Tulsa daily world. [volume] (Tulsa, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1905-1919, 1911-07-15
EXPLOSION blew
sullivan 70 BITS
NITED-GlNCEmNE sNUTTS Oyr
LIFE on MAN AND TEAM.
.GbS UPHEBVES The earth
shipmau Farm Is the Scene Of Most
Unusual Occurrence In OH
licldH History,

In less than ono hour after a ter
rifle niuo-pBocrno explosion had
suuncl ont tho llfo Of Barney c, Sui
llNan, a wc!l-shootor killed his team
ana blow his wagon and the mag
aziue of the Kansas Torpedo Company
| into uothmguess ON the George Tuck
or farm, thre and "a half miles north
of Tulsa at 9,O5 o'clock yesterday
morning. the most peculiar incident
In the history OF tho oklahoma oil
industry occurred ON the David Ship
man farm eight miles south Of town,
which resulted I'm the miraculous es-
cape OF half a dozen persons, tho
| death Of four fine horses, and the
destruction Of much property,
Both disasters We're the most shock
/ Ing in the history Of the local oil ac-
/ tiyitIcs, and Will perhaps go down IN
| local annals as unsoNed mysteries.
Yesterday morning shortly after Z
o'clock, Barney c. Sullivan, partner
| of Barney Horrigan in the owner
| ship Of the Kansas Torpedo Company
received a call from c. c, Myers Of
| the Savoy oil Company TO shoot a
| well on the Lula Harrison farm north
| Of the city He secured his team and
| drove to the magazine, or nitro-glyc-
| crime storehouse, situated on the
/ George Tucker farm about three and
a half miles north OF the standplpe
/ J. H. Potts an aged negro residing in
a shack two hundred yards from the
magazine saw sullivan drive up to
| the building, unlock the door and en-
/ ter the little structure.
That was the last that anyone ever
saw Of sullivan, as the joyial we'll
liked well shooter whose name fig
ures conspicuously In the history Of
the oklahoma oil field developments.
| There was a deafeninR roar, a binding
/ flash, the ground, trees and build
/ iugs In the vicinity shook as If I'm the
/ throes Of terrible earthquake, and
tho buggy, horses, magazine and sui
livan disappeared from the aged
darkeys vision as II by magic.
The shock was terrific. The roof of
Potts humble domicile was carried
away and tho negro, his wife and son
were knocked to the ground and bad
| ly stunned. But Potts cared little for
! himself or his property. He knew
something disastrous had happened
down on the section line and half
crazed, half blinded by the fash OF
the explosion, the darkey stumbled
over the field to whore the missing
object once stood. The things he saw
a moment before were gono and I'm
their stead was a huge excavation I'm
the earth into which the negro ga2ed.
The explosion occurred not far from
numerous producing oil wells where
many oil field employees hurried to
and fro in the execution of their work
/ Their attention was called to the ex-
ploslon and instinct, cultivated 10y
years Of oil field work, told them that
another oil field tragedy had been
enacted. They rushed to the scene
Of the accident and among the FIRST
to arrive at the scene was c. @. Myers,
IN compliance with whose request Sui
Ivan had met his fate
There was noting left Of the nitro
| giycerine magazine, but tho remains
Of sullivan and his horses literally
torn to shrcds, half cooked and dirty
were strewn along tho ground for
several hundred feet II was a grew
some task, the gathering of the scat
tered remains Of the unfortunate we'll
shooter, especially at the hands Of IN
innate friends but they soon had coll
lected every obtainablo vestlge Of Sui.
livan's body and placed them in o
discarded washtub, 70 await the dis
position of the body at tho coroner's
hands.
Judge J. J. Slack, acting coroner;
Sheriff Mccullough, Representatives
Of the press and Clarence Wlnterrin-
ger Of the Mowbray Undertaking par
lors hurried to the scene Of the ac-
cldent, whore an inquest was held and
the remains turned over to the un-
dertaker. Tho coroners jury was n
w. Jones, foreman G. w. Mowbray
W. II. Kelly Ed Riley, Joe Lipport
and ]. w. Sanders Their verdict
was easily reached. There was but
one witness to examine, and II was
conclusive that an explosion Of nitro
glycerine had caused Sullivans death
II IS believed that in loading the
glycerne from the magazine 10 the
wagon, Sullivan either dropped a can
on the floor or bumped two cans to-
gether, causing the explosion
Sullivan was 3s years Of age, was
married but three months, and re-
sided with his young bride at sos
South Boulder Avenue He came "a
Tulsa recently from Nowata, and to-
gether with Barney Horrlgan, pur-
chased tho Kansas Torpedo Company
for which concern both men had
worked for several years. Horrigan
IL at present in Bradford, Pa, spend
ing his vacation.
Mrs. Sullivan collapsed following
the news OF her husbands untimely
DEATH and was hysterlcal all day yes
terday owing to her physical condi-
ton and the absence Of other rcla-
tives from the city, made It lmp1ssl-
zle 10 complete funeral arrangements
yesterday The funeral win probably
be held Monday morning. sullivan
was a member OF the Knights of
Columbus,
The incident on the Dave. Shlpmar
farm was perhaps the first case Of H.
kind In the history Of the American
oil fields and occurred at 10 o'clock
1t was not an explosion, In the true