The Atlanta constitution. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1885-19??, 1892-06-07
for hundreds of feet on each side seemed
q seething mass of flame and smoke.
Trying to Escape the Flames.

The panic stricken crowd SnI1ekeu ma1u-
ly in their efforts to escape.
Women and children We're trampled I'M
der foot and about twenty severely bruised
! had to be picked up by a few of the cooler
| heads and carried out of the way.
Oil creek is not usually more than Ia 1901 GOT
| Allegheny river and about one hundred
yards wide. Directly at its mouth Is the
| iron bridge of the New York, Pennsylvania
and Ohio railroad. About two squares
bridge Of the city connecting the third
ward with the city. proper. On the east
| side of the creek is Trinity Methodist
| church on one side of Center street and
| The Derrick office and the oil exchange
| opposite. Across the street and built up
squarely from the waters edge was the
| hotel and livery stable of J. b. Reinbold
and the furniture house of Paul Sons.
| These buildings were built on a narrow strip
| between the creek and the hills which rise
precipitously Immediately back of them.
A Tank of Gasoline Did 1t.
About a half mile from the postoffice,
northward from here, on the Western New
York and Pennsylvania railroad was q tank
filled with gasoline. Some young men no
ticed the tank leaking and knowing it's ex-
plosiye nature and seeing q shifting engine
approach ran up the side of the hill, where
they turned, and looking down saw the en-
CINE pass. A mass Of flame shot 100 feet in
the air and the earth seemed to shake with
awful tremor. The engineer and fire
man were seen jumping from the cab and 1T
is supposed at this writing were burned to
death or killed by the force of the explosion.
Caught in the Flood of Fire and Water.
In an instant the entire upper part of the
city, which was flooded 10y the oily waters
of the creek, and 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 food
At this writing seven ghastIy bodies have
been taken from the flood and are lying on
the railroad track unrecognized, waiting
for their friends to come and claim them.
Sewpt by the Flood.
At this end of the city another iron and
wooden bridge went down five minutes af-
ter the fire started, the huge iron struct-
ure being broken and swept away like
| so much kindling wood. From this bridge
southwark for n quarter of 4 mile the en-
tire town is destroyed and the fire is still
| raging. The fire department is making he
| roic efforts to stop the flames and rlsklng
their lives every instant, as it is not known
| ut what moment many of the immense OIL
| tanks above here will burst and send their
| burning contents down upon them. The
| Imperial Refining Company's large tanks
are visible from here and all are burning:
| 1t is greatly 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.
| Paul & Sons furniture house, four
| story, immense building was swept away
| with a $4,000 stock Of furniture, etc.
| Reinbold's hotel and livery stable were
| destroyed in a few minutes and Reinbold
| and two others who have not yet been lden-
| tilted were burned to death. These three
! bodies were recovered and it is not known
! how many more are lost at this writing.
| About half of the third ward is destroyed
! aAd the fire is still doing its awful work
| il this part of the city.
Mothers Hunting for Their Children.
i The people are panic stricken all over
! the town and all the afternoon mothers
| were running madly about looking for their
| lost children. The fathers OF famllles are
! searching for their children and endeavorlng
to get them all together in a place of
| safety. 1t is almost impossible to Ind
words to describe this awful calamity and
! all this time 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.
The fire came so suddenly and so unex-
pectedly that very little If any property
| was saved along this stream. The sky for
miles around is still black from the smoke
of the burning buildings and Oil tanks.
The Waters Receding.
The water In Oil creek Is falling slowly
| and it is hoped the worst is over and no
more lives will be lost In the upper part Of
! the town about one hundred dwellings,
were destroyed by the fire and owing to
| the depth of the water the fire department
| could do little TO stop the flames. This
| part of the city cannot be reached at all
| and Seneca street up to within four blocks
of the postotlice is blodkaded with lumber
and the roofs of houses which have floated
| from above.
| The sight from the hill above the town
! is awful and almost beyond description.
| The loss of property is estimated from
| S750,0OO to a million dollars Up TO D
| O'Clock this evening from fifteen to twenty
| bodies hare been recovered and identified
| and the death list will figure up much
| larger, some placing it as high az fifty
| The third ward from Seneca street bridge
| to within nearly q square of the Lake Shore
| depot is as level as a field.
Meadville Swept Away
| A telegram from Meadolle says the dam
! age there cannot now be estimated. A
| gorge which formed i'll deep ravine north
| of town, forming 1t lake of three acres
| twenty feet deep, broke and swept over half
| the city. The New York, PENNSYLVANIA and
| Ohio railroad east of Aleady1lie is dam
| ported but in the loss OF property the re-
! suit is frightful.
At 4:30 o'clock this afternoon tee-
gram was received from Iitusville, pac'
ing the loss of life at $50 in that town Hi;
| creek and flooded the whole fiat as far
as Spring street, forming a lake nearly
! half a mile in width and about two-thlrds
| of a mi 3 III length.
The Work of the Lightning.
A short time later the Acme oil refinery
| was struck by lightning and the fire added
| terror to the scene. The flames spread
! rapidly and soon the five blocks from the
| ferry to Drake street, including Washing
| ton. Franklin and Mate streets, and from
/! the Western New York and Pennsylvania
| railroad to Spring street, were laid waste,
| Half a dozen of the largest Oil rehneries,
| among them Rice q Robnson's, Schwartz 8
| and the Acme, were burned. The only
| buildings said to be now standing IN the
| district mentioned are the Iitusville iron
| works and the depot of the Western New
| York and Pennsylvania railroad. Inc
| water began to recede about noon and IS
! now going down rapidly. A large number
| of bodies have been recovered and the
| work is still going on.
Two Hundred Lives Lost.
| Pittsburg, Pa, June "a dispatch from
| Oil City says the loss of life there will
| probably reach 200. Emlenton, another
| oil town between Oil City and IitusVllle,
| is also reported having suffered greatly
| from the flood.