The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1902-07-20
Supreme Effort to Stop Coniagra-
ton at Jennings, La, VIII
Be Made To-Day.
DANGER. INCREASES HOURLY.
Heat Grows Greater and Iron Cap
of Well May Be Melted Off
Towering Smoke Cloud Visi-
bic Thirty-Five Miles Away.


bafauce to tn skill Of man, the Jennings
oil fire still resists all efforts to subdue It.
It's flames. rising from a 2i1-1oot-sqIare
base, ascend IN furnace-colors nifty feet
and lose themselves in a densely black
Eruoke-cloud that rolls $500 feet into the
air, and there stands a sable sentinel whose
towering helmet is seen thirty-hve miles
away.
In the midst OF this fiery mass stands the
from mouth Of an oil w.l-heated rsd, with
tie wheel which controls its valve melted
and lost IN the dirt. and its rubber packing
burned away, so that there spurts from It
great streams Of oil which Immediately be-
come further fuel for the flames.
Hourly this stream grows larger, as the
~t-Uar valve capes farther apart: and
the glow Of the fire grows brighter as il
feeds voracious.y upon the added food.
\ hundred feet back from the edge II me
fire base, swelrerlEs men are WORKING IN
ost-rel!eved troops, striving 10 pen In the
flames and. after thus insuring their con-
frement, putting in force some OF the varl-
Gus plans hat have been suggested Tor eN-
tinguish.uE the IRE.
Stern Fight Against Time and Fire.
They fight against time. as well as against
the flames; for If the victory that they seek
shall be long delayed, ii is as certain as
that oil and fire make fame that the wells
iron mouth must melt and. yielding 10 the
giant pressure beneath II, release d mighty
stream OF oil and gas which shall burn for
-weeks-perhaps for months or even years
untI its source of full supply is exhausted,
or the caving Of the sides Of the well shall
choke back the oil and smother the IRE.
Tomorrow is the date that has been set
as the earliest upon which the hines may
be subdued but II Is regarded To-Day %
extremely doubtful II ms nope - 80
realized. 1t is considered more likely thst
ten days more must e-apse, even N-sh Ius
greatest good luck. before the fire Is hnaiy
Excursion trains tomorrow will ak vast
numbers Of persons 10 the scene OF me
fire; and it IS not thought at ali prooaulg
that hey shall be disappointed Ihey VIII
see the battle between flames and man az
a more advanced stage of its raging than
did those first ones who hCrrlel 10 Inc
field on the special train thaL went from
here on last Tuesday night, and they can
learn which Of the warning forces has
gained in advantage. But il IS not likely
that they can tel, even then, Win WAoin
shall rest the final victory.
Responsibility Not Clearly Fixed.
That somebody Numbered is the verdict
of most Of the oil men who have heard the
story OF the fires origin. Who the some
body was does nor appear Gut u y fe-
Rarded as impossible that the tire, starting
as it did, could have gained such headway
had not there been panic among the men
charged at the tirle with responsibility for
the safety OF the property.
A bolt OF lightning was the ignittng agent
DuL II AAA4 a AAAAAAEA ASN NAAN
mouth Of the well, ana, II is stated, that
almos II not quite an hour had elapsed be-
fore the fire had reached the wells der
rick Yet. further than to close the valve
through which the oil was filling a tank,
nothlng; IT appears, was done 10 protect
So, when the flames had reached the der
rick and, destroying It with wSa- seemed
70 be barely more than a single sweep Of
IRE, caught at the slush pools and wasting
oil on the ground, and the mouth Of the
well was left helplessly exposed. At that
moment passed the time for applying the
ounce of prevention. and since the only
course has been the application Of the
pound of cure.
Other Wells in Dangerous Proximity.
The burning well Is situated at the edge
of the hill which marks the apex Of the
jennings reld anticline. Two or three hun
dred feet away are the completed wells OF
the Southern Company. Closer is the No. 3
well Of the Jennings Company. Back OF
the well and between 1t and the town OF
Jennings Is a thick fringe OF forest trees.
A hundred feet or 50 from the well that
is now burning were two wooden settling
tanks, Of 100 barrels capacity each, and
connected with the wells, with each other
and with pipe lines leading to the Jennings
Company's loading racks and steel storage
tanks, several miles away. Some distance
from the wells are the engine-houses Of the
While the storm Of last Tuesday was most
dercely raging, the well No. 2 was con-
nected with one Of the wooden tanks, and
nlling 1t through q 4-inch pipe. The task
had been almost completed and the waive
was soon to be closed.
In the midst Of a violent downpour OF
rain, a lightning bolt struck this tank,
which was uncovered 1t flashed into flame
Instantly.
Combustion at First Is Slow.
As soon, however. as the gas had burned
and combustion of the oil was compare
lively slow. The ignition of the wooden
sides Of the tank hurried the progress CT
the fire, however, and Tying. sparks soon
ignited the second tank. which was closed.
The instant that the flames came in con-
tact with the gas inside Of this closed tank
there was an explosion and the contents OF
the tank were scattered, while the flames
began to leap high in the air and eat their
way with the drumlike roar that is an in
eYitable accompaniment OF an oil fire.
Burning oil falling from the tanks ran
oyer the ground in fiery rivulejs-going
slowly, but with a force that, under the
existing condition Of things, was .~rresist-
After a time. the fire reached one Of the
slush pools near the base of the derrick OF
the No. 2 well. The flames halted here, and
seemed to choose a point at which to take
hold. They licked at the edge Of The slush
pool for several minutes, until they had
heated the neighboring oil to the fash
On increasing roar, which sounded ominous-
~ under the big cloud of black smoke that
al but hid the flames, ate their way across
the pool and toward the oil-soaked and sun
baked derrick timbers.
Valve ~CIosed-but Nothing Else.
The men at the field had closed the valve
S6rOuEh Whlcn the We'll was ulllng the
tanks, but, according to reports, had done
little else. The wells mouth was dripping
with oil. and from its sides there came a
light flow OF OIL that was rising in the space
between the inner and outer castings. which
are a peculiar feature OF the No. 2 well. A
few loads OF dirt or some other noncOmbus-
Ifbte material. could II have been thrown
over the mouth Of the well, would have
ma6e the fire harmless. But the time fol-
this course was not sufficient. and If there
was any other means OF saving the well
from ignition it was not adopted.
The Instant that the flames reached the
derrick timbers, they leaped up the 20 feet
ment rose triumphantly above the rolling
cloud of smoke. Their glory was but short.
lived, however, for in a moment they had
destroyed their own throne and the spark
shedding timbers Of the derrick fell in a
sbApeless pyre which, two minutes later
was-nothing.
Heated Oil Burns FierceIy.
The Jennings oil, like that at Beaumont
IS Of comparatively slow combustion aud or,
dineriiy II will either refuse TO burn when
It is momentarily in touch with fire, or II
q does burn Is very easy to e~xtinguish. But
this was not an ordinary condition. The
heat already generated was such that the
eous condition and ignition was immediate
1 Before the flames had devoured the plat
fxorm OF the derrick, they had caught at tbs
waste oil that was leaking from the mouth
/ OF the pump. With every moment that this
IRE burned, the flames spread over & largal
area and the glowing flames and curling
smoke mounted higher. The heat grew lik
that OF a rolling-mill furnace, and the at
eachments to the gate valve became red not
After a little while they burned literally off
The rubber packing about the valve:
1 burned out also, and the leak grew much
A~EonNar ahn 11 --.Vr4E-- -..~ - --,.M E-~1-