The Forest Republican. [volume] (Tionesta, Pa.) 1869-1952, 1884-10-29
AN APPALLING CASUALTY.
A HrNarR1ra DEATH FROM INJuR-
les AT BLAZING OIL WELL.
A Man burned Horribly ON his We'd
ding Day Lingers i'm Intense Sut-
ferfnn for Twenty Years.

A recent letter from Tidioute, Penn,
20 the New York World reoites the follow
ing "reminiscences of horrible catastro-
phe: The announcement of the death Of
Wallace Riley, at Saylorsville, Ohio, re-
calls the first terrible casualty in the his
tory of petroleum development in this
country, of which disaster he was the last
surviving victim. 1t left him a blind
and helpless cripple aud 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, 1861, there was a cluster of
wells on Oil creek yielding from 100 to
800 barrels of oil day. Harley & Mer
rick sank well to the depth of 200 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 16 the drill had gone
to a depth of 800 feet when it struck
vein of oil and gas, and instantly the oil
rushed up the five and half inch tubing,
hurting the tools high in the air, and
gushing up in a 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
vile. He was to be married that even
ing at s o'clock to the daughter of a
farmer who lived on Oil Greek, near the
Harley and Merrlck we'll Riley went
with his prospective father-in-law and
Joined the crowd at the flowing well.
The nature of petroleum gas was then
unknown and while the crowd stood
about, with no thought of danger the
gas from the squirting well was slowly
spreading in every direction and filling
the air with its presence. There was
no hre nearer than quarter of a mile
to the well. That was in the boiler
house of a well then drilling. BY z
o'clock in the evening the gas from the
flowing we'll had reached this boiler and
taking fire in q second the whole oil
was in a flame. With a crash and
roar like the discharge of field of ar
tillery the fountain of oil became
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
indescribable horror ensued Scores of
people were thrown to the ground by
the explosion and surrounded by the
burning oil. The most of these managed
to reach 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 a distance of
quarter of a 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
killing the engineer, Wesley Skinner.
Among those who were prostrated 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 a neighboring shanty.
Within the 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 producers, from
whom Housewife was subsequently
named and whose income from oil wells
at the time of the great disaster amounted
to 81, 900 a day, was standing near the
trench bhis man was digging when the
a in
the air and thrown more than twenty
feet away, alighting in a pool of blazing
oil. He rose TO his feet and ran, all
ablaZe, for a short distance and fell. He
was seized by several men, his burning
clothing extinguished and he was carried
to a shanty. Not vestige of clothing
was left upon him except his stockingi
and boots. His hair was burned off az
we'll 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 tC
his lawyer. In this will he left S100,
600 to the poor of Warren county, but h,
died before he could acknowledge anC
sign the document.
Beside Mr.. Rouse, twelve dead bodie
were taken from the flames before the,
were entirely destroyed. Twelve mel
who were known to have visited tn
spot, strangers sightseeing in the oil re
gions, were believed to have been anon.
the victims Of the disaster, as they coulC
not be found and were never heard o
: afterward. Thirty-four men were res
cued as Wallace Riley was, but thei
injuries were so great that twenty-five o
them died.
The scene of the height of the fire
described as having been the most fright
ful and at the same time grandest spec
tacle ever witnessed. The flow of O.
continued unabated for months, and a
no human power could eXtinguish tn
flames continued burning furiously
The well finally exhausted itself and th
fire was at last conquered. Hundreds c
thousands of barrels of oil were cor
gumpd and fha wall which would bav