New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1885-02-13
THOUGHT IT WAS AN EARTHQUAKE
AN OIL FIRE CAUSED BY AN EXPLOSION.
NEw-JERsEY AND STATEN ISLAND sHAKEN-DAN'
GER TO MANY FACTORIES.

NEW-JERsEY AND STATEN ISLAND sHAKEN-DAN-
GER TO MANY FACTORIES
Centreville Bayonne aud Bergen Point, group
of manufacturing villages In New-JeIsey, we 70
explosion which took place IN the oil rennery
works of Lombard, Ayres & Co., at Bayonne'
after BY people LYING s on sne Island
the shock was felt. Every one who heard the ex,
plosion and listened to the loud rumbllDg sound
which accompanied II was thoroughly f[ightened1.
The explosion was followed by fire which look
hundreds of men. several engines and SIX hours OF
hard work to put out In the damaged iac .;,,;
than goo men TIVE %sre Railroad Of New
Jersey about half mile from tne nun IN StndrS
Bayonne Close by are the works OF the stannard1
works Keeping more than 200 men employed,
the Ocean Oil Works, where 500
men find employment and Osgoods ENC . lact ug.
which paws wages to 200 men every saturday
These places were all in imminent danger from
the sparks which few from the burning OIL IN the
Lombard Works. the glass In many or their WIN
dows being shattered into fragments. The employees
all rushed from their shops, and for short time
all work was partially aby Tanks Which, HoIds
5000 barrels of oil and is built in the centre OF the
yard surrounded by several tanks OF lesser dlnen-
sons nearly all of which were full. Inc Dig one
fortunately contained only about 500 barrels at
the time Of explosion The oil only reached rev
feet from the bottom, but the mouth OF the struct
ure, all Of which is of iron, was hrmiy screwed
down. The generation Of gas became dense ana
created such sudden expansion of air that the
iron covering at once gave way aud was snot INTO
the air with lightning speed, accompanied by
roar louder than the booming OF hundred Dig
guns. ,
Presently hugo tongue Of fame went upward
into the clear sky and was visible Tor miles AROUND.
1t leaped to the other tanks four OF when re-
sponded by lifting their fiery columns OF hame
high into the air The Fix thousand barre yesss
like rolls of cardboard. and then melted down TO
the ground. The, same happened to two OF the
others but the oil the remaining two was trans
ferred to q safe distance after most stubborn en-
deavors blythe crowd Of willing workers, aided by
the fire company from Bayonne with hre engines
under command of Chief of Police Fl; Van Bus
kirk The office, distant about a hundred yards
from the fire, was almost entirely demolished by
the explosion. There had been three men IN 1t
merry of Bergen Point clerk, and Frank Halliday
the office boy. Two of them had just left the build
ing for dinner, but McGillinery, who was leaving
his stool, was dashed against the ground and show
ers of broken glass came rafting down on hun, In
ficting, ugly gashes on his face and head: he was
assisted to safe place BY a. his wonnas m
cold water and had him taken home;
The Office furniture was smashed the ground i,n,c
a radius of couple of hundred yards or SO every
thing was turned topsy turvy
In Bayonne Centrevile and Bergen Point, from
half a mile to a mile away, little boys
shook GsTS AI and the glass in many windows
Island the shock was felt with tremendous force
from end to end of the island. People rushed from
their houses pale with fright and every one who
had a watch looked at the time. for the rumblng
NOISE was believed TO be an earthquake. Robert
Murray of Grand-st., Jersey City, who works In
the wax-work factory owned also by Lombard
Ayers 81 Co., and about n quarter mile away from
the burning tank. said to a reporters; 1T was the
most awful noise, and 1t frightened us all. our
whole concern shook for about half minute, and
thought we going 20 be swallowed up. Ii
was stronger than dynamite ana worse Whlle III
lasted than the earthquake in August
j. T. Riddle, paymaster said: Il know every
man Of the many hundreds employed here. They
are all good orderly citizens and content with their
lot. Some men said it was dynamite, but that was
merely joke. as everybody is talking about that
explosive now. 1t was that mysterious generation
of gas which one cannot properly account for that
caused the explosion"
A. +. Robinson is a foreman in the works. Talk
of dynamite" said he, g but there must be some
thing in oil more powerful, for never felt or heard
such shock. was flung to the ground by 1T and
stunned
Michael Lynch, of the Standard Oil Works SAID
that his place was nearly half a mile away and
added, We afraid to resume work after the
explosion. thinking ii was an earthquake, until we
saw the fire." Pat Mccarthy is an engineer in the
same factory.i.It shiyered the windows of our ma
chine room to atoms" he said
L. S. McGillinery, the injured man. said that he
expected TO be able to resume work shortly Jacob
G.. Fruchan, the owner OF cigar store at No. 100
LibeTty-st was the steamship Don Sylvester nt
Snug Harbor Staten Island and said that he felt the
ship shaking and The sea agitated as would take
place in an earthquake. William L. Lcman, the
superintendent, and H. Palmer, the manager, did
tirely subdued The damage is $4,000 covered
Inv insurance.