The Caucasian. (Shreveport, La.) 1900-192?, 1903-03-11
FATAL FIERY FLAMES
People Gathered to See Oil Burning
Gaused by Train Wrecks
EXPLOSIONS ENSUED.
Fully a Score of Lives We're 4Ost BY
the Terrible GOncnssiOn, and the
Number Injured Are AbouA
Twice That Many.

cen to twenty lives were lost add
fully twice that number burned or
| bruised by the explosion of oil late
Monday night following the wreck Oh
the Erie railroad north of this city.
Owing to the fact that some of the
bodies were incinerated in the fierce
flames, or blown into Olean creek by
the fierce explosion the exact number
| of dead will probably not be known
Off several days. The number of in
jured, too, is uncertain. as a large
number of them were able to reach
home and receive treatment there. The
known dead are as follows: Norman
Brown, Clean; Johnny Tobin, Olean;
Johnny McCready, Clean; John McMa
hon, Olean. All four are boys about
sixteen years cid. NJ V. Drisnoll.
North Olean: Walter Swift. Olean;
John Smellinger, Olean; Harry God
den, Boardmanville; Richard Cornell,
North Clean. Six unidentified bodies
are at Woodward's undertaking rooms.
A boy was blown into Olean creek and
drowned. His body has not been re-
covered. Two or more unknown per-
sons were incinerated in the burned
wreckage.
At the hospital one of the patients
said boy was blown into the creek
near him. He tried to save the lad.
but was unable to do so. The boy
drowned.
The scenes following the explosion
will never be forgotten by those who
saw them. 1t was about O'Clock in
the evening when the train was
wrecked. An Erie freight train west
bonud broke In two on a hill two miles
north Of the city.
At first the forward part of the
train, released of all weight of the cars
behind, sprang forward with increased
speed. The brakes were applied and
the front brought almost to a stand
still at the iron bridge across Olean
creek. The rear cars gathering mo-
mentum as they came down the hill,
crashed into the, forward part of the
train. Most of the cars of the train
were tank cars filed with refined oil
or gasoline. They weighed thousands
of tons, and the impact was terrific
One tank car caught fire soon after the
collision. The exact cause of the fire
is not known, but 1t is supposed to
have started from spark struck from
grinding pieces of iron in the wreck
age. In few moments another car of
gasolene caught fire and burst into
flames with terrific report. Portions
of the iron domes of the cars were
hurled distance of several hundred
feet. The flames shot high up in the |
air, presenting brilliant spectacle In
this early accident, so far as can be |
learned, no one was injured.
A large crowd quickly gathered |
Hundreds of people from Olean, North |
Clean and the surrounding country |
gathered to watch the brilliant play of |
the flames. For two hours people stood |
massed together, and as the heat be- !
came less intense the crowd began to |
edge little closer to the wreckage,
until about II o'clock some venture |
some boys approached to within a few |
hundred feet of the burning debris. |
Suddenly there was a terrific explo- /
sion. Great masses of white flames |
shot hundreds of feet into the air and |
literally rolled down the banked sides
of the track into the gully where
spectators were standing. Men and
boys fell before the wave of white
light to rise no more. Hugt pieces of
iron were hurled through ten air,
moving down human beings by the
scores. Some managed to scramble to
their feet and get away, but others lay
still in death. A veritable rain Of fire
came down upon the crowd. Men and
boys with their clothing a mass of
flames ran shrieking down the track,
some of them falling on the ground
while others grovelled in
the ditch or jumped into the creek in
an endeavor 40 put out the fire from
consuming them. Many of those over
whelmed by the flames dropped where
they stood and never again moved AS
soon as a telephone could be reached
all the doctors in the city were sum
moned and ambulances called out.
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