The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1908-04-17
EXPLOSION
STAhPEkD
ElEPHlH
Wild Excitement at Ri Ve!s
CAL, When the Big E
Ran AmuCk.
GIRL TRAMPLED TO
( DEATH IN HOTEL YARD
SEVERAL OTHER PERSONS INA
JUREp BEFORE ANIMALS
WERE CAPTURED. ID


Riverside Cal, April lg-As a result 3
a fire which started early this aftefno{ 81
at the Standard Oil conlpanyss storagE
tanks herd Of elephants was stanpede,s
l.. J. WOYsiey les at the city hospital
fatally burned. and Miss Ella Gibbs.
church deseoness. was killed 4 sullen
boom which was heard II 80 marked
the explosion Of the large oil tank Wors
ley was a driver Of the delivery waeoi4
from which the fire was communicated Il
the tanks, and Was hurried many yard u
from the spot aud was picked up with hi &
clothing ablaze. The flames spread i'm I
mediately to The tanks which Instantly &c
came a mass of flames
Elephants stampeded.
A circus. three blocks distant wss'
about to open for the afternoon perfor-
nance. The explosion and the fire caused
the showmen TO lower tie tents after dis
persing the crowd which had assembled.
The herd Of elephants became -lncentroi-
liable and they dashed 10 the east side ~
town. knocking down fences. Otith0tses
and despoilng orchards thar lay IN their
path Many persons narrowly escaped the
infuTated animals. IN a short time. how
ever. all but the largest Of the elephants
were rounded mp.
Woman Trampied to Death.
The leader OF the herd then changed
city, one mile distant He entered the
court of the GlenwoOd hotel- Miss Gibbs
was in the yard in front of the house. The
elephant pinned her against the house. he
tween his tusks. threw her TO the ground
and trampled upon her. crushing her
chest and inflicting fatal injuries. The
animal then proceeded to the doorway.
the guests running, panic-stricken iu-
/ doors D. p. Chapman, guest Of the
house attempted 70 sWerVe the animal
from the court. He was knocked down
and had several ribs broken and Was
otherwise injured
Went Through the Hotel.
The beast crashed through the door.
walied through the barber shop. and ont
on The main street, crossed the street. ard
crashed through the heavy plate glass
window Of a store Before 1eing rounded
up at d downtown public stable the am
imal trampled on another man ana SER
iously gOred him with his tusks-
One of the Keepers attempted to sub
due the animals but was hurled over
high fence. sustaining painful injuries.
Not until four other elephants were
brought TO the stable was the huge beast
gotten under control and taken To The cir
Gus grounds.
Town in Uproar.
BY this time the entire town was In an
uproar The ladies Of the east side were
afraid 20 venture into the streets. fearing
that the herd had not been captured.
The fire al the oil tanks continued
throughout the afternoon. and e009o gal
Ions Of oil We're consumed, including tie
contents of the exploded tanks and much
case goods. Two large tanks containing
high grade nOn-eXplOsiVe on escaped the
flames The oil loss was S7009. and The
loss on the buildings is S4.0J9.
Worsley is not expected to live through
the night.
Miss Ella Gibbs. who died al 9.b To-
night. was a deaconess in the FIRST Con
O. sEaU ~ nTr al -asf OBJ IA HHaraa
fore coming here about three wears ago
she had been a prominent worker i'm the
slums in Chicago. Since her arrival IN
Riverside she had been doing mission
work among the Chinese and Japanese
population. and also assisting consump-
uves who arrived here penniless