The Portland daily press., 1893-12-18
n'CARTY LII THE GAS.
He Did 1t With a Lantern in the
Gas Works at BiddefOrd.
CITY SHAKEN AS M'CARTY AND
THE GASOMETER WENT UP.

McCarty Landed Dangerously Hurt
The Gasometer and Its Brick Cloak
Came Down in Small Pieces-The Ex-
plosion Lit Up the City and Then Left
1t Dark-It Also Cracked the Ice in the
River-Heavy Loss to the Company.
Especial to the Press.]
Biddeford, December 1.-THE big oaso-
meter of the York Light and Power com
pany, holding 1000 cubic feet of gas.
blew up at $50 tonight with terrific
explosion. The immense holder is
situated in what is known as the aship-
yard" close to the river bank. The
flames flashed a hundred feet into the air
and all Saco and Biddeford in that
vicinity was lighted up.
Michael McCarty, aworkman employed
by the company, was seriously, perhaps
fatally burned. He had gone down with
lantern to see how much more gas the
tank would hold. The big iron telescop-
ing tank was surrounded by solid brick
wall and covered with a slate roof. 1t
is supposed that McCarty reached in
with his lantern to better see the tank.
and there was just the right mixture OF
gas and air to readily explode. At any
rate an explosion followed and McCarty
was blown ouJ OF the door with his
clothing in flames. The one part of the
wall that stoo was the part around the
door. The rest was blown i'll every
direction, part of it going through the
lower portion of the house in which Nc
Carty lives.
Those who saw the explosion say that
there was burst of flames and then
that the roof was sent twenty feet into
the air. The wall fell out and the roof
fell in the ruins, while billow of flames
went skyward, illuminating everything
All the houses near by were shaken Jas
It big bomb had exploded. The fire
department. was quickly on the scene and
soon had the fire under control. The gas
had been burned in the first grand blaze.
The holder and house around it were
built IN 1881 at a cost of $4,000. The
wall around it was sixty feet in diameter
and the holder was.twenty -four feet high
when filed. 1t was constructed in the
most thorough and substantial manner.
The company has another holder in the
yard OF their works, this new one being
across the street from the gas house. and
behind building. The old holder will
be sufficient to furnish all the gas needed
although making it hard for the COM
pany.
,Jere ii. SHAW, the superintendent of
the company, could not explain the
cause of the explosion, except that it
was caused by the workman's lantern4
There is always more or less gas outside
an enclosed holder, and the workmsn
were not supposed to put a lantern iu-
side the door. 1t was not, however,
deemed really dangerous to do so.
There was no insurance on the holder
so far as Mr.. Shaw knows. The damage
m ust be added the loss of about $4,000
feet of gas at So Thousand.
. Ice upon the river was cracked and the
explosion was severely felt in the houses
near by. One man who was fifty. feet away
was nearly stunned.
George P. Wescott of Portland is the
head man of the company and George f.
West of Portland is treasuerer. The COM
pany is managed from Portland, Mr..
Shaw being resident superintendent.
McCarty's chances of recovery from his
burns cannot be told tonight.