Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1892-06-10
THE NEWS IN BRIEF.
An Awful Disaste


Fire and Flood Combine TO Destroy Life
and Property i'm the Pennsylvania OIL
Regions.
Early Sunday morning disaster of great
magnitude and destructiveness to life and
property visited the oil regions of Penn
sylvania, Oil City and Titusville being the
chief sufferers. Towns along Oil creek
were inundated and people were forced to
the hills for safety. For nearly month
it has been raining throughout western and
northern Pennsylvania almost necessarily,
and for three or four days the downpour
in the devastated regions had been very
heavy and when the cloudburst came the
streams were soon beyond their boundaries.
The cause for the suddenncss of the rise
in Oil creek, which came up almost with
out warning, was the giving way of mill
dam seven miles above Titusville, the creek
reaching height not known before. Sew
eral oil refineries were struck by lightning,
and property not swept away by the flood
was devoured by flames, the eXpanse of
water becoming a sheet of fire from the es-
capped oil on the surface being ignited. At
Oil City from 500 to 1000 people had gath
cred near the creek to watch the flood. a
greensh fluid was noticed on the water
and this increased rapidly in quantity and
extent, and at last covered the creek. n
smell of gas and oil was perceptible, and
several men began discussing the danger
should the oil catch fire. Hardly were the
words uttered when about 200 yards up
stream a mass of flame was seen to shoot
into the air, and the people turned like
stampeded cattle and started for the hills.
Hardly had they started when terrific eX-
plosion rent the air, and the entire creek
and for hundreds of feet on each side
seemed one seething mass of flame and
smoke. The panic-stricken crowd shrleked
madly in their efforts to escape, and women
and children were trampled under foot.
About half mile north of the Oil City
post-office near the railroad tank filled
with gasoline stood on a siding. Some
young men noticed that the tank was leak
ing and knowing the fluids explosive ma
ture and seeing a shifting engine approach
they ran up hill. AS the engine came
near mass of flame shot a hundred feet
into the air and the earth shook violently.
In an instant the flames swept over the en-
tire upper part of the city. Men, women
and children who were moving from their
houses, were caught by the deadly flames
and if not burned to death outright were
drowned in the raging flood.
The loss by washouts and destruction of
bridges will be enormous. There is not a
county or township bridge for many miles
that is not washed out and roads in every
direction are nearly impossible. Railroads
have not attempted to run trains and will
be obliged to spend an enormous amount
of money before trains can be run in any
direction.
1t is impossible to give an estimate of
the number of lives lost, but it will doubt
less reach several hundred. Many bodies
have been recovered and many people are
still missing. The fire departments made
heroic efforts to stop the flames at great
risk to their lives, as burning oil tanks
were on every side, which might at any
moment send the burning oil down the
creek again. Meadville and Cory met
with great property loss, but no lives were
lost. At Titusvile the loss is estimated at
S2,OOO,OOO, Oil City 81, 800, 900, Cory $50,
600, Meadville S150,00O, and surrounding
country probably million more. Titus
vile citizens at noon Sunday met and sub
scribed $4,000 for the immediate relief of
the destitute, providing new quarters, food
and clothing, and generous subscriptions
have been made by other cities for helping
the afflicted towns. 1t is reported on good
authority that John ID. Rockefeller, presi-
dent of the Standard Oil company, has
given instructions to draw on him for
800, 900 for the relief of the suffering dis