Evening journal., 1892-06-06
FLAME And FLOOD
TitusyiIle and Oil City Deyas-
tated by Both.
SCORES OF PEOPLE DEAD,
Drowned or Burned by Seas Of Dlaz-
ing Oil.


and tho city Is Flooded by an Ava
Ianehe of water That sweeps Down
upon It as the Deadly Waters Swept
Through III Fated Johnstown-Rean-
cries and oil Tanks Catch Fire and the
Greal Expanse of Water Becomes an
Ocean of FIame-over Fifty People
Drowned or Burned-At Oil city
whole section Is Suddenly Inundated
by Fire and Flood, and It Is Believed
Hundred People Are Lost.
TITusvILLE, Pa, June 6.-Titusville part
ly shared the awful fate of Johnstown Sun
day Flood and fire have done their deadly
work and fully fifty people We're drowned or
burned to death. The loss by destruction
of property viii aggregate fully Sl,5OO,OOO
All this loss is in this city, and the surround
ing country has also been devastated
Early Sunday morning the huge milldam,
owned by Thomson & Eldred, and located
at tile little town Of Spartansburg, seven
miles above this city, suddenly burst. This
body Of artificial water was a mile and
half long and one-fourth Of a mile in width
and quite deep, and the great flood thus
suddenly let loose made of this valley, in the
course of only a few brief moments, roar
ing Amazon The sudden avalanche Of
water descended when most of the in
habitants were sleeping, completely and at
once shut them off from the higher por-
tions Of the city.
The fire boxes Of the boilers at the city
water and electric light works We're quickly
flooded, thus throwing the city into almost
total darkness and rendering the hydrants
at once useless for fire purposes, but no one
imagined that fire was TO add to the horror
Fire Follows Flood.
At o'clock a. m. a dull heavy explosion
was heard and Immediately heavy streak
of lurid flame fully POO feet in height pierced
the inky darkness and threw a glarng
light over the vast expanse OF angry wa
ters. At once tho cry rang out from a
thousand throats that the Crescent Oil re-
fnery was on fire. Never before did fire
seem TO spread so rapidly and in less than
three minutes from the time the explosion
was heard the vast plant was one sheet OF
seething flames.
Then it was that terror reigned supreme
Thousands of people rushed pell mel
through the streets tumbling over and
knocking each other down in their aimles.
endeavors to escape from what they ap
peared to imagine was the crack Of doom
The bright light revealed truly appalling
sight On the roofs and in the windows o
the upper stories Of most Of the houses il
the flooded districts appeared men, womer
and children in their night robes, and al
piteously appealing for help.
Oil creek, now swollen to 500 times IL
natural size and reaching from one hillside
TO the other, presented an appalling picture
Floating swiftly by on its bosom were al
sorts Of animate and inanimate objects
tanks, stills with the steam in them an,
blowing off houses, barns, horses and cows
and clinging to various objects were score
of human beings their terror stricken
countenances gieaming white in the yiyi
light.
A Veritable Sea of Fire.
About one hour from the time the Crescen
works caught, oil discharged from an ovei
turned tank further up the creek reache
the Crescent fire, where it at once ignited
and in a moment the creek was one vas
sea of fire This blaze spread to the Inter
national Oil works, owned by J. p. Thoma
& Co., and they were soon in blaze. The
came the large refining plant and soap fal
tcry OF Rice s. Robinson, which the flame
in a short time reached and consumed. o
sped the fire, destroying the Oil Greek ri
fnery and wax plant, the large furnituI
factory, store and storeroom Of Casperso
q Rowe, on South Franklin street, tn
Cullen hotel, the Western New York an
Pennsylvania freight depot and abor
seventy-fiye private dwellings.
NO lam Il
Justice to the scene Of terror and confusic
that prevailed in this stricken city as Il
sun went down last night The illumina
ing gas works, the electric light plants, q
city water works We're all under waite
while the natural gas mains had been turnC
of at OH City This left Titusville withoi
water, fuel orlight, at least from the sourc
from which these necessities have been a
customed to come. Parents and childr,
stood by without the power to aid one a
others struggles against the clutches Of d
flood, Until eventually they went down
rise no more. As sad and as siokening seen
as ever transpired in the valley of the Con
maugh three years ago We're repeated her
while thousands looked on unable to ave
them.
Lost wife and Seven Children.
One father is a maniac over the loss Of /
whole family, wife ana seven chidre
one a babe three days old. A brother W
rescued from a burning building, where
was forced to leave a sister, her husbal
and two children to perish. Many are {
fathers, mothers, sisters and brothers wa
dering aimlessly in search OF missing on'
who in all probability will never again
heaBd Of
Brave men with ropes tied about the
waists breasted the terrible current resC
ing the unfortunates, who for hours h
clung to wreckage patiently awiting thi
turn. A little four-yeaf-old boy was plac
in the hands of friends. When asked whe
his parents were, he replied with sC
"Papa and mamma bof drowned" Flu
seventy-five people are yet unaccounted f
It is an impossibility, however, to give
this time accurate figures of the loss Of Ii
Fully 1000 people saw five strong men p
ish together. Holding TO piece Of timl
they We're struggling to make the shore, a
Just as they reached out for grasp at
bank a neighboring oil tank exploded, I
river of burning oil enveloping the me
Death came almost instantly.
A mother with her .babe clasped to
breast with one hand, while with the OIL
she clung to piece Of plank, drifted W
great force directly toward the ID. A. v