The daily gazette., 1879-06-12
THE soHU1LKrLL AsEAsE.
Lightning 6ets Fire IN ~ Oh H.

As"CHJ ohhW 08B0E&h 0A@AB
PHILADELPHIA, June 1l.--During.s =
thunderstorm about 1870 this morning a
lighting struck the pump hopse 0f TIE
Atlantic Refining Company at Point
Breeze on the Schuylki1l, River, In the
southern section Of the city. The works
OF the company, together with the w0rks
OF the Atlantic Petroleum storage 49,, q
both under the management 0f W Aroen,
Frew q Co., occupy, with their various
buildings, tanks, &C., about twenty-five =
acres of ground, Along the river FRONT
were stored about 25,O00 eesee Of 9ils,.
and in the river by the .wharves were, . !,
number of ships and barks, loading or
loaded with oil. The pump-house vfier6f'
the lightning struck il . long fra1ness
building in which was stored a,mAes gff
machinery. In few minutes, the flames
communicated to a large filling Ware :
house where the barrels are filled. This
was soon envelopeds in flames, which
then extended to the SuperiptendentiS, !,
office and residence, thence to the cooper
shop, then to the long hne of shed On !
the wharf. BY this time San Immense {
quantity of crude and refined oil was5
ablaze. The burning oil was running in !
all directions and the long line Of wharf
property was soon one continuous blaze.
by the time the city fire engines reached
the scene five ships on the river and 1O,-
900 barrels of oil and the surrounding
buildings were burning fiercely for dis
tance of over thousand yards and the
heat had become so intense THAT very
| little headyyay- could be made against the,
fire. The first of the vessels in the river
to catch fire was the Fa, an Austrian
bark, loaded with II, 600 cases Of oil and
it was soon burned to the water's edge.
l. The fire then communicable to the, +,
Rech, a German bark from Leghorn,
which was empty the Giuseppe Q1lntol,
an Italian bark from Genoa, which Aads
reached the wharf only about an hour
before the fire started, and was also ehaps'
ty the IliOn, q Bussisn bark with abosts
1000 barrels of oil on board. and ths
Hudson, a Norwegian ship Of 1000 tons,
which was nearly ready for depafttre
with 1000 barrels of Oil. All those vassi
sells were destroyed, but others lying
nearby, among them the Norwegian bark i
were towed out of danger BY tugs. On
the opposite side of the river 3 humber
of other vessels were anchored which,
owing to the tide, were unable 70 get
away and great Consideration and cOpfti-
son prevailed among the crews. AZ
about o'clock the line was drawn and
the fl e spread no fur her, but at 10 T,
clock tonight the area which the the
had covered was still a mass Of 6arheS.
1t will probably continue to burn till TO-;
morrow at least and possibly for several
days. No estimate could be obtafded
from those interested as to what the to-
tai loss of the company will be. It has
been variously estimated at from $500;
,, 600 to $4,000. It is understood the
company has no insurance for this l6ss,
! but that the Atlantic Company (Which
I is now controlled by tie Sta, dard OIL
Company PARTICIPATES in an insurance
e fund which is pooled by the various oil
t comp ,nies. The hulls Of the vessels
burned were all insured abroad The
value of the total cargoes DESTROYED d, os-
timated at $4,000. The cargo in none
of them was insured because they were
not yet fully loaded, except the Fa, which
had an insurance of $14, 900 in the ins0-
rance Company Of North Amsrica. e,,,s,,
Although there were numerous explo-
sions no lives were lost and no serioss
injuries resulted to anybody, bnt several
narrow escapes were made. oa9y sso1sA
The lightning which started the fire at
the Atlantic Company's property struck
three other different establishments II
he vicinity, but no serious loss resulted
t them. 'ft-l al'i ~ ,.i-ari7 f7ty+.-e1