The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1877-1885, 1881-06-16
caused bv a spark from a locomotive

80 iShANA - oil "a Dioslph lOI4ONti
The city WAS swept by fire. only twC
or three buildings escaping Ever,
oil well vas burned, together VIII
10, 900 barrels of oil. By the prena
ture explosion of a torpedo At Rec
City a fire resulted which left nothing
of the town standing and CONSUMED
500 oil well rings" and 100. co bar
rels of oil In Nay and June OF las,
year Coz, 900 barrels Of oil. 300 iron
tanks, and several reineries and a large
amount Of other property were destroy
ed by fires started by lightning.
The oil regions are cut up by deep
r%avines or gullies, and the wells cover
the sides Of steep and lofty hills, a
we'll as every available rod IN the val.
leys. Rapid streams course through
the valleys and pour down the moun
tain sides. These streams are conduc-
tors of burning oil. Especially is this
the case where a burning tank is locat-
ed close to a creek, as many of them
are. The tanks are Sc strongly con
structed that they withstand the in
tense heat of thousands of barrels OF
oil burning within them for hours.
Finally the iron glows with a white
heat. The heavy top falls into the
cauldr"n Of boiling petroleum. The
flaming liquid runs over the top of the
tank. No matter what stands in its
way, it seeks its level. At last the
great iron bands around the tank
break, and the tank is twisted apart,
and falls to the ground with a crash.
Then thousand Of barrels of burning
oil pour down the hills to the streams,
and are carried by them on errands of
destruction. While a tank is burning
if it cannot be drawn off embellishments
are thrown up in the path the oil will
take when released. By this means
its further Ourse is stayed, and thou
sands of dollars worth of property
saved. These barriers are frequently
broken by the pressure of the burning
food, and its course to the creeks can
not be hindered. Then places far re
moved from the original conflagration
are in imminent peril.
Oil fires are frequently attended with
incidents Of a thrilling nature. In one
of the forest fires of last summer a for
ty-thousand- barrel iron tank filled with
oil was Set on fire at the head Of a
deep gully which was crossed by the
Kendall and Eldred Railroad on a
t~restle. The fire in the woods was all
about the ~trestle, and when a meSsen-
ger train approached it was not con
sidered safe t cross. There were fifty
passengers on the train. They alighted
and began to cross the gully on foot.
The revine was twenty feet deep and
fifty wide, with sloping sides. Some
of the passengers had crossed it and
climbing up the opposite uank, others
were still crossing. and there were
probably twenty five in the bottom of
the ~ravine, when the top of the burn
ing tank fell in, and a food of flaming
Oil was roaring down upon them. The
last person had barely climbed out Of
the gully when the flood OF flame swept
bv. The train had started slowly
across the trestle after the passengers
alighted, and had just cleaned it when
the oil rushed beneath it and set it on
fire.
When the fire swept Reed City away
in May of last year, a 10, 000-barrel
tank was burning fiercely, and a dense
column of smoke and flame arose to a
height of a hundred feet. The wind
was blowing in strong gusts. Sudden
ly a whirlwind caught the fire and
smoke at the tank, separated them
from it in a body. and carried the lurid
mass whirling and roaring upward at
least 200 feet. There the cloud was
seized by a strong current that hurled
it off in a westerly direction nearly a
mile. In this flight the flame descend
ed rapidly toward the earth again, and
n the latter part of its course fired six
oil wells, the derricks, P house, and a
1000 barrel wooden tank. The cloud
of the fire and smoke was then dropped
into the woods, where it started a de-
structive con1agration IN a district
that had been considered out of the
way of possible danger.
Fire was communicated to the woods
near the house of John Hutchinson.
James Rathbun and Walter Dye went
to help Hutchinson fight the flames
from the house was an 800 barrel tank
filled with oil on the other side was a
600 barrel tank. There were oil wells
and derricks on all sides. The fire was
an eighth of a mile away, and a strong
wind was bio wing it toward the house.
A burning branch was carried by the
wind and deposited on the 600 barrel
tank. 1t was 500 in flames. Almost
Immediately thereafter the other tank
caught fire. simultaneously, several
derricks were wrapped in flames. The
men were surrounded by fire. The heat
was insufferable. There was no escape
through the circle of flame. Hutchin~
son had ploughed his garden that day.
The only thing that he and his com
panions could think of doing was to
crawl to the fresh-turned ground and
lay their faces against it. Three feet
above them hung the cloud Of heated
vapor. In that position, and with
those surroundings, the three men lay
for five hours. Then the tank explo-
ded. The derrick and buildings had
peer consumed long before. Fortu-
nately the tanks were built on ground
the decline of which carried the OIL
away from the men. With the flowing
away of the burning oil of the fury OF
the confiagration was spent. The three
men were able to drag themselvef to Il
spring near by. There they were found.
badly blistered. Rathbun never C
cred his eyesight. The other men were
disabled for weeks.
AsHEvILLE ITEMs.-From the Citizen.
Miss Ellie Haywood is visiting Mrs.