The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1898-09-14
A THRILLING MOMENT
THE DARING ACT OF HEROIsM OF
AN OIL WELL SHOOTER.

The DARING AL Or HehOioM VI
AN OIL WELL SHOOTER.
Life and Death, with Nature In the
Box and Twenty Quarts of Nitroglyoerin
Doing Service as the BalI.
One of the most thrilling e>1e-.iences
recorded in the annals of shelters ca
reers was that in which Dick Singleton,
an old time Bradford shooter, played /
the role Of hero. He played it well too |
That the sensational drama did not turn
oui TO be a tragedy in which six lives 4
were taken in the last act Is due Ia the 4
hsro's cool head. quick decision and su-
Ierb nerve ia 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 1
of wells and transported glycerin all 1
over roads which at certain seasons |
had no counterpart for all round vii /
lainy anywhere. but ais reckless caution |
had alwe-s averted a catastrophe
One day Singleton started ont t. shoCt |
e well located near Bradford. The well
had been drilled in twoo or three days
before. but the shooter had been too
busy to put in a shot
Arrived at the well Singleton pro
oeeded to fill the shells with glyeerin
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 well was about l,So0 feet deep,
and during the interval since drilling
had stopped about /, 000 feet Of fluid
had accumulated in the hole.
There was nothing unusual about
that, Int something unusual did hap
ps. speedily and mcst inopportunoly;
.snl athing calculated 10 turn ones hair
gray and make such an impression ON
the. memories of the men present as
time could not efface-
The glyeerin 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 a sound
10 appall the sto1test heart
The well had started TO flow.
Singleton knew the meaning of that
sound He knew that a column of oil
1000 feet high. obeying the impetus Of
the mighty forces of nature, then in
convulsion 1000 feet underground, was
forcing to the surface with velocity Of
a cannon ball a shell containing &C
quarts Of glycerin
He realized that the propulsige energy
Of that column Of oil would project the
shell against the timbers of the derrick
with tremendous force. No Ia. d
speculate on what would follow the Al
pact
All this was flashed upon Singleton's
consciousness as he stood leaning over
the hole. The thought fash and the
signal of peril were coincident in point
of time
Il was an awful moment-such a
moment as no man had ever experienced
aud lived 20 describe.
Singleton 5 companions understood
the import Of that terrifying sound
Acting upon natural impulse, they
turned TO flee, seeking in flight the
safety which they knew IL was futile 10
hope for. Almost before terror could
impart motion 70 their limbs the catas-
tropbe would befalL
If Singleton had lost his head or hes
itated for only fractional part Of 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 seeemd 20 be inevitable.
If he should stay. there was one
chance-only one. IL came 10 Singleton
like an inspiration. The one chance de-
cided him. Desperate a. il was-a mil-
Lon 70 one that ii woald fail-he re-
solved TO take it.
Who can say what passed through
the man mind during the inappreciable
fraction Of time that be 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 hut the
peril which was rushing upon him ard
his companions and of the stera resolve
10 stand at his post and 60 ali that he
ro;c manhood could do 70 avert the i'm
pending doom.
Men think quickly at such time. Sin
gleton's mind acted with the celerity Of
lightning. His muscles obeyed the man
date of the viii with electric prumpti-
tude.
He made his title clear to heroism ON
that eventful day. He braced himself,
aud as the shell shot from the hole he
threw his arms around il. nCt knuwing
but the sudden arrest of motion would
explode the charge and not knowing
that he could holG the she'll at al.
Desperation gave him strength.
There he stood, victor over death, sur
prised TO find himself alive and snoth-
cred in the thick, greasy fluid which
flowed from the well and fell IN rar-
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 be occa-
sionally tries his hand at shot, but if
be should live until the final day Of
Judgment he could never forget the day
when he played back stop in the game
between life and death, with nature in
the box and 20 quarts Of nitroglycerin
doing service as 5alL-St. Louis Re-
public.
The bandaging of the feet OF Chinese
Rirls Is hegun ia rllanr cases at the ace