The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1898-08-16
A THRILLING MOMENT
THE DARING ACT OF HEROISM OF
AN OIL WELL SHOOTER.

He Played Back Stop In the Game Between
Life and Death, With Nature In the
Box and Twenty Quarts of Nitroglycerin
Doing Service as the Bali.
One of the most thrilling experiences
recorded in the annals Of shooters ca
reers was that in which Dick Singleton,
an old time Bradford shooter, played
the role of hero. He played it we'll too.
That the sensational drama did not turn
out to be tragedy in which six lives
were taken in the last act is due to the
hero's cool head, quick decision and sn-
perb nerve in the face of almost certain
death.
Singleton was one of the best known
shooters in the Bradford field He had
all the qualities which enter into the
make up of a successful juggler with
Deaths agencies He had shot hundreds
of wells and transported glycerin all
over roads which at certain seasons
had no counterpart for all round viii
lainy anywhere, but his reckless caution ;
had always averted a catastrophe.
One day Singleton started out to shoot /
a we'll located near Bradford. The well
had been drilled in" two or three days
before. but the shooter had been too
busy to put in shot.
Arrived at the well Singleton pro-
ceeded to fill the shells with glyoerin
from his cans. That is proceeding Of
some delicacy, as glycerin allows no
liberties to be taken with it. Care must
be exercised in pouring the stuff from
the cans into the shells
The we'll was about l, 800 feet deep,
and during the interval since drilling
had stopped about 1000 feet of fluid
had accumulated in the hole.
There was nothing unusual about
that, but something unusual did hap
pen speedily and most inopportunely;
something calculated to turn ones hair
gray and make such an impression on
the memories of the men present as
time could not efface.
The glycerin shell had been lowered
several hundred feet, and Singleton was
slowly playing out the cord, when he
felt the line slacken. Immediately he
heard an ominous roar. 1t was sound
to appall the stoutest heart.
The we'll had started to flow!
Singleton knew the meaning Of that
sound He knew that column of oil
1000 feet high, obeying the impetus of
the mighty forces of nature, then in
CONFUSION 1900 feet underground, was
forcing to the surface with a velocity Of
cannon ball she'll containing 30
quarts of glycerin.
He realized that the propulsive energy
of that column of oil would project the
shell against the timbers of the derrick
with tremendous force. No need to
speculate on what would follow the i'm
pact.
All this was flashed upon Singleton s
consciousness as he stood leaning over
the hole The thought flash and the
signal of peril were coincident in point
of time.
1t was an awful moment-such
moment as no man had ever experienced
and lived to describe.
Singleton's companions understood
the import of that terrifying sound.
! Acting upon a natural impulse, they
turned to flee, seeking in flight the
safety which they knew it was futile to
hope for, Almost before terror could
impart motion to their limbs the catas-
trophe would befall
If Singleton had lost his head or hes
itated for only a fractional part of a sec
ond, six men would have been blown
into eternity, and another horror would
have been added to the long list charged
to the account of nitroglycerin.
But he did not lose his head. He
knew that fight was useless. No time
! for that. Whether he should run or
( stay, death second to be inevitable.
If he should stay, there was one
chance-only one. 1t came to Singleton
like an inspiration. The one chance de-
cided him. Desperate as it was-a mill
! lion to one that it would fail-he re-
solved to take it,
Who can say what passed through
the man S mind during the inappreciable
fraction of time that he waited to put
his plan into execution?
Perhaps Singleton himself could not
describe what his mental vision beheld
in that brief interval between the warn
ing and the appearance of the messenger
of eternity
He was conscious of nothing but the
peril which was rushing upon him and
his companions and of the stern resolve
to stand at his post and do all that he
roic manhood could do to avert the i'm
pending doom.
Men think quickly at such time. Sim
gleton S mind acted with the celebrity Of
lightning. His muscles obeyed the man
date of the will with electric prompti-
tude
He made his title clear to heroism on
that eventful day He braced himself,
and as the shell shot from the hole he
threw his arms around it, not knowing
but the sudden arrest of motion would
explode the charge and not knowing
that he could hold the shell at all
Desperation gave him strength.
There he stood, victor over death, sur
prised to find himself alive and smoth-
cred in the thick, greasy fluid which
flowed from the we'll and fell in tor
rents upon him But he held fast to the
prize which his alert mind, quick eye
and prompt action had won in the
hand to hand grapple with the forces of
destruction.
Singleton is still living somewhere
in the lower oil country, and he occa-
sionally tries his hand at shot, but if
he should live until the final day of
Judgment he could never forget the day
when he played back stop i'll the game
between life and DEATH with nature in
the box and 20 quarts Of nitroglycerin
doing service as ball st. LOUIS Re-
public.