Union County courier. [volume] (Elk Point, Union County, D.T. [S.D.]) 187?-1913, 1892-06-10
BY FIRE AND FLOOD.
DISASTER IN THE PENNayl.
vANIA OIL REGIONS.

DISASTER IN THE PENN8vi.
vANIA OIL REGIONS. ss#
Two Hundred and Fsstv Peop,. rAe.AA
TO he Burned 70 Death or DrevneA~-
OIL Tanks Pour ferth Their Dsstructave
In Secs Of E1smU.
The oil regions Of Pennsylvania wero
visited Sunday by disaster from flre
and water that IL only eclipsed IN tho
history Of the State BY the memorable
Hood Of Johnstown, Just throe years 80. !.
A Ptttsburg dispatch says: II Il im-
possible at this time to give anytAins
like an accurate idea Of the loes 81 llfss
and property, as chaos reigns thrOuth-
out the devastated region and terrible
confiagration still RACES in OIL City. It
10 safe to say that not less than 100
lives have been lost. Nearly one hum !.
!dred bodies have already been recovesedf
and many people are still missing. The
number may far exceed 15O, but this q )
regarded as conservative estimate.
! The property loss will reach far Into
millions. Az Titusyilie thu 1oaA tos 1ll 1
,Hnatsd g q ,SQo, ,Q0Q: Qn xl1 f. G
40; Cory, 10. .OO0g Il6Gd MI,
goo, and surrounding country prohxhlt
% million more.
ling throughout Western and Northern
Pennsylvania almost necessarily, and
for the last three or four days the
ldownpour in the devastated regions
had been very heavy. The constant
rains had converted all the small
streams into raging torrents, so that
when the cloudburst came Sunday
morning the streams were soon beyond
their boundaries, and the great body
OF water came sweeping down Oh
Creek to Tltusville, which is eighteen
miles south OF it's source.
Z The lower portion OF the town Was
soon inundated. The flood came 30
quickly that the people had not time to
reach place Of safety. The water
soon swept number Of oil tanks down.
the stream, and In some way not known
they were ignited. In less time than IL
takes to tell the story the flames spread
to the surrounding buildings and before
they could be subdued flvc blocks had
been burned.
The Oil from the scores Of broken
tanks ran into the creek and was ig-
nited by floating debris. In few min
utes the creek was ablaze from shore to
shore, and as 1t was carried down the
stream death and destruction followed
In its wake. Everything inflammable
took fire and by the time 1t reached OIL
City all the bridges between the two
points were consumed.
story of the Disaster.
At Oil City large proportion Of the
population was distributed along the
banks and bridges of the Allegheny
River and Oil Creek watching the rise of
the food In both streams. At the time
an ominous covering Of oil made its ap-
pearance on the crest Of the food pour
ing down the Oil Greek Valley, and tho
foreboding waves OF gas from distiliato
and benzine could be seen above the
surface OF the stream. People began to
slowly fall back from the bridge and tho
creek, but they had hardly begun to do
so when an explosion was heard up the
istream which was rapidly followed by
two others, and quick as a flash Of light
ming the creek for distance OF two
miles was filed with an awful mass Of
roaring flames and billows OF smoke that
rolled high above the creek and river
hills.
"Run!" yelled hundred voices, and
the people turned like stampeded cattle
and started for the hills. The panic
stricken crowd shrieked madly In their
efforts to escape. Women and children
were trampled under foot, and about
twenty were severely bruised and had
to be picked up by few Of the cooler
heads and carried out Of harms way.
Almost as quickly rs the words can be
written fully 5000 people were on the
streets wild with terror, rushing to tho
| hat Ntov
and scores Of men, women and children
were knocked down and trampled upon
both by horses and people In the mad
flight for places Of safety. just as
this frantic mass OF humanity had
started up Center street the second
explosion occurred, knocking many
people down, shattering the windows In
the main part OF the town, and almost
Transforming the day to night with the
Immense expanse Of smoke. Hundreds
of people thought that the day Of judg-
ment had come, and many prayers were
heard mingling with the moAns aud
lamentations Of tho fleeing multitude.
The heat was intense, and the weird and
awful spectacle presented to the panic-
stricken people was that cl0udburst
of fire. Lordered and overcapped by Z
great canopy Of dense, black smoke.
Men wept and women tainted. Many
left everything behind them, and ran
or were helped to the hills, where. after
they were out OF danger, came the anxi-
ETY. and suspense for relatives and
friends who had been along the creek
watching the food when the avalanche
OF flame came.
Most OF the bodies recovered bear evi-
dencc Of having met death from burning
oil, many Of them being burned almost
beyond recognition, and several Of them
In such terrible manner as to leave the
bodies without the least semblanco Of
human form.
A bird s-eye view of the situation -
the smoke from the burning oil on tho
waters rolls away discloses pitiful
,sight, nothing but mass OF burned and
flooded ruins from Monroe street east to
the most eastern line Of the city limits.
The streets lie filled full OF debris, over
turned houses half burned, parts OF what
were once railroad cars. and empty oil
barrels. A great deal OF live stock WINS
lost, and 1t will take days to get the
| streets In passable condition.
Tho loss In the county by washouts
and loss Of bridges will be enormous.
There is not q county or township bridge
for many miles that is not washed out,
and the roads In every direction are
nearly impassabie. The Western New
York 4 Pennsylvania and the Union 4
,Titusville Roads 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.
Oil City is eighteen miles from 1itus-
vile. The towns along the creek are
Boughton, Miller Farm, Pioneer, Pc
,troleum Center, Rynd Farm. Housewife,
and Nc Clintookville. Housewife has
about 1000 inhabitants and the other
towns about 400 each. OIL creek flows
through narrow gorge all the way, and
Is the towns are mostly situated on the
hills 1t is hoped there WAS no loss 9f
life. Communication has been cut OF
from these places, however, and nothing
10 definitely known.
Cal frsm the hc,ief Commtttee.