Juniata sentinel. [volume] (Mifflintown, Pa.) 1846-1873, 1872-12-04
TERRIBLE NITRO.GLYCERINE EXPLO.
SION. ~

TIVE Men Blswn to Atoms = The Shock
Heard Twenty Miles Marrow Escape Of
I Passenger Train. ri
From the pi,,sbuss Gsaette,Sov. 9th.
The pitro-glyccrine explo.ion at Scrub
Grass, briefly mentioned in our telegraph
ic columns yesterday morning. was one
of The most terrible affairs of that has
ever taken place in the oil regions There
is something inexpres4ibiy horrible in the
fact that two men,, should be seen by
their friends strong and healthful one
hour, and the next found with their
bodies torn into thousand pieces by thar
my sre,ious, almost dlaboiical agent
nitro glycerine. To yesterdays Oil City
D.,7i & We are indebted Tor particulars
Of this dreadful affair '
The h;.ro ely cerine magazine of the
Roberts Torpedo Co, is situated some
ten yards from the track of the Alleghe-
:y Valley Railroad. abont one ialf mile
above Scrubgrass. On Friday morning.
tie victims of this terrible calamity, Mr.
Il. A. Wright. familiarity known as Doe
Wright the Torpedo Company's agent
for the Scrutsra-s district. and Harry j.
Wolf. the Western Union telegraph op
orator at Scrahgrass. left that place ear
ly in a sleigh 10 visit The magazine, The
purpose of their visit was to procure some
of the nitro slyccrine with which to fill
some cases that Mr. Wright intended ex-
ploding in wells that day
The facts concerning the terrible ex-
plo>ion will probably ever remain a mys
terry. The only theory suggested is that
as the me,r took Ratchet with them the
explosion may have been caused BY an
attempt to oaon one of the cans with the
hatchet. The magazine, as has been
stated above, was situated about one-hali
mile up the river from Scru6grass. and
ten yards from the railroad track. The
place was sunfr,qurnted. and located
with view to the safety of the neigh
borhood sho uld an explosion occur. AT
the time of the accident it contained
eight thirty-ive pound cans of the ex
plosive agent, an amount sufficient to
sweep Oil City out of existence should it
explode in one of the business streets.
The shock was like that of an earth
quake. accompanied by a sharp peal of
The Oil City accommodation.
due at Scrabgrass at 9:zO pslled out at
$50 aud had advanced about one hun
dred yards on its way when the terrific
explosion occurred, shaking the solid
ground on ali sides. The conclusion
seemed TO strike the wheels of the LOGON
Dtive and cars, aud for moment t. check
its headway. The glass in the windows
was shattered to fragments, and the frigh-
tened Passengers were impressed with
The belief that the boiler of the locomo-
tive had blown up. The concussion
seemed to go diagonaily across the river,
and evidently followed the course of the
same for some dist ,nce. The inmates Of
. house nearly opposite were badly shak-
en- up. The house rocked as though in
be grasp OF fearful hurricane the clock
was thrown from the stand, the crockery
rom the shelves, and the inmates rushed
,ut in great terror to find out the canse
If the unwonted phenomenon. 1t was
distinctly felt at Pa,kers Landing, and
,y a gentleman on horse back at the
Marlin farm six miles from that point.
An Oil City gentleman, who was at the
sands wells at the time, heard the explo
ion distinctly. lie states that it was so
oud that the workmen thought boiler
lad exploded near at hand. The ground
where the magazine had stood was torn
lp as by some coHvulsi0n of nature.-
The trees and bushes around were shat
cred and Invested of their limbs, and the |
ops of large old trees wererwi-ted off as
they had been mere twig.. The site
Doked as if whirlwind had enveloped |
and exhausted its power for harm
AS soon as the explosion occurred, men I
rom Scrubgrass and the neighborhood |
ushed for the magazine. A terrible
cene met their view, but without wa ting
D examine the site, they proceeded to
earch for the bodies Of Wright aud No
lie. They were literally bl,wa to
'agments, and only acca.ionally could
it of flesh. bone or cl,thing be founa
Its OF clothing were found on the trees
nd bushes surrounding the cave on the
Yer bank used for the magazine. 80
Dmp'ete was the work of the DESTROYER
is supposed ID, bodies were blown into
toms which fell in the river. .s--.
The Oh City accommodation camo with
hairs breadth of being destroyed
D Que moment more il would have been
recuy opposite the magazine, aud with
$ freight Of human beings been torn
to pieces. Those on board the train
ave reason to rejoice in escaping from ,
he terrible fate that would have met
lem had the train started a moment ear
'r. Happily this great destruction of
|e and property was averted ;