The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1886-03-16
pEsrnuorlyE ERE.
Toledo. LlnSOed OIL Mills Blown up Ant
Burnod TO the Ground.

Toledo. LlnSOed OIL Mills Blown up and
Burned to the Ground.
TOLEDO, March 15.-The mills OF the
Toledo Linsced Oil Company, owned by
VGrney, Taylor & Co., and the largest in
the country, were entirely destroyed by
Gre at an early hour this morning. At
1:45 A. M. q tremendous explosion aroused
the entire city, and when the people
rushed to the scene the mills were ablaze.
The origin ot the fire is unknown, the
theory Of spontaneous combustion and
that Of incendiariBm both having sup.
porten. The building where the fire
started was devoted 10 a new patented pro.
cess for extracting the oil from the crush.
ed seed by percolahon, naphtha being the
agent employed to effect this. There were
over one hundred barrels Of this danger.
Gus fluid in the building, stored in iron
tanks, which exploded almost simultane.
ously. The shock was like an earthquake.
The fire department had not yet reached
the EOene, and but few spectators, or the
loss would have been terrible.
Frank Longmore and VIM. Kirkham,
two Lake Shore railway employees, were
standing across the street from the build.
ing and the broad sheet OF fame was
driven across, enveloping them, scorch.
ing of their hair and eyebrows, and burn
ing their hands and faces I'LL the skin
hung in shreds. Their injuries, while
serious, are not fatal.
The night watchman OF the Dayton and
Michigan round house was In the cab Of @
locomotive, blowing an alarm on the
whistle, and was blown out OF the cab by
the concusSion, but received only few
bruises,
James Stark, q telephone boy, who was
on duty at railroad Office near the round
house, had his face badly cut by window
glass, but Ia not seriously injured. Mum.
erous minor casualties from the explosion
are reported.
The inAammable material Of the build
ngH, filled with linseed oil and ilaxseed,
and the wood work, saturated with oil,
prevented any portion Of the works being
saved. The company'g Office was also
burned the Dayton and Michigan Road.
masters Office, bunk rooms and blacksmith
shop, and several smaller auxiliary struCt-
ure5, were also burned. Three or four
cottages near by were badly scorched, as
we'll Rs partly wrecked by the explosion,
while the window glass In all structures
within several squares suffered more or
less,
There are three large buildings and
several smaller ones. All are destroyed
totally, except the boiler house. The old
process mill was valued at sixty thousand,
lts machinery at twenty-five thousand /;
new process mill and machinery cost forty
thousand. These figures include stock Of
oil and seed on hand In each. The Var.
yam Manufacturing Company, which owns
the patent on the new process, lose 81, 600
worth Of machinery. The total loss on
linseed oil works, Including the Yaryan
Company'B loss, 10 Sl80,000 Loss OF Of
others, including railroads, $4,000. The
insurance on the new process mill is put
at thirty thousand, Of which the New
York Mutual holds ten thousand. The
other buildings and machinery was In.
aured for atty thousand Blx hundred, ii
twentysevsn companies, none holding
over fiye thousand. The company will
rebuild at once and continue The business.