Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-06-26
NO ONE TO BE BLAMED
For the Loss of Life in the Flood
and Oil Fire at Titusville.
A VISITATION OF PROVIDENCE,
In the Opinion Of the Jury That Has Just
Reached q Verdict
A RECOMMENDATION AS TO OIL TANKS

| rsrEcTAI. TELEGRAM TO THE DIsPAToH.l
TITUSvILLE, June 25-The jury sitting
in the case of the 60 persons whose lives
were lost in the recent food here returned
the following verdict to-day:
| TITusvILLE. PA, June e5.
CoMNoNwEALTH OF PENNsYLvAKIA,
CRAWFORD COUNTY. {
| At inQuisition taken at Titusyille,
Crawford county, Pa. on June to June 20,
| inclusive, A. D., 1889, before Simon Strouse,
| acting Coroner of said county, upon the
view of the body of John f. Leurs. then and
there lying dead, and upon the oaths of the
TTndersig4ea. re- III; Il; W. Potter G. 5; Seymour
L. HershberG and a. Il. ii"Sana.
jurors being sworn To inquire on the part o.
| the Commonwealth as to when, where and
| how the said john F. Lenrs cnre to his
| death, 10 say that it appears by the evil
| dence before us that the said John f.
| Ieurs, and 60 other persons (whose names
| are given below. came TO their deaths by
drowning or burning. or both, by reason of Il
| fto'i of water, accompanied by fire, which
occurred al Titusville, between the hours of
| 10 O'clock on the evening of Saturday, June
4, 1892 and o'clock on the afternoon OF the
| following Sunday.
| Causes OF the Great Flood.
| The flood was caused by an unprecedented
| rainfall between 3 o'clock and midnight of
/ Saturday, June 1 1892, along the northerly
| headwaters of Oil Creek, and covering an
area, OIL Creek watershed, of 10 to 20 square
miles. At Titusville the flood reached its
| height about o'clock Sunday morning, and
commenced to reoede slowly soon after
| ward.
| Inasmnch rs it has been stated in the pub
| lie press all over the country that the Hood
ana damage to life and property at Titus
| yille and along Oil creek WAS largely caused
by the giving away of certain dams above
ar 4 rl1nn To GG n N
If any blame could be attached to the
owners of said dams. and with the following
general results: The small dam below Spar
IansburR went cut on Saturday evening, but
the amount of water held by 1t WAS small
and could have done no harm.
We visited the large dam at Spartansburg
reported to have gone out and to nave
caused most OF the trouble), and examined
several reputable witnesses who were
present during most OF tile mood. This dam
we judged to be 50 to 90 eet long, and about
10 teet high, and its pond covered something
like 400 acres OF land. Fully three-quar;ers
to seven-eights of the entire length OF the
original dsn still stands intact, and practt-
cally unfnjured. The narrow f1ume at one
end went out, and .about eight feet OF the
other end of the dam was carried out by the
Undermining OF the railroad embankment
The Jams Not So Iuch to B.nm-.
But it was shown by the testimony that a
part O. Saturday night the wafer was pour
ing four fee: over the dam, and on Saturday
evening the backwater at and below the |
cam WAS more than two feet higher than the |
top of tile dam, and that on Monday morn |
ing, when the food at Titusville had entirely |
passed, the water was still pouring several |
inches over the top of the spartansburg
dam, showing clearly that no part OF the |
pond water passed the dam uni Il the flood |
had entirely subsiGed at Titusville.
Two small dams at Riccville went out on |
Sc sturday night. but neither of the ponds |
hsd sufficient water to materially augment |
the general flood at Titusville. IA mics
below.
At Canadohta Lake there was at the time
OF the rain fall no dam to opstruct the pas
SAGE o. the water except lignt iron nsh
screen set on tho bottom of the outlet. A
outlet with an opening about l2 feet wide to
allow the water to pass. During the latter
part OF the ra in fall this roadway acted as
partial dam, but the lake was raised only
about four feet above its normal level. Be-
tween and 10 O'Clock on Sunday morning
this roadway was washed ont, but the
drain to its normal level until the following
day, and its water could not have reached
Iitusville, IL or Is miles away. until the flood
there had partially subsidized, nor in suff-
cient quantity to do harm.
An Eye-Witn-ss OF the CIoudburst.
A witness at Spartansburg testified that
between 10 and II inches of water fell in a
cylindrical-shaped pail between O'Clock P
NJ and midnight on Saturday. This if added
to the ell tire area Of rainfall, and occurring /
as it did at time when the ground was
thoroughly saturated and streams unusually
full from heavy rains during the month pre- |
vious, would account for the entire flood.
The dam across Oil creek, near the head of |
the raceway in Titusville, turns water over
the flats in ordinary freshe,s which would
otherwise pass down the regular channel. |
We think the public interests require that
this dam be removed as soon rs possible
and the water in Oil creek be allowed to pass
down through Its natural Granddaughter
compensation, OF course, being made for
any vested rights which would be affected
By its removal.
Between 2and 8 o'clock, when the food
was nearly at its height. fire broke out at
or near the Crescent OIL Works opposite
Kerr street and SoGn after fires broke out
above Perry street. Oil and benzine appears
to have flowed out upon the water from re-
1inery tanks, to have taken fire, and the
burning oil and benZine f1oated down the
current around and past the houses and
man nufactories.
how the OH Vas Ixnited.
We have not dsemed it important or
practical BILE to ascertain exactly how this
floating oil or benzine took fire. One house
was seen floating down the stream with
blazing lamp in it, while there were many
floating or flooded buildings with lights
burning in them. The oil aud benzine or their
vapors could have and probably did ignite
from some of these floating lights
This floating and burning oil undoubtedly
caused more tfan half the loss o: properly
anu Il fSA AG1So Piopotiioh vi bue Gehtus |
Some OF the bodies were burned beyond rec
ognition, and many were drowned in their |
frantic efforts to avoid the fire, who but for
the fire, would have been saved. Had there |
been no fire there wouid have been COM
pa rativeiy little loss of life.
The custom o. storing and manufacturing |
oil and its products where it is mosG conveu-
lent for its owners, regardless of endanger-
ing the lives and property of Others has |
been ior years allowed to grow up here, as
well as all over the oil regions and for this
reason we can attach 10 blame to anyone in
particular tor the present loss of life.
Nobody in Particular to B.ame
We have seen the sad effects of this Gus
tom in this flood, both here and at Oil City, |
and the lesson should not be lost. Floods
are liable to occur at any time and cannot be
prevented. 1t is entirely practicable, how
ever, to so locate and construct and guard
oil tanks and other recentacles of infan NINA |
bic petroleum products that they cannot be
foated away or the contents floated cut of
then, by WA err but for both public and pri.
ya re sa .ety they ought to be located AWAY