Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1884-09-26
AN APPALLING CASUALTY.
A LINGERING DEATH FROM INJUR-
les AT A BLAZING OIL WELL.
Wan Burned Horribly on his We'd
s1ng Day Fingers ina Intense Suf-
fCring for Twenty Years.

n recent lttltF lIOm llulOute, Penn.,
to the New York World recites the follow
ing "reminiscences of horrible catastro-
phe; The announcement of the death of
Wallace Riley, at Saylorsyille, Ohio, re-
calls the first terrible casualty in the his
tory oil petroleum development in this
country, of which disaster he was the last
surviving victim. 1t left him q blind
md helpless cripple and subject at times
to fits of insanity, during which he seemed
to suffer all the agonizing experiences
through which he passed on the day of
the great disaster twenty-three years ago.
In April, 1851, there was a cluster of
wells on Oil creek yielding from 100 to
300 barrels of oil day. Harley & Mer-
rick sank a well to the depth of200 feet,
but as the yield was small they took out
the pumps and started the drill to make
the well DEEPER About o'clock in the
afternoon of April IS the drill had gone
to a depth of 800 feet when it struck a
vein of oil and gas, and instantly the oil
rushed up the five and a half inch tubing,
hurting the tools high in the air, and
gushing up in fountain fifty feet in
height. The well was spouting at the
rate of 100 barrels an hour. In very
minutes petroleum was running in streams
in every direction. Dams were built and
trenches dug to collect the fluid that was
running to waste, and in a short time a
lake of oil surrounded the derricks.
Wallace Riley, then a young man of
twenty-four, arrived at the scene of
the excitement at o'clock from Mead
villa Ia To l,a rial 4baE
ing at s O'clock to the daughter of a
farmer who lived on Oil Creek, near the
Harley and Merrick well. Riley went
with his prospective father-in-law and
joined the crowd at the flowing we'll
The nature of petroleum gas was then
unknown and while the crowd stood
about, with no thought of danger, the
gas from the squirting we'll was slowly
spreading in every direction and filing
the air with its presence. There was
no ire nearer than quarter of mile
to the well. That was in the boiler
house of a well then drilling. BY
o'clock in the evening the gas from the
flowing well had reached this boiler and
taking fire in a second the whole oil
was in a flame. With crash and a
roar like the discharge of field of ar
tillery the fountain of oil became a
stream OF solid fire, falling back to the
ground, over an area of 100 feet, in blaz-
ing globes of boiling oil. A scene of
Undesirable horror ensued. Scores of
people were thrown to the ground by
the explosion and surrounded by the
burning oil. The most of these managed
toreach the outer circle of the fire with
their lives, but all were horribly burned.
At the time of the explosion everything
in the neighborhood for distance of
quarter of mile took fire,
and shanties, derricks, engine houses and
dwellings were at once wrapped
in flames. The boiler at Dobb's we'll,
eighty rods from the original fire, blew
up with tremendous report, instantly
killing the engineer, Wesley Skinner.
Among those who were Frustrated by the
first explosion Of the gas was Wallace
Riley, He succeeded in gaining his feet
and, making his way through the burn
ing oil, fell, all ablaze, on the edge of
the fiery circle. He was seized by others,
who plunged him in hogshead of water
and carried him to neighboring shanty
Within tho circle of flames, not ten feet
from the edge, at the spot where Riley
escaped. four bodies could be seen boil
ing in the seething oil. H. r. Rouse, of
Warren county, one of the most promi-
nent Of the early oil producers, from
whom Housewife was subsequently
named and whose income from oil wells
at the time of the great disasteramounted
to 81, 000 day, was standing near the
trench this man was digging when the
explosion occurred. He was lifted in
the air and thrown more than twenty
feet away, alighting in pool of blazing
oil. He rose to his feet and ran, all
ablaze, for short distance and fell He
was seized by several men, his burning
clothing eXtinguished and he was carried
to shanty. Not vestige of clothing
was left upon him except his stockings
and boots. His hair was burned off, as
well as his ears, his eyelids and his fin
gers. His eyeballs were entirely burned
out His body was blistered from the
breast down. He never lost conscious
ness but lived nine hours, during which
time he deliberately dictated his will to
his lawyer In this will he left 500,
900 to the poor of Warren county, but he
died before he could acknowledge and
sign the document
Beside Mr.. Rouse, twelve dead bodies
were taken from the flames before they
were entirely destroyed. Twelve men
who were known to have visited thu
spot, strangers sightseeing in the oil re.
gions, were believed to have been among
the victims of the disaster as they could
not be found and were never heard OF
afterward. Thirty -four men were res
cued as Wallace Riley was, but theil
injuries were so great that twenty-five oil
them died.
The scene of the height of the fire is
described as having been the most fright
full and at the same time grandest spec
tacle ever witnessed. The flow of OF
continued unabated for months, and al
no human power could extinguish thu
flames continued burning furiously
The well finally exhausted itself and thc
fire was at last conquered. Hundreds O
thousands of barrels of oil were con
Sumed, and the we'll which would have
been an enormous fortune to the owner,
ruined them.
Wallace Riley was burned in almos
exactly the same manner as the unfortu
nate Mr.. Rouse had been. For week,
his sufferings were intense, and he con
stantly begged to be killed. The young
woman to whom he was to have beer
married on that terrible evening was hi
constant attendant during all his suffer
ing. His life was saved but he was left
Bightless and without hands, while hi
face was terribly disfgured and his lowe
limbs were feshless and drawn out o
shape. His mind was also badly affected