The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1861-04-30
Explosion Of an Oil WeII-Loss OF Life and
Eriehtfut Sreues

1t has already been briefly mentioned tha
an oil well in Warren county, Pa, took fire a
few days ago and exploded with frightful
effect, causing the loss of eighteen lives A
letter gives the following additional particu-
lars:
A well which had been drilled over two hun
dred feet by Hawley & Merrick, had struck
oil, but the yield being less than expec ted the
pumping was abandoned and drilling re- com :
menced. Over one hundred feet fur ther were
drilled, when at half pas. five on "Wednesday
evening sudden rush of oil through the five
inch and Il half tubing threw out the drills
and gushed mp into the air forty feet above the
surface of the ground. AT the least computa-
tion ii was throwing from seventy to one un-
dred barrels an hour. Above this mass OF
oil, the gas of benZine rose in cloud, for fifty
or sixty feet As soon as the oil commenced
gushing forth, all the fires of engines in the
Deighborhood were Immediately extingushed
At about half past eleven, as q large n lumber
OF men and boys were around the well en-
gagged in saving the oil. the gas from the well,
which had spread in every direc ton, took fire
from the engine of well over four hundred
rods dist tant, when in second the whole air
was In a Hame, with 4 crash and roar like
discharges from park of artillery. As soon
AS the gas took fire, the head of the Jet of oil
was in a furious bIa5f, and falling like water
from a founs-in oveiI space one hundred feet
globe OF boiling oil. Instantly the ground was
af1ame, cons tantly Increased and augme ted
by the falling oil. At once scene of indie
scribable horror took place. Scores were
thrown fiat and for distance of twenty feet
and numbers horribly burned rushed 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 con :
yey away the oil TO Il lower part OF the ground
was killed as he dug, and could be seen as he
iell over The handle OF his spade, roasting in
- - tl,n
firm of Rouse, Mitchell q Brown of the vii
iage of enterprise, Warren county IL gentle
man largely interested in wells in this local.
ty, and whose income from them amounted To
sI,oVo day. Was standing near the pit, and
was blown 20 feet by the explosion. He got
up and ran about 10 or Is feet further, and was
dragged out by two men, and conveyed to a
shanty some distance from the we'll When
he arrived, not vestige of clothing was left
upon him except his stockings anu boots His
hair was burned off, as well as his finger nails,
MS ears and his eyelldS, while the balls of his
eyes were crisped up to nothingness. In this
condition he lived nine hours-made his will,
leaving 9l00, 900 to the poor of Warren county,
the same amount TO repair the roads of War
rem county, and $500 year to his father, his
only living relation, for life. He died, how
ever, without signing the will.
The bodies of five other men We're recovered
and recognized. In addition there are the
skeletons of i've others visible within the cir
Gle OF flame, and as many are missing-stran-
the wells. 1t is supposed that a number O:
others have been burned TO powder, close by
the mouth OF the we'll. Some thirty four were
wounded.
AT the time of the explosion, everything in
the neighbour ood-sixty or seventy rods-tooiS
fire, and snanties, de erricks, engine houses and
dwellings, were At once in nyolved in 1iames
lhe boiler OF Dobbs' well, eighty rods from
the original fire, blew up with a tremendous
explosion. killing instantly the engineer, Wes-
ley Skinner, adding another intensity to the
evenings horrors. At this time the W hole air
was on fire The jet of oil rushing up forty
feet was almost pillar of livid flame while
the gas above IL. TO the distance of a hundred
feet, was flashing, exploding, dashing toward
the heavens, and apparently licking the clouds
With It's furious tongues of heat.
All this time, during this tremendous com
bustIon, the sounds of the explosions and
burnings We're so tremendous ana continuous
that they could be compared TO nothing but
the ruShing OF hurricane or tornado through
n forest. The heat OF the fire was So intense
that no one could approach within 15o feet
without scorching their skin or garments 1t
was the most frightful and yet the grandest
pyrctechnical display ever Youchsated to a
human being.
On Friday morning the oil We till rushing
up, on fire, with the same regularity and
speed, throwing, it was caiculat ted az leas t
lVO barrels an hour, covering an immense
space with flaming OLA loss to the proprie-
tors OF the we'll of from 500, 900 to s25 eco daily
NO human power can extinguish The flames,
and the oil must burn on until the we'll is ex-
hausted. No pen can describe it's fierceness
no tongue describe the magnitude OF is hor-
rors. thousands OF spectators visit the see lie
every day. 1t seems the earth is really on
fire, and its elements about to mel. with fer
vent heat The flames We're at last accounts
still ascending to the height of eighty feet