republican. [volume] (Millersburg, Holmes County, Ohio) 1856-1865, 1861-05-09
The Explosion of the Buchahsiai
Well.-A Terrible Narrative.

A correspondent of the Buffalo Courier
gives the following particulars of one ofthe
most fearful accidents ever recorded. The
telegraph had given in brief skeleton of
the event, which was the explosion of an
oil well at Titusville, Pa:
A well which had been drilled over two
hundred feet by Hawley & Merrick, had
struck oil, but the yield being less than ex-
pected, the pumping was abandoned and
drilling recommended. Over one hundred
feet further were drilled, when at half past
5 on Wednesday evening, a sudden rush
of oil through the five inch and half tu-
bing, threw out the drills and gushed up in
the air 40 feet above the surface of the
ground. At the least computation it was
throwing from 20 to 100 barrels an hour.
Above this mass of oil, the gas or bezine
rose in a cloud, for fifty or sixty feet. As
soon as the oil commenced gushing forth,
all the fires of engines in the neighborhood
were Immediately extinguished. At ! past
Z, as 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 direction, took fire from the engine
of well over 400 rods distant, when in
second the whole air was in flame, with
crash and roar like discharges from the
park of artillery.
As soon as the gas took fire, the head of
the jet of oil was in furious blaze, and
falling like water fountain over the space
of 100 feet in diameter; each drop of oil
came down blazing globule of boiling oil.
At once a scene Of indescribable horror
took place. Scores were thrown flat, and
for distance of twenty feet, and numbers
horribly burned; rushing blazing from the
hell of misfortune, shrieking and screaming
in their anguish.
Just within the circle of the fame, could
be seen four bodies boiling in the seething
oil, and one man who had been digging
ditch to convey the oil to lower part of
the ground was killed as he dug, and could
be seen as he fell over the handle of bis
spade, roasting in the fierce element. Mr..
H. R. Rouse of the firm of Rouse Mitchell
& Brown, of the village of Enterprise,
Warren Co., a gentleman largely interested
in wells in this locality, and whose income
from them amounted to $1,000 a day, was
standing near the pit and was blown twen-
ty feet By the explosion. He got up and
ran about ten or fifteen feet further, and
was dragged out by two men, and convey
ed to shanty some distance from the well.
When he arrived not vestige of clothing
was left upon him except his stockings and
boots. His hair was burned off as well as
his finger nails, his ears and his eyelids,
while the balls of his eyes were crisped up
TO nothingness.
In this condition he lived nine hours
made bis will, leaving 100000 to the poor
of Warren county; the same amount to re-
pair the roads of Warren county-to be
disbursed by the county commissioners,
and $500 year to his father-his only
living relation-for life. He died, howev-
er, without signing the will. His body
was taken ON Friday to Westfeld, Chau-
tanque county, and buried, as he requested
by the side of his mother.
In addition to Mr.. Rouse, the following
were taken out of the flames dead:
Two Messrs. Walker, brothers. of Clari-
on county Pa.
Wesly Skinner, engineer of Dobb's well
from Wattsburg, Pa.
A man named Stevens, from Cattaragus
county, NY.
A Mr.. Judd Mason, residence unknown.
A boy named Albert Gardner, from
Michigan.
The above were recognized. In addition
there are the skeletons of five Others visi-
Bile within the circle of flames, and as many
are missing-strangers, who came to wit
ness the operations Of the wells. 1t is sup
posed that number of others have been
burned to a powder, close by the mouth
of the well.
At the time of the explosion, everything
in the neighborhood-sixty OF seventy
rods-took fire, and shanties, derricks, en-
gine houses, dwellings, were at once invclv-
ed in flames The boiler of Dobb's well,
80 rods from the original fire, blew up
with tremendous explosion, killing in
stantly the engineer, Wesley Skinner, ad
ding another intensity to the evenings
horrors. At this time the whole air was
on fire. The jet of oil rushing up forty
feet was almost a pillar of livid flame,
while the gas above it the distance of one
hundred feet, was flashing, exploding,
dashing toward the heavens, and apparant-
ly licking the clouds with its furious tongues
Of heat. All this time, during this tre-
mendous combustion, the sounds of the
explosions and burnings were so tremen-
dous and continuous, but they could be
compared to nothing but the rushing of
a hurricane or tornado through forest.
The heat of the fire was so intense that
no one could approach within $50 feet with
out scorching their skin or garments. 1t
was the most frightful, and yet, the grand
est pyro,echnical display ever vouchsafed
to human being. =.
On Friday morning the oil was still
rushing up, on fire, with the same regular,
ity and speed, throwing it was calculated
at least loo barrels an hour; covering an
immense space of flaming oil-a loss the
proprietors of the we'll from $50, 200 toS2o,
oo0 daily. No human power can extin-
ouish the flames, and the oil INST burn un-
ii the we'll is exhausted. No pen can de-
scribe its fierceness-not tongue can describe
the magnitude of its horrors.
- Gr~.y h