The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1886-03-22
GRAND AND TERRIBLE SIGHT
Flames Ascend 200 Feet and illuminate
the Country for Twenty Miles.
The Roar Of the Conflagration Distinctly
Audible at q Distance of Five Miles
The Blazing Gas at Murraysyille.
rFrom Our Second Edition of susdav.1


PTrrsBURG March 20.-Dispatchss from Muir
affairs. There are Eve wells pouring all their
gas into the mains Of the Charters company.
which are broken. Tho result Ii that the gas
goes into the open air and spreads through the
town. The well which is on fire is big one.
and the flame is shooting up $50 feet AS the
wind is very strong, there is great danger that
the other wells will take fire. There is no pros
pect, just now. of the Charters company being
able to shut of the gas, as the pipes are burned
off close to the ground. If the other wells
are ignited and the fire sprea'- to the
gas which is floating in { town,
there. will be succession of expi. ,s and
fires. The Philadelphia Natural Gas Company
have great deal of propertyin the vicinity. and
have been doing all they can to prevent the
spread Of the fire. A special train has been
sent out from Pittsburg by the Philadelphia
company, with fifty men ON board to work
the broken main. Cots and other necessities for
the wounded of yesterdays explosion have also
been sent to MUIR aysville by the same company.
The people are moving their goods from their
houses along the line near the leak. Two OF the
Taylor family. who were burned yesterday. are
dead. and three other persons are expected to
die
Lateral midnight the flames were burning
fercer than ever, but, through the efforts of the
three hundred workmen of the Philadelphia and
CHARTERS companies. they were held within
bounds. There are three breaks in the sixteen
inch main, from which the flames are leaping hun
dreds Of feet In the air, Illuminating the country
for twenty miles. The excitement is intense,
and thousands Of people are docking into the
town from all sections Two hundred men, in
charge of Superintendent Gillispie, of the Phil
adelphia company, are digging a ditch for the
purpose of getting at the pipes under ground.
They are fifty feet from the fire, but the
heat Is so intense that they are wear
ing wet cloths on their heads and
a stream of water is constantly playing over
them. two-story frame house has just been
pulled down to prevent the spread of the flames
The derricks of the King well, No. 3. and Will
hanson well have also been torn down, and wa
ter is being constantly poured on the other
d derrick J in the vicinity People living
gas have been driven from their houses by the
heat, while the air is sitting from the escaping
gas. Arrangements have been made To send a
detachment of Battery B, P. n. g., from Pitts
burg, in the morning, to cut off the connections
pertinent Is successful it will prevent the
spreading of the confagration, and proba-
bly, extinguish it. 1t is estimated by
the Philadelphia company officials that 3 OOO.OOO
cubic feet of gas are burning and 8 DOC. 900 cubic
feet escaping every hour. The roar of the gas
can be heard at Monroeville five miles away.
No person in the town has gone to bed tonight
The streets are thronged with people, and the
hotels are crowded with curious strangers
Another death from yesterdays explosion has
just occurred-Miss Lacock, the young lady who
was visiting at the Taylor house at the time,
died in great agony shortly before midnight
One more of the Taylor family is likely to die
The others will recover.