The Ohio Democrat. (Logan, O. [Ohio]) 1886-1906, 1892-06-11
AN AVALANCHE


CITY, Pn.-The Mad Flood, Filled with
Gas, becomes Ignited by An Engine.
OIL CITY. Pa, June 6.-The most APP
palling calamity in the history of Oil
City fell upon it Sunday, resulting in
the destruction of life and property
which as yet can only be approximated.
Thus fur forty lives are known to be
lost. Hundreds of people are missing,
and il is believed the loss OF life reaches
seventy-hve or more. At 1880 o'clock
Sunday forenoon large proportion of
the population of the city was distrib-
uted along the banks and bridges of the
Allegheny river and Oil creek watching
the rise of the flood in both streams
The chief cause of the rise of the lat
ter is due to n cloud-burst above Titus
ville'Saturday night, and which resulted
in the loss of a number of lives at that
place. At the time mentioned Sunday
afternoon an ominous covering of oil
made its appearance on the crest of the
flood pouring down the Oil Creek val
ley, and dangerous and foreboding
waves of gas from distillate and BEN
zine could be seen above the surface of
the stream. People began slowly to
| fall back from the bridge and the creek,
| but they had hardly begun to do so when
an explosion was heard up the stream,
which was rapidly followed by two
| others, and quick as u flash of light
ming the creek for a distance of two
miles was filed with mass of roaring
flames and pillows of smoke that rolled
| high above the creek and river hills.
| No pen can picture the scene then wit
| nessed-one that will always live in the
memory of those who saw it. Oil City
is bound on all sides by steep hills. Oil
Creek comes down the valley from the
north. and just before it's confluence
here with the Allegheny is crossed by
bridge to portion of the city em-
braced in the Third ward, which
| lies along the west bank of the
creek and the north bank of the river.
| Almost all that portion of the town was
| on fire within three minutes from the
time of the explosion and no one
knows as yet how many of the inhabi-
| tants are ashes in the ruins of their
| homes. Your correspondent stood at
the time of the first explosion at the
east end of the creek bridge mentioned.
| Almost as quickly as the words can be
written fully 5000 people in that por-
| ton of the town were on the street,
wild with terror, rushing to the
hills. Men forgot that they were
men, and scores of men, women and
children were knocked down and tram
| pied upon both by horses and people in
the mad fight for places of safety. Just
as this frantic mass of people had start
ed up Center street the second explosion
occurred, knocking many people down,
shattering the windows in the main
| part of the town and almost transform
ing the day into night with an immense
eXpanse of smoke preceding the second
burst of flame. Hundreds of people
thought that the day of Judgment had
come, and many prayers were heard
mingling with the means and lamenta-
tions of the fleeing multitude.
| The heat was intense, and the weird
and awful spectacle presented to the
panic-stricken people was that cloud
| burst of fire, bordered and overcapped
by great canopy of dense black smoke,
was falling upon the city. 1t was no
| wonder that people wept and tainted,
! leaving everything behind them and
ran or were helped to the hills,
and, after they We're out of danger,
came the anxiety and suspense of
relative and friends who had been
| along the creek watching the flood
when the avalanche of flame came.
| They have since been searching for the
missing ones, and the city Sunday night
was full of searchers. The flood in the
Oil Creek valley had inundated the up
per portion of the town, flooding from
| fifty to seventy-five houses along North
Seneca street, the most of their inmates
reached places of safety by the use of
boats or by swimming and wading, but
a number of them were yet in the upper
stories or in the water when the
fire came, aud their fate was quickly
sealed.