The age-herald., 1900-07-05
FRIGHTFUL WRECK IN WEST @ VIRGINIA  Train GolIided With Car Contain-
 ing Oil Tank. SIX MEN BLOWN TO ATOMS And Many Others Will Die as Result of the Terrific Explosion Which Fol- lowed-Occurred in Yards
 at Parkersburg
SIX MEN BLOWN TO ATOMS


 J. H. Hamilton, general superintendent of the Ohio River Railroad.
 E. La Lime master mechanic.
 Charles Mohler, yardmaster.
 G. o. Shannon, extra train dispatcher.
 Bradley Reeves freight brakeman.
 George Chalk, fireman.
 Will die:
 Jim Ruth, fireman.
 The injured:
 Will Carr, Jr., engineer.
 P. D. Dickson, fireman.
 Charles Smith, fireman.
 J. C. Cheuvront yard engineer.
 T. J. Stafford, night yardmaster.
 Jim Bayland, day yardmaster.
 D. D. Kelly yard brakeman
 George Huff, fireman.
 George Cleman, roundhouse foreman.
 D. T. Hull, wrecking foreman.
 George Bradford, fireman, hands and face burned, but not dangerous.
 About forty other spectators and children were slightly injured, some burned, some hurt by the explosion, some bruised in the panic.
 The most horrible calamity that this city ever witnessed occurred this morning at 7:20 o'clock. in which six were blown to atoms and other, George Chalk, so badly injured that lie soon died, and two more are expected to die any minute. The yards of the Ohio River Railroad are spotted with pieces of torn flesh and sprayed with blood that was wiped up by the burning oil. car tank containing 5000 gallons of oil was on the yard track for shipment. Engine No. 26 with Will Carr as engineer and George Huff as fireman was pulling a freight train Engineer Carr saw that the main track was open and came slowly toward the yards. The train ran into the side track, colliding with the tank car. Oil Ignited The collision knocked a hole in the top part of the tank and the oil lighted It made fearful fire. Master Mechanic La Lime, and the general superintendent, J. H. Hamilton, were called upon to devise some means of ridding the track of the burning tank and extinguishing the flames. An effort was made to tip the car over. There were few people close to the car as the heat was so intense that this manner of disposing of the car was given up Pour ing water on it had absolutely no effect. While some of the men grouped near the tank after o'clock an explosion occurred. It was caused by the fire igniting with the gas that had formed from the burning oil. It came with a flash of fire and a deafen- ing report. Some people who were stand ing near were not affected by it at all. These saw the bodies of men flying in the air and saw others knocked to the ground by the concussion of the air as the tank went through the air. It had parted and gone in two directions There were num- bers knocked down by the force of con- cussion. Those who were killed were struck by the flying end of the tank. It was two hundred yards distant from the victims, and came to the ground near the shops. All the fatalities occurred by persons being struck by this part of the tank. The piece which went fifty yards in the other direc- tion killed no one. The coronors jury has found the following verdict: Coroner's Verdict "The death of the before mentioned par ties was caused by the explosion of an oil tank in the yards of the Ohio River Rail- road Company, about 7:30 o'clock, July 4, 1900. We further find that the said oil tank
 was set on fire by engine Of freight No. 35, southbound, colliding with the north end of said tank on the main track of said railroad. We further find that the acci- dent was caused by the night yard crew being asleep while on duty"
 It was about 3.35 o'clock this morning when the switch on which the cars had been left was left open and the train in charge of Conductor W. w. HaaZlett and Engineer Carr ran into the open switch and set fire to the car. The front end of the engine knocked in the end of the tank so the oil caught fire. The oil burned slowly for hours ,and at o'clock was still burn ing The officials who met their death few minutes later were near the car super intending the removal of the Wreckage ana the cleaTlnS OI the tTdCk WIeu ly the whole tank exploded. Gas had form ed on the inside of the big tank and when the fire reached it there was terrific ex- plosion. The larger portion of the car was blown about one hundred yards down the track and stopped at the end of freight train which was on the siding.
 The dome of the car was blown nearly 200 yards and brought up right alongside of the round house, just missing engine Mo- 61, which was standing there
 One Hundred Persons Standing Around
 At the time the explosion occurred there was hundred or more persons standing around in close proximity to the burning car, watching the flames and the work of clearing the track. There was loud re- port, shaking the earth, the oil car flew high into the air and the burning oil was scattered in every direction for radius of at least fifty yards. Many of the crowd who were standing near the car when it blew up were deluged with the falling oil, but were not seriously injured. The of- ficials and workmen of the road who were killed were blown down the track nearly fifty yards and must have been instantly killed. Some of the men who were killed were blown out into the cornfield and it was some time before their bodies were found The killed were all frightfully mangled. Their death was evidently from the force of the explosion and not from the burning oil, although some of them showed
  fragments of human bodies were picked up around the scene of the explosion and some charred fragments of bodies which had evidently been blown off and then burned.
 Chief of the Fire Department Loper, Driver Marvin Wolfe and Engineer John Durkin, with the Babcock engine, were badly burned in the explosion and the en- zine was badly damaged and the horses burned. The engine was almost fifty feet away from the fire, the efforts of the fire men being to prevent the fire from spread ing to adjoining fences and outbuildings. When the explosion came they were en- veloped in the flames. When the accident occurred there were twenty or more wo- men standing around watching the blaz- ing oil. They gave a wild shriek when the explosion came, and some of them then became hysterical. Parties in search through the cornfield for remains dis covered all that was left of Superintendent Hamilton's watch an hour after the acci-