The Portland daily press., 1892-06-06
PECULIAR DISASTER IN
PENNSYLVANIA TOWNS.
A Freshet Served to Garry Blazing
Oil Through the Streets.
MANY LIVES LOST AND GREAT
DAMAGE DONE TO PROPERTY.

Oil City and TitusviIIe the Scene of the
Worst of the Trouble-Oil from Leak
ing Tank Ignited by aLocomotive-An
Explosion Fo1lowed-Men, Women. and
Children Made Mad Rush for the
Hills-some of the Particulars.
| OH City, Pa, June 5.-Never before
in the history of Oil City and the oil
| country has there been such disaster, ex-
| citement and turmoil as this city is now
witnessing. At 11.45 o'clock this morn
| ing, the city and country for miles
around were startled by two explosions,
occurring almost simultaneously. An
| Associated Press correspondent was
standing on Centre street, in front of the
Derrick Office. and on the approach to
| Oil creek bridge. The creek was rag
| ing torrent and Centre street for one
square was solid mass of humanity.
Five hundred to 1000 people had ap-
preached this point of vantage watching
the muddy waters rolling by. At about
| 11.30, upon the opposite shore of the
stream, a greenish fluid was seen floating
on the water. This increased rapidly in
quantity and extent and at last covered
almost entirely the muddy waters of the
creek. A smell of gas and oil was per-
ceptible. Then, about 200 yards up the
stream, mass of flame was seen to
shoot heavenward. Run" yelled an
hundred voices, and the people turned
like stampeded cattle and started for the
hills. Hardly had they started when a
terrific explosion rent the air and the en-
tire creek, for hundreds of feet on each
side, seemed one seething mass of flames
and smoke. Women and children were
trampled under foot and about twenty
severely bruised had to be picked up by
a few Of the cooler heads and carried out
of harms way.
About half mile from the postofice
northward from here on the Western
New York & Pennsylvania road, tank
filled with gasoline was standing on
siding. Some young men noticed the
| plosive nature, seeing shifting engine
approach they ran up the hill Looking
| down as the engine passed they saw a
mass of flame shoot into the air and the
earth shook violently. The engineer and
fireman jumped from the cab. but it is
supposed they were burned to death or
killed by the explosion. In an instant
the flames swept rapidly over the entire
upper part of the city which was flooded
| by the oily waters of the creek.
| Men, women and children moving
from their houses were caught
by the deadly flames and if not
| burned to death outright were drowned
in the raging flood. So far seven CHASTITY
| bodies have been taken from the flood
| and are now lying on the railroad track
unrecognized. At this end of the city,
an iron and wooden bridge went down
five minutes after the fire started. The
huge structure was broken and swept
away like wood. From this bridge
southwark for quarter of mile the en-
tire town was destroyed and the fire is
still raging. The fire department are
making heroic efforts to stop the flames
and risking their lives every instant, as
it is not known at what moment the
immense oil tanks here will burst and
send their burning contents down
upon them. The Imperial Refin-
ing Company's large tanks are
visible from here and nine of them
are burning. 1t is feared the burning oil
will again come down the creek and If it
should little of the business portion of
the city will remain standing. People
are panic stricken all over the town and
all the afternoon parents have been rum
ming madly about looking for their lost
children. No one has any idea of the
number of lives lost. For miles up the
creek on both sides everything is in ruins
and hundreds of families are rendered
homeless. When the two explosions oc-
CURED this morning, people were knock
ed down by the force of the shocks, and
every window for two squares along
| Centre street was broken. The water in
Oil creek is now falling slowly and it is
| hoped the worst is over.
The property loss is estimated at from
| $3.50, 900 to million dollars. Up to p.
m. from Is to 20 bodies were recovered
and Identified and the death list will
figure up much larger, some placing it
as high as fifty. Fifteen were seriously
| injured, of whom four cannot recover.
| 1t is reported that Sam Yeager of Rouse
vile, saved the lives of 25 persons float
| ing down the creek> He used his boat
during the height of the flood.
TERROR IN TITUSVILLE.
People Stood for Hours Expecting Death
in Flame or Flood.
TITUsvILLE, Pa, June 5.-The city of
| Titusville has been visited during the
past "a hours by one of the most disas-
trous fires and one of the worst floods in
the history of the region. Oil Creek has
overfowed its banks from the west end
above the water and gas works to the city
line below, and for hours it assumed the
proportions of an almost resistless flood,