Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1889-08-05
He LIVED IN FLAMES.
William H. Marvin Earns $1,000 by
Plunging Into Burning Gas.
Hundreds Watched His Daring Feat as He
Stopped Daily Waste of Eleven Mil
lion Feet of Gas.

NEW YORK, July % "A special to the
World from Ruthven, Pa, says:
''Three weeks ago last Tuesday the
Ruthven gas well was set on fire. 1t is
supposed that the incendlary was some
disgruntled laborer. The cap over the
top of the pipe was so fixed that the es-
Gaping gas rushed out directly towards
| the ground and made safe approach to it
impossible. The roar of the gas rushing
out could be heard in KingsviIle, three
milesaway. Local mechanics found it
! itapaSsible to remove the cap Each one
ga~a51ft up after the first trial The heat
/ was simply uncomfortable and grew worse
| every day. Gas experts from Ohio were
called to the scene, but they. too, gave
it up. The ground around the well be-
came baked. and when workmen tried
to cool it with a stream fr ON fire en-
CINE the water exhaled in a cloud of
steam before it had fairly struck the
ground. Ali idea of cooling off the
ground was given up.
The owners of the well offered $1,000 to
any one who would remove the cap.
VIM. H. Marvin, a mining expert, who
had some acquaintance with natural gas
undertook the job. He tried several
sciences for removing the cap by aid of a
long lever, but they ali failed for the
reason that his lever would melt away
under the fierce heat as soon as he got it
near enough to work. He determined to
go near enough TO the well himself to cut
off the cap. 1t looked like certain death
for anyone to approach the well, and
even the owners advised Marvin to give
up the idea. He was not easily fright
ened and Saturday prepared to make the
aTtpmnf Ia a CIIit Of 81 that
was unique in its way and yet proved
successful after a little tinkering. It
was his purpose to go right up to the well
through the gas flame and place cold
chlseI against the pipe, while his assis-
tant pounded the chisel till the tap gave
way. The first attempt was a signal fail
ure. Marvin only reached the fame
when he retreated. He wore q heavy
pair Of cowhide boots, covered with wet
cloths, and before he got to the fame the
cloths had dried and burned away and
his boots were half burned off. SO
great was his hurry to escape that he
dropped his cutting contrivance, and was
dismayed to see it get red hot
before his eyes. In his next trial
he wore a pair of rubber boots, and
inside these thrust his feet wound in
dampened rags Outside the boots he
coat of asbestos was cone shaped His
arms stuck out through two holes IN the
cone, and were wound in several thick
nesses of wet cloth, which were covered
with a heavy coating of asbestos. His
contrivance for cutting the pipe con-
sisted Of a long and very sharp chisel,
fastened at right angles to an iron staff.
In approaching the well he slid the cone
along the ground seeing his way through
a glass set in the front. His assistant
was robed like himself, and carried
long iron bar on which was fastened q
small faTrier 8 hammer.
~ Two hundred people saw the daring
E4nen make this approach to the flame,
land as Marvin disappeared in its circle a
shudder swept over the onlookers.
There was not a half dozen in the crowd
who expected to see Marvin come out
alive but III a minute-it seemed like an
age-they saw the edge of the chisel rest
ing up against the pipe, just below the
cap. Almost breathlessly they watched
the assistant make a stroke at the chisel
in a clumsy kind of way. He did not hit
it. The second trial was more success
full; he hit the chisel squaTely, bur
lightly. The cone in the ring of the fire
wavered, and cry of 'FHe's burned to
death!'' went up on all sides. The cone
moved again, the chiseI fell and the peo-
pie could see that Marvin was coming
out. Everybody thought he had given
up in sheer despair; but not so. He had
come out of the fire to get rest and air.
He was nearly suffocated. His assistant
lost no time in getting away from the
fearful heat.
When the cone was lifted off Marvin
for he was too weak to lift it off himself
he was a sight to behold. His face was
scarlet and his eyes protruded like door
knobs. He was half roasted and 1t took
him two hours to recover. Then he
pluckiIY determined to try ii again.
He had his cone thoroughly drenched
and he fixed up another chisel, saying, as
the cone was put over him, that he would
succeed or never come out alive. Again
the hammer and chiseI were brought into
play, and little by little the people could
see that the man s skill and pluck would
win All at once the roar of the well
changed to q shrilI whistle, and the cap
was blown hundred feet upward while
Marvin 5 cone stood at the foot of the
pipe mOtiOnless. 1t was some minutes be-
fore it moved, and the people thought
again that he had persisted in his attempt.
His assistant was badly burned and had
to be taken to the hotel for assistance.
When Marvin s cone began to move the
people sent up a tremendous. shoutsand@
the more venturesome ran fOrwaTd7as far {
as they could on the hot ground to reaeh
him He was taken out and reriEeG.
He was badly scorched, but not hurtpth-
erwse The thing was a success and
Marvin had earned his $1,000. This after
noon Marvin put a continuance on the
pipe to shut off the flow of gas, and now
fer the first time in nearly three weeks
Ruthvau is quiet from the deafening roar.
Marvin s cap is shaped like the letter T "a
and was placed on the pipe after three
trials. The company estimate that over
II 900 600 feet of gas has been consumed
each day.
Marvin said to-day that it was the
nearest approach to death he ever ex-
pected to experience until his time came.
EVERY breath, - he said, "seemed
to burn like fire, and twice I nearly
tainted. My mouth was so parched that
l could not even moisten my lips with my
tongue The suffering was dreadful,
and 1 would not pass through the expe-
rience again for fifty times $1,000. This
time, however, l was bound to win.
Despite my covering my body is blistered