The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1870-07-04
::s1'TjEHEy.GREAT :1'jEI] & E OIL FIRE.
BETxILs OF TIE CoNFLAGRAEIoN
- - ATPIrTSBURG.
Ts. T.1rible L,ghtnins streke-Foer
OH Rsaneries Burned-A Man Roasted
to DSAahAHsrroW Escapes!-1hrnling
soenss-Grsat Loss ofProperty.

fiBH the fdtrSDufS papers VI eWoouoSuoy w
lave Hi, particulars Of the terrible nre, caused
hgaiixhtning stroke, which occurred in that
cffttJy; Jy;sSS6 tuesday afternoon. The Chronicle
-aystart since the 10th Of April, ls46, there has
beefnosuch confagration there. The. sud-
denness of the calamity, Sits appalling swift
nesssyAA strange manner Of its origin, and the
terrible magnitude of It's results, render this
fire almost without parallel in the experience
Of ofPittsburg. The loss of human Life marked the
event, and the destruction Of property was
an67I S8rsmendous, Jet fearful as was the oc-
cufIsMcs; It seems a miracle that It was not
mofee FEARFUL go narrow were the many es-
CAFE. Aad 60 impeiuous the flames ~
.,1s t0a a.. THE STORM .-s@
fShortly amer two O'Clock In the afternoon the
sky became overcast with dense CLOUDS, ana
there;were evidences Of approaching heavy
sfnrm. A few minutes before three, persons
WHO we're In the more elevated portions or the
cley saH the storm raging in that direction, saw
the vivid dartinsH of chain lightning, saw even
sGfne Or tie eiecH OF the wind storm, and real
ized. .thas,a great disaster was impending. One
RaSuapsn went, upon the Mechanic street
bridge the better to see and enjoy the gTsn9
6ehS ,fhe storm presented. While he looked
up the river she saw magnificent bolt OF
HrStsISrt leap from the sky and descend
s&f4lRit rs the earth In the vicinity OF the
tifR bridge. sa'As. II, neared the earth
RIYt6fke hi ,snd d second afterwards great
Ooa@nSI fame shot up into the air to a
ksaGHk, itHeemed to him, ,nfa hundred feee Then
imnae1selmasses Of black smoke rose straight
t0itfeoskE ;autss a. they seemed to touch the
RIM ef6ad, spread out into white vapor, as If
heated tS' q white heat. All the STATEMENTS
aQrH9 ff1at the lightning simultaneously struck
tWQtsnks OF oil but the majority Of the wilt
nesses aver that four tanks, belonging respec-
tivelx 70 the Citizens. the Eclipse, Forsytne
Br6GSud the; Nnaonal refnertes, were struck
by 5tk1 same divided bolt. Be this as 1t may,
these tanks were In, flames almost, not quite,
at the same Instant Each exploded, and the
oil.a IN sheets snd torrents Of fame, ran out
over the earth In all directions. There was
only enc thing for human beings to do then,
andthAt:was to escape from the swift pursuit
OF deasn as best they might. It would have
been g wise to attempt to stop flood OF lava
aathat flaming Oh.
PROGRESS OF THE FIRE.
An aoon az possible an alarm was struck
and the department, except two engines lett
In town for emergencies, were on their way To
the IRE very promptly. In the meantime the
names:Nere making fearful progress. The
largest Of the tanks struck, and the one which
1rOpRht the most desolation, was q huge
tH60ey-tnOuS0nQ parrcl C3uK Oh ECupSo prcm-
ICES. This tank contained eighteen thousand
barrels at the time. It exploded with terrific
report. An immense column OF flame rose to
9sgfe8t height In the air, and In an instant
broad streams of burning oil were rushing
down toward the river and along the Sharps-
burg road to the bridge. The works were sit
uatedtat the corner OF the main road and the
road.that leads to the bridge. Between the
works and the river stood the splendid resi-
dence ,Qf,rDr.. Tweddle, the principal owner
oftha fefmerY., One great stream OF fire ran
BWifslY,to the house and poured into the eel
GIs fling it almost Instantly. A servant girl
had gone into the cellar as a place Of refuge
from the lightning. She had barely time to
o6cabefup the stairs with her life. Her cloth
TYNE on fire, and she was somewhat burned
E.. FHeddle was in town at the time, and Mrs.
TWeddla mas In the house with her little boy,
whose birthday 1t was, and three little children
mMr. T. F. LockhRrt, who were spending the
day at the house. 2 She instantly ran out with
the children, but the smoke was binding and
theS became separated. Mrs. T. was saved BY
Aikentaeman, who! took her away The chill
dfen kent together and fell into an old boat
eUmpieteiy Saturat1ng their clothing with oil.
They were rescued and taken to the house
where Nray Tweddle bad found refuge. Had
the PARTY remained q moment longer in the
house they 6ould not have escaped. The house
was swiftly consumed, not an article being
MITE ppyncr urpNEn