The Forest Republican. [volume] (Tionesta, Pa.) 1869-1952, 1907-02-20
The Monument at KennerdelI.

On one side of the monument can be dis
tinguished the following:
Erected by the friends of
r. A. Wright
and
II. j. Wolfe
to their memory and TO
mark the spot Of the
nitro.glycerine explosion
Nov. %, 1872.
On the opposite side this tender verse
can be read:
"All shall come to feel the touch
ing eloquence of graves and there
fore it was we'll for us to clothe the
place with beauty"
There are still number living in the
vicinity who, while memory holds sway,
will not forget the horror of that early
winter morning, when the hundreds of
quarts of the deadly explosive Jet go and
two beings in the pride of early yhanhood
were ushered into eternity without mo-
ments warning. Mr.. Wright was well
known oil we'll shooter, with headquar-
ters at Scrubgrass, where he kepta large
quantity of glycerine stored in dugout
few hundred yards from the VILLAGE
On the morning of the awful catastrophe
ne bade his wife goodbye, informing her
that he was going to shoot well at Mt
Hope. On the way to the magazine he
stopped at the railroad station and re-
quested Mr.. Wolfe, who was the operator
young man of 10 years of age, to accom-
pany him as far as the magazine for a
ride. The operator accepted the inyita-
tion and the two men drove up the river,
with nothing to warn them of the awful
fate in store.
The sun never looked down upon a
more peaceful scene than the snowman
tied village of Scrubgrass on that event
full morning. The inhabitants were GO
ing about their usual morning vocation,
when there came, like the simultaneous
discharge of thousand cannons, deaf
ening roar. Houses we're shaken to their
foundations. pale-faced mothers and
screaming children rushed from their
homes, and strong men, dazed and be-
wildered, staggered along the street. And
now up the river horse comes galloping
down to the village, one eye blown out
and bleeding from hundred wounds,
trailing few strips of harness.
At sight of the madly frightened horse
the truth dawned upon the people and
the cry of "the magazine has blown upW
passed from mouth to mouth.
Scores hsstened to the place of the ex-
plosion, fearing the worst. What scene
to gaze upon! A great, gaping hole in
the earth marked the spot where but an
hour before had stood the magazine. So
powerful WAS the force that trees were
torn from the earth and hurlel far out
small pieces of flesh were all that could
be found of the two men. and no one
ever knew the true cause of the terrible
accident.
For months after the blowing up of the
magazine the spot was visited by cuiio-
seekers and there was scarcely home in
the vicinity but had its memento of the
accident. The small boys discovered,
under pile of debris, small canister
filled with glycerine, which they placed
on the rsilrosd beforA an approaching
freight train and secreted themselves be-
hind pile of cord wood nearby TO await
results. The engine and several cars had
passed safely over the bloom, when
there came laundering report and two
loaded cars near the centre of the train
leaped into the air, causing bad wreck.
The boys were arrested, tried and sent to
the reform school.
Three years later two young men from
up the Allegheny, on their way down the
river in boat stopped at the scene of the
explosion and discovered near the wat
er's edge a cartridge-shaped metallic
boom a foot in length, filled with the ex-
plosive. One Of the men seated himself
ON the river bank and placed the cart
ridge between his knees, and undertook
to loosen the cap with his pen knife, re-
gardless of the warning of his companion
of the danger he incurred. A moment
later there came deafening report aud
be was blown TO atoms. Truly, ii has
been fatal spot"
The unfortunate young man referred
to in this last paragraph was Jonathan
Allison, son of DR.. f. II. Allison, then
residing at East Hickory, who in COM
pany with two others was running
small raft to the lower market, and had
stopped at this point few hours.