Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1915-08-26
TWOMEN DIE
ASRESULT OF OIL
TANK EXPLOSION
Three Badly Injured This Morn
ing in Mysterious Accident
at Standard Oil Plant
TWO VICTIMS BLOWN 1875
FEET THROUGH THE AIR
Carl Erich, Ralph Harrub and
Anton Schroeder Rushed to
Queens Hospital

! Three men, two of whom may not
recover, were seriously injured short.
ly before IL o'clock this morning as
the result CT an explosion and fire in
! the distiilate tank in Iwilei, owned by
the Standard Oil Company. The man
agement OF the company has not yet
ascertained the cause of the accident.
The persons injured were:
Carl Erich, superintendent Of the
yards who resides at the Seaside hotel.
Badly burned about the face and shouI-
ders and may live.
Ralph Harrub, an empioye of the
Hawaiian Electric Company, residing
at 1859 Makiki street. Badly burned
about the body and may live.
Anton Sehreder, foreman Of the
Standard oil Company, residing at
Oahu Place. BADLY burned and sew
eraI. bones broken. Will live.
The management OF the Standard
Oil Company is investigating the cause
of the accident this afternoon. Ac-
cording to information given out by
the manager shortly after the affair
occurred tie three men who were in
jured were working On top ot the
tank. Shortly before IL o'clock the
tank blew up and Immediately caught
fire.
1t is reported that Schroeder jumped
off the tank at the time the explosion
occurred. Before the two other men
could get off the tank they were badly
burned for the tank was full of oil
which famed UP at once.
According to an unconfirmed report
from the Queen hospital, where the
injured men were taken, the explosion
was caused by.an electric spark. This
report, however, is not confirmed by
the management of the company.
Cause Mystery.
The manager of the company In.
formed the Star-Bulletin that he has NC
idea what caused the explosion and
succeeding fire. None of the employees
Of the company, with the exception,
perhaps, of the injured men, know the
cause, he added. This will be ascer-
talned only after the investigation that
Is being conducted this afternoon.
The fire department made quick
run to the scene of the fire and ex-
tingulshed it In short time Accord
ing to the manager of the company,
the. department was aided by a fire.
fighting apparatus recently installed
by the company. The three injured
men were rushed to the Queens hospi-
tai In the police ambulance and In
automobiles, where they are now being
attended by DIR. George f. Straub.
s The police report of the accident and
fire does not contain any clue as to
the cause of the affair, or what the
men were doing on top of the oil tank.
The manager of the company also
says that'he does not know what they
were doing there. What the nature
of the work was that Harrub was
doing on the tank could not be learned
from the Hawaiian Electric Company.
The company stated that it had not
received the complete facts regarding
the incident but that it would make
an investigation when these were
forthcoming.
Force OF Explosion Great
When Motorcycle Policemen Chill |
ton and Sizemore arrived on the scene |
they found Erriek and Harrub about
125 feet in a direct line away from
the tank. AS the tank is about SO or
so feet high, some idea of the force
of the explosion can be thus deter
Chiffon and Sizemore reported
their belief that both men had been
blown that far. 1t was determined /
that Schroeder had jumped and it is be-
lieved that, although on top of the
tank with Errick and Harrub, he was |
not on that part of the tank where the
explosion occurred and, fearing lest |
the whole tank would blow up, he