The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1870-07-04

take nr6 was tnaG CoulaiuiuS. .-Ssrs on -,
barrels. barr Ii burned with great ferceness I for
some time and finally ignited the other. Tne
three tanks were thus burning at one Tune,
torether with the barrels In the sheds, set
tlin~ mans filled with oil, several small stlils
and the woodwork Of the refinery wlthn
reach. Located but few feet away rom IN
the Ground and filed with oil. Still beyond
IL was oil in barrels-tank and barrels together
Containing $4,000 worth OF oil. 1t was reared
at one time that this would 60, but the tank
stood the test. About half the works were
DESTROYED, and nearly all the stock. The Citl-
zens' was built q number of years ago, and was
substantial brick structure.
THE DEVASTATION BELOW.
An this while the burning oil from the four
exploded tanks was running in streams down
to the river bank and along the line OF tne
shore, carrying destruction with 1t: AT ZINES
a considerable portion of the surface OF tne
AlIeghany river was a sheet of fire, where the
oil had run upon 1t. The destruction along
the track of the Allegheny Valley Railroad was
very complete. The rails forming the tracks
were bent into all kinds of shapes by the e&-
treme heat. while the ties for several hundred
feet were reduced to ashes. About quarter
Of mile OF the Allegheny Valley road, to
pether with the station-house at this point
was DESTROYED. In front of the Citizens renn-
| ery several tank cars loaded with oil had ar
| rived during the morning. These were soon
| on fire, and the cars, with about $500 worth OF
| oil. consumed The company lose the cars,
| platform and track. :...,
1HE NEXT REFINERY
below the Eclipse was that OF the rorsytne
| Brothers. AS we have said, the ilgntnlng
struck here, too. The tank struck coatainsI n;S
which, together with the oil, fell prey to tns
flames. Fortunately, the fire did not commu-
nicate to any other part Of these WORKS, a.
thongh there was plenty to feed the blaze II IL
had rot In among the large tanks on tne
ground.
| '-r- THE ASTRAL. REFINERY,
owned by Mr.. John B. Bell, was next oeloW
the Forsythe Bros. 1t was not as large as
some of the others, and had been erected al
most seven wears ago. Nevertheless, 1t was
| complete in all Its appointments and was Vaiu-
| able. Mr. Bell had not been running his WORKS
7 for nearly two wears. He + al, however, lou
| of oil and barrels on hand, and everything
| ready to commence operations at any moment.
The fire was enough for the works. They were
not struck by the lightning, but IL Is supposed
caught fire nom the sparks from some OF tne
| other bnsping masses about. The flames made
| short work OF the ASTRAL" Nothing was ieit
| hnE the barrel house machinery, tanks, build
| ines and oil being consumed In an incredibly
| short space of time., The. fire here was, as IN
| other places, sure and steady, and exhibited no
peculiar elements. No men were about tne es-
| tablishment. I
| The next was the Anchor Refinery, owned
by Messrs. Dilworth & Bro, located below and
| next to Beli's A tank In 1t caught hre ana was
| consumed. 1t contained several thousand par
| rels of crude oil. The remainder OF the WORKS
| was preserved.
Cochran's oil yard was the next. This was was
used as storage yard, and contained only
| tanks. One of them, containing about 4000
barrels of oil, was destroyed. 1t caught nre
from the flames which spread out from the
| National Storing CompaDy's premises, JUS: De-
low. This was the extent of the conflaSratlon.
The National is stock company, owned Dy Q
number of citizens, and was organized o. several vera
cipal managers. It Is also under control OF
board of directors. The place consists Of re-
| finery and storage yard. It Is located half
| mile below the Citizens Rehnery-these Two
being the extremes Of the fire. When the
| lightning separated, as heretofore noteo, one
OF the balls struck tank Oh tne Nalona. c,,i ~
was in flames simultaneously win tne Citi,
zens' and DR.. Tweddle's. The tank contained
| a large quantity of oil-how much could not
he directly ascertaIned. From the tank to the
/ Settling pans, In which was 1000 barrels OF oil,
then to the agitating house. and fnally 70
other and smaller tanks, the flames sped, ana
the premises were, In q few moments, aii on
L
tablishrnent were destroyed. The barrel house
was all that remained, and O m1llp0rtion Oh
the works near the river.
| THE copflagration proceeded no further.
i There were other large refneries below, ont
fortunately there was good]y space interVen.
| Ing, and the heat was not sufficient TO SCI
| them on fire. In Its course the destructive
AGENT had enveloped four rehnerles, together
with tanks IN o storage yard aud in two other
refneries.
BY far the saddest incident connected with
| this most disastrous conhagration, was Lne
death of Mr.. Henry B. Foster. clerk IN DR..
| Tweddles office. AS soon as DR.. Tweddle re-
turned from town he made inquiries as 70 ms
missing. No effort could be made to save
him. and his friends could only walt. Subse-
| ouently 1t was stated that Mr.. Foster had been
seen and was all right This, sadly enough,
was disproved by the event. Last seen he was
| In the Office, which caught fire as soon as the
| first tank burst. 1t Is supposed that ne was
40 severely shocked with the electricity that
he could not make his escape from the build
ing. He was the father-in-law OF Mr. Butter
| field, the attorney, was aged about So years,
and leaves O family. His charred remains
were recovered about s o'clock. Deceased
was brother Of Stephen G. Foster, the COM
poser.
LOSSES AND INSURANCE.
DR.. Tweddle estimates the total loss ut his
place at about $3.50, 900, on which he has an In
surance of $4,000. His loss on the buildings
and oil machinery was about sl5o, 600, and on
oil $4,000, and on paratine and machinery
500 600. The loss at the Citizens Works was
estimated at $4,000 early last evening, but It
was not improbable that their buildings might
be destroyed. This company is pretty fully In
sured. The loes of Forsythe Brothers, BY
burning of tank, is estimated at $4,000, On, on
which there Is no insurance. The Astral Oil
| Works lost $50, 600; slight Insurance. The loss
of Dilworth Brothers is probably not over
$1,000. The loss of the National Works will
likely be upwards Of $4,000. Eight cars OF
crude oil standing on the track Of the Alle-
ghany Valley Railroad, In front Of the Citizens
Oh Refinery, were burned, and also the same am
number at one of the refnerles below. The
Sharpsburg Bridge was insured for $4,000.
The most Of the property destroyed was In
sured in Eastern companies.
C0MMERCIAL NEWS.