Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1885-07-15
TWO LONESOME BROTHERS.
The Last or Ten Companions Who started
Out rs Oii-wcH shooters.

The Last or Ten Companions Who started
Out as OIi.wcn shooters.
A Duke Centre pa telegram says
" Yes, my brother and ! feel FATHER
lonesome when we look back and think
over the past five years." said one OF
the famous Gallagher brothers, oil-well
shooters. "a gang Of ten of u.s."
said he, started out in the torpedoiDg
business then, and my brother and !
are the only ones Of the party left.
don't suppose, taking it alto
gether. more than three pounds Of the
other eight were ever found. They
never found as much as vest-button
of poor Lew Gray's. lie was carrying
few cans of nitro-glycerine on his
back in bag to save carriage, and
while he was passing through the town
Of Red Rock he slipped and fell. That
only left five Of us. There wasn't
much Of Red Rock left ten seconds after
Lew fell with his load. Rem Garth
waite was the next one to 60. He was
getting ready to torpedo well at Rich
burg, and something went wrong with
the business. \ can of nitro-glycerine
exploded. Ren's cap was found hanging
on n tree three hundred yards away, and
three fingers and foot that had belonged
to him were picked up in the vicinity,
and that was all any one ever saw Of
poor Rem. Joe Ross and four others Of
our gang went to do a job at Corwin
Centre. No one ever knew what caused
the explosion, because neither Joe nor
any Of the other four were ever found.
1t was impossible to tell who the bits
Of scattered remains that were found
belonged to, and the coroner's inquest
was Jumped. and the remnants were
buried together. Bill Grant was I'm
loading wagon-load Of nitro-glycerine
soon after that at Bolivar, and was
passing the cans out to another man in
tho way some Of the reckless handlers
Of the stuff have habit Of doing-that
is, throwing them out for the other
man to catch, the same as you've seen
men unload bricks. by and by the man
who was catching the cans let one slip
through his fingers, and it fell on a
stone. Bills widow hadn't much of
him to bury. | don't know what the
other mans name was. or whether he
left widow or not. So that left my
brother and me the last of the gang.
We've shot hundreds Of wells, | guess,
and while we don't have any more fear
or nervousness in handling the deadly
stuff than you would in handling so
many sticks Of wood, we know
what it can do, and we favor it all we
know how. Still, it's only matter Of
time, | suppose. One of these days some
unlooked-for thing is bound to happen,
and then my brother and ! will be scat
tered around like the rest Of them were.
| might take some other kind of a Job,
where there was less danger and the
pay Just as good, but ] don't know. |
do know that | wouldn't hire out to
work on a railroad. When | see train
men running along over the tops of
freight-carS it makes me shudder. Why,
they are apt to fall and get a leg or arm
taken off any minute. But maybe they
get reckless and forget what danger
they're in. They make me nervous"
The lonesome brother turned to a
workman who was standing several feet
away. Hey, Johnny " he shouted,
" chuck me another can Of glycerine.
| guess she'll stand another"