Idaho semi-weekly world. [volume] (Idaho City, Idaho Territory) 1875-1908, 1892-11-11
IS HE A HO0Dod,;'
a Man WHO SEEMS 70 !.
SUED BY OIL coNFLAca.~ '''e

80, was n he ~.
% 'sei--rhres Years Later 4. Ky Il
messed Another Great oil DI.... w
1850 lie Wa. On Hand Asain'
In the spring Of 1861, 2 said / "a,
western railroad travelling agent. !. 1e q
TO the oil regions to seek nv ~. ss4
remember that got to d Iittls ~
called housewife about Sumo. = e. - 'ass
evening early in April. A dow,,n p's o.
had Just been struck there, an M y 4. ssl
spouting at the rnte Of 100 barrels \, Y NJ
Flowing oil wells were a great Il y W. g aoet
those days, for think this wus ' ~
second or third one that had hs,'.' wv y,
The oil was thrown into the NJ ~ st'atk
or more by this well, and az ths.s w "
way to store petroleum II No.
flowing about In streams On liz snpiI
All the engine fires about III ,.. sduu1
put out as sooH as the oil ha,,s \ ~ y ven
and score or more Of men and Mn ~ & snsh
to work digging trenches and tbro, NJ ssas
dams TO prevent the oil from spr ssSS'ug v
was one OF many curious sfectass, .as /
hurried to gaze upon the strange n, nAs
were grouped about the we'll a'sns ~
"A danger then unknown aco...
that great outpouring Of oil. A A
volume Of gas was generated AMI ' ~
creasing with the flow Of oil srrs ~, a' \,
in every direction. The well hss s'ck'y
sponting necessarily for two IN, M, - y. oss1
suddenly there came Il great Az snsa
mendous roar and the whole air ses,,'. "
sheet OF flame in q seconds TINA !. !
great jet Of spouting oil became / ri,. ~ 7.
liyid fire, while the volume Of ca a ,ha.sa
To the height Of more than hundrsS i Y Y
was flashing, exploding and lean;ra u.
ward IN ferucious tongues Of flame Y
derrick, building and engine honse ,. I,sg
an area OF seventy rods seemed Ia Il NV, III. =,
taneously wrapped In fire. Tho nsa uaF
spreading about, had come in coptas ~ w v
the fires OF an engine house nearly h. ~. !.
mile away, which was the cause - ~ Y. !.
great and instantaneous Contingencies y
AS soon as the column OF oil bacar,. Y
pillar OF fire the burning oil fell IN 49,
from fountain over space i No. 49,
feet in diameter, each drop coming doss
as blazing globe Of boiling petr,,l 49,
The ground around the well was ,ns $50, 81; I
of flame, which the falling oil const.s NJ
increased. Fortunately for mo 49, "
enough away to be out Of danger, but il, II.
sickening incidents Of the confapraiios
were plainly spread before me. and 9' / -
see them yet. Scores of the .bystans i.
were thrown fiat ON the ground IA th;sss
feet around. Many OF them reyained Az,
feet and came rushing, all ablaze from II.
seething fire. just within the awful c;, Il.
of the flames counted nine men bolino i.
the blazing oil for an instant. And ~
they were gone. could stand 70 spe L ' 4
more, and fed from the scene.
II never heard how many lives were IL
in that, the first, terrible oil conHaqratios
in the history of petroleum production. bnt
know that a score or more Of persm.
were reported missing during the fbns
lays | was there, and they were all Il.
lieved to have persisted in that fire.
Zone evening in February, 1854. bairy
on my way to Washington, | stopped n
in Philadelphia to sec friend ii MIN.
who lived in South Fifth street, nes,
Washington avenue. found him. and
during the evening went with him i
call on a mutual acquaintance who LIVED
in South Tenth street, near the syeDue
We did not leave there until quite late
On our way home, as we were walking
down Washington avenue, the sound efa
terrific explosion filled the air, and
close to us as almost to throw us to tie
ground. The next instant flames shot ID
nearly opposite to us, and in less than two
seconds a river of fire was running down
that side of the street. We narrowly
escaped it by running.
''An oil refinery or storage tank, LOCATED
in that vicinity, had exploded and in les
time than it takes me to tell it that whole
block was seething mass Of flames. The
burning oil ran down the side streets, on
the south side of the avenue, filling them
with flames twenty feet high and sweep
ing everything before it. | read in tls
papers next day that sixteen persons Wers
known to have persisted in the confagrs
ton, which ragged all night with awful
destruction of property, which was ths
second frightful one in the history OF petre
leum and the first to occur away from the
oil regions.
I'm 1880, having been for many years On
the Pacific coast, | returned east and
stopped at Bradford, then the great center
of oil production, to see a relative OF mine
who was an oil operator and producer,
learned in Bradford that he was operating
at Rev City, a new and growing oil town
few miles distant. | went to Kew Cf!,
and while was trying to find the tran O
my relative torpedo exploded at wellin
the vicinity, and in less than two hours Dol
a house was left standing in Rev CITY, sly
derricks were wiped out of existence any
something like 100000 barrels Of oil u
tanks were consumed. found my relative
after the town had been burned up ana
we went back to Bradford. He was
heavy loser by the fire. Three days lalel
started with him to go to the scene OF my
fire to look things over.
1--WE stopped at Rixford, a couple
miles from Rev City, where my rela'l's
had some business. While he was atlenG
ing to his business | sauntered out IN wv
town, which was filled with derfcAs
Suddenly heard loud explosion, ana
second later saw house in f1ames' iaa
very few minutes the whole town mS
ablaze, hundred shafts of fire leaplhg "
from as many wells about the place. y
enty-five buildings, more than lVo on =.
and 100000 barrels of oil went up III 'u''
conflagration. n,
sit had never struck me beiore' ~
while this big fire was raging II cal' s, :
me all OF a sudden that had been asi ~
tor to more than my share OF oil lre ui IN.
ters, and gave my relative my re'0'1
that respect. %.
my Godp he said. Don't let 'nai Nm
out in this country, for there are l,ie as;,in
who would show you your way GU, y
a manner you wouldn't care to go; ,ho,
~ saw that he meant it, and LETT ln.s.
parts without much delay. The nest , IS.
/ saw the oil fire in Titusville and u w ~
another one in Jersey City. New ~
sun.