The Forest Republican. [volume] (Tionesta, Pa.) 1869-1952, 1892-06-08


ming and wading, but number of them
were yet in the upper stories or in the
water when the fire came and
THEIR FATE WAS QUICKLY SEALED.
Some of them were seen to jump into
the water to escape death in the flames.
From the remnants of the only buildings
remaining in this waste after the flood
thirteen persons were removed in a boat,
three of them severely burned but
alive. The distillate and benzine on
the creek came from a tank lifted by the
flood and is supposed to have been ignited
by spark from some wells on the west
bank of the creek, above the Lake Shore
tunnel.
THE FIRE SHOT UP THE CREEK
as well as down, and several tanks were
soon on fire at a number of the refineries
up the creek. The damage to property
by fire alone can not be even approx
imated. The Bellevue Hotel, Petroleum
House, the Oil City Barrel Factory, the
new building of the Oil City Tube Works,
the big furniture and undertaking es-
tablishment of Paul & Sons and about
l50 dwelling houses have been totally
destroyed.
The bare description of the scene wit
messed when the fire started would more
than fill every inch of space in the BLIz-
zARD and not approach the requirements
of the description. In writing at all the
mind reverts at once to
THAT AWFUL SIGHT
that Niagara of fire, that veritable rush
ing hell of flame and smoke. May the
Oil Creek Valley-or any other valley
never be filled again with such an avail
anch of destruction; may the Grim
Reaper never ride again on such waves
of death anywhere on earth. Frenzy,
fright, prayer and unreasonable grief;
HOPE, ANGUISH, DESPAIR AND DEATH,
the living and the dead. o, the pity of
it! the pity of it all! No wonder that
people fell everywhere upon their knees
and prayed to the Almighty to save
them, and that those who did so were
not confined to the members of churches.
That the main portion of the city was
not wiped out was due TO the splendid
work of the firemen and the fact that
the wind was blowing from the east.
Chas. Frank, his father and Marion
Crowther, who live couple of miles out
the Dempseytown road, were on the mar
row stretch of land above the Lake Shore
tunnel when the explosion occurred and
began
REMARKABLE FLIGHT FOR LIFE
which they succeed in winning. Mr..
Crowther had an arm broken and was
otherwise injured, but all of them sue
ceeded in reaching the mouth of the
tunnel and running into it, just as the
great wall of flame closed upon it. They
reached the other end of the tunnel in
safety.
Let us not touch upon the horrible de-
tails SO long as they may be avoided,
but describe the progress of the flames.
That part of the city lying north of the
Boiler Works along Seneca street and
between that street and the w. N. Y. g.
p. tracks, which portion of the city had
been inundated by the flood, was the
first to go. 1t embraced nearly if not
fully one hundred residences, and they
were quickly
BURNED TO THE WATERS EDGE,
and the food was leaping over their
ruins. Once again let us defer the hor-
rible details to be recorded.
Sweeping down TO the Centre street
bridge across Oil Creek, the flames be-
ton through the Third Ward. The
Bellevue barns were the first to burn,
quickly followed by the hotel, Paul &
Sons furniture and undertaking estab-
lishment, the Petroleum House and the
twenty buildings lying between the
Creek bridge and the alley below the
Petroleum House. A quarter of mile
below the flame swung in from the river
and burned the Oil City Coal 81 Lumber
Co.'s mill, the Chautauqua & Sandy
Lake Ice Coz building, the Debolt resi-
dence and @. Roess' tenement house.
Above the Creek bridge, besides the
residences in the inundated district as
noted above the Oil City Barrel factory,
the new buildings of the Oil City Tube
Works and the intermediate buildings in
that section were destroyed. A train
had been run out on the Nypano bridge
to hold it down. Six of the cars were
burned and the bridge badly damaged.
The Greek bridge was saved by the
HARD WORK OF THE FIRE DEPARTMENT,
and the fire was kept to the west side of
the creek, though it twice leaped over
and caught the belfry of Trinity Church
and the Derrick office. The latter was
not damaged except by water but the
building had to be abandoned temporar-
lily, and this mornings Derrick was ac-
cordingly issued from the BLIZZARD