Bellows Falls times. [volume] (Bellows Falls, Vt.) 1856-1965, 1866-06-01
Gas Explosion.
NARROW ESCAPE or THREE PERSONS

From the Buffalo Courier of Monday
Saturday night gas explosion occurred at No
% Ellcott street, by which the house was badly
damaged, and three persons had very narrow es-
capes from death For the past month or so the
house had been undergoing repairs, and on Satur-
day morning the work being about completed, Mr.
VIM G. Bancroft gentleman employed at D..
Barnes & Co.'S store, with his wife and servant
girl took possession. About nine o'clock, while
the three persons were up stairs, Mrs. b remarked
to her husband that she thought the gas was es-
Gaping down stairs, and as he himself thought he
could detect thsSlisagreeable odor, he started
down stains to see AT the foot of the stairs to the
left, was a room where the paper-hangers had been
! working during the day, and which was unfnish-
ed. The door was closed, and Mr.. b. on opening
it, found that the room contained considerable
gas. As he came down without light, he as
cepied for one He obtained a lighted candle,
ana was on his way down again. but had only
reached the second step down the stairs, when the
gas communicated with the light of the candle
He Immediately stepped back, on the landing and
had barely reachsd it, when terrific explosion
ensned. Mr. B. and wife then ran into the SER
wants ROOM short distance back from the head
of the head Of the stairs where the girl was, and
the three started down the back stairs for the pur-
pose of making their exit from the house. The
door at the foot of the stairs, however, was found
fastened, and they were forced to return and go
out by side door which also was locked, but the
key Of which, fortunately, was lying on table
close to the door. BY this time a number of the
neighbors had reached the scene and as fire could
be seen in the front room where the gas had es-
caped, one of them Knocked in the window, and
sprang in 1t proved to be only basket of pa
per left by the workmen, that was on fire, and
this was thrown into the street. and what little of
fire remained, sabdued.
The force of the explosion was visible in almost
every part Of the house, which was very badly
damaged AT the rear part of the building on
the second floor the brick side wall of two rooms
was blown down, and the front of the house, for
the whole width across foot or SO below the roof
was rent and forced out for some five or six inch
es and threatened to come down every minute
The paper doors, &c, of the front room where the
gas escaped also bore strong evidences of the ex-
ploeion, the former being burnt into holes, and
the latter being badly scorehed, while the wood
work at the side of the door leading into the hall
was split from the top to the bottom. bed room
to the rear of the front room also had the plaster
knocked down in several places.
Mr. Bancroft was slightly scorched about the
face, bnt nothing very serious His escape, as
well as that of his wife and servant GIRL is certain
ly very remarkable Que. In one of the rooms
which had the side wall blown out, the servant
girl was at work, and Mr.. and Mrs. B. were only
a few feet from it. Had Mr.. b. taken light with
him the first time he descended the stairs there is
not the least doubt but that he would have been
killed when he opened the door of the front roo m
The door being shut, and the room being very
close on account of having been newly painted
and papered, but very little gas could escape, and
when the door was opened, the amount of gas
that rushed out was very large
An examination of the front room revealed the
fact that gas pipe in the centre of the room
from which the appendage had been removed, wa:
not capped, and, of course, from the time the me
ter was turned on until the explosion took place
gas escaped freely from the pipe.
Who is to blame for the condition of this pipt
we cannot say, but it is quite evident that the ex
plosionis the result of gross carelessness on the
part of some person.