Baxter Springs news. [volume] (Baxter Springs, Kan.) 1882-1919, 1890-09-13
Ns.u..u e.s rAenomsnon In Indiana.
Scientific American .

tnrillers uenr WAldOn, winch 10 elgnS
smiles southeast Of Shclbyviile, Ind.,
were startled by q terrific explosion.
when they reached the Ogden grave
yard, which is on a'kluff near the Flat
Rock stream, they discovered that
nearly ten acres of earth was In conf
motion. Geysers were shooting up to-
thcheight Of six and eight feet, and
gas was blazing from ten to flfleen
feet above the water Of the gcysers.
The river bed was torn up and the
water had stopped running below the
graveyard. Flames are still shooting
from fly different assures in the
earth.
The county had not been considered
in the gas belt, although local coInpa-
MES have sunk many wells. At Wal.
dron 4 sufficient fow Of gas was found
10 supply the citizens with fuel. No
hody thought that a gusher was slum-
boring so near the town, and few have
entertained the idea ofperlnanent flow
of gas In this locality. A little stream
known as Flat Rock runs southwest
rrnly through tho county, and about
three miles south Of WaldroR Oh the
hanks Of Flat Rock, IS sort Of butte
upon which county graveyard has
been in use for many years. Tho riv-
or at this point runs west, and Cons
creek empties into II from the north,
forming q kind Of horseshoe-shaped
strip ofland opposite the graveyard.
Edmund Cooper owns the land on the
north side of the river, and it was in
this strip that the explosion occurred.
J. II. Lowe, who lives on the Coop
or farm. heard a terrific report, aud felt
the earth quivering beneath his feet.
lie went toward the graveyard, and
was soon confronted by a sheet OF
flame 200 feet high.
Then fifty or more fountains OF tre
burst from the earth. These were in-
terspersed with six or eight active gey-
segs. At the east side Of the eruption
large stack of straw was in flames
and field of green corn was droop'
ing before the excessive heat from the
ten acres of flame. The river bed was
torn to pieces, and hugo assures were
receiving the rivers water. Sheets OF
flame swept over the water, and an
area Of about one acre was quickly con.
verted into q huge hole, from which d
continuous roaring aud rumbllng
sound proceeds.
Within the bed of the river and for
one-eighth of mile along the bed OF
the stream rents were seen in the earth
and river bed. At the bend OF the
river, which is of limestone, IS a frac-
ture quarter of mile in length and
stones the size of q house have been
hurled from their places. The grave.
yard wac shaken mp, the skeletons OF
the dead being plainly seen through
the fractures of the earth. Gas fows
freely from the entire surface OF the
ten acres.
1t is said when the explosion occur.
red, rocks and trees were thrown 2OD
feet high.
A correspondent of the New York
Sun who visited the locality the next
day says. Birds, fish. snakes and rab"
bits in profnsion are dead, and the fish
thoroughly cooked, are thickly scat
tered through the waters.
A log fire was blazing on the ten
acre tract when, without warning, the
earth belched forth flame. Great
rocks and trees were hurled skyward,
a part of the adjoining graveyard was
torn off and reduced to dust, and the
waters of Flat creek were reduced to
foam and steam. A vast pocket OF
natural gas under or near the log fire
had exploded. The gas had accumu-
lated apparently under the creek bed.
held in by u thick stratum OF blush
clay, and fed from the great depths
below, whence the somewhat meager
natural gas supply of Shelby county is
obtained.
The explosion threw great volumes
of the blue clay into the air, and left
yawning caverns some of them big
enough to hold a house. Through the
'raverns aud holes the gas continued to
flow after the explosion. It blazed
tiercely above the trees. The gas es-
caued with such pressure that the
flame was forced as high as the tree
tops. The flames at times would rise
100 yards. This continued all of one
afternoon aud the same night.
On August II, the fire had been ex-
tinguished, but the gas, under reduc-
ed pressure, still escaped. The gas is
odorless, like the Pennsylvania natur-
al gas.
The general conviction is that no
other agency than gas could have pro-
ducel the effect. Neighbors who saw
the flying debris and heard the roar
ing noise say they thought for a mo-
ment that tornado was doing the
mischief and many hurried with their
children TO places of shelter.
One Of the marvellous results is the