The Hays free press. [volume] (Hays, Kan.) 1908-1924, 1919-11-20
A TERRIBLE TRAGEDY
BURNING OF THE STANDARD OIL
PLANT
The Most Disastrous Fire Ever Known
in Hays

Gasoline Explosion KilIs Eight and
Scores Of People Severely Burn
ed. A Morning OF Horror
and Distress
Monday morning at about z as. the
whistle at the mill sounded the fire
alarm which always sends thrill of
apprehension and dread through the
hearts of men, as there is no element
more destructive and more to be
dreaded than fire, when it is beyond
human control.
Generally speaking, however, the
fires are small affairs and are soon
extinguished, but this time the City
of Hays experienced the most de-
structive fire, in the way of loss to
human life, in its history.
It was soon ascertained that the
tank station of the Standard Oil Com
pany, was on fire, and hundreds of
people flocked to the scene, as people
generally do, not with the expecta-
ton of being of any particular assist
ance, but more from spirit of curios-
ity, and therein lay the danger.
The fire department, (Which by the
way, is very inadequate for grow
ing city like Hays) was soon on the
ground, doing all that possibly could
be done-they worked valiantly but
their efforts were in vain. About all
they could do was to try to save prop
erty near the fre-especially the
Farmers Elevator, which in a short
time caught fire and was entirely de-
stroyed, together with large quaint
ity of wheat and other grain. Three
residences were also destroyed.
There were four tanks-two filed
with coal oil and two with gasoline.
The smaller gas tank exploded first
and did but little damage, but when
the large tank which contained sew
eral thousand gallons of gasoline, ex-
ploded-as a by-stander expressed it,
"hel broke loose" 1t stood up from
the ground about twenty feet and
when it left its base, it rolled about
450' feet north and crushed every
thing in its path, and finally landed
up against a dwelling which immed-
lately burst in flames and was entire
ly destroyed. The family had for
Immediately vacated the house a few
moments before, but of those unfor-
Inmates who were in the path of the
tank as it rolled north, five were
killed Immediately and two others
died short time afterwards
Steve Tourtillotte, one of the fire
men, died in a few hours after he was
taken to the hospital. He was so bad
ly burned that when his clothes were
taken off by the attendants at the
hospital, pieces of flesh came off with
his clothes.
Some of the victims were badly
mangled, one man had a leg and a
foot torn off, The top of his head
was torn off and his brains were
found lying on the ground near where
he fell. Another man had his brains
crushed out and he was otherwise bad
ly crushed and mangled. One of the
young ladies had both of her legs
broken and her ribs were crushed in
It was sad day for Hays.
80, why should the spirit of mortal be
proud?
Like swift-feeing meteor, fast-fy-
ing cloud;
A flash of the lightning, break of the
wave,
Man passes from life to his rest in the
grave.
Yea! hope and dependency, pleasure
and pain,
We mingle together in sunshine and
rain;
And the smiles and the tears, and
the songs and the dirge,
Shall follow each other, like surge
upon surge.
IT'S the wink of an eye; It's the
draught of breath,
From the blossom of health to the
. paleness of death"
The following is the official report
of the coroner's jury: Died from in
juries received from a gasoline ex-
plosion, on Monday, November II,
1919. Mrs. L. E. Miller, from burns
and shock.
Miss Elizabeth Burkholtz
Mrs. Peter Heronime.
Peter Rheim.
P. Sargent.
Nick Arnhold.
Mary Stressler.
They all met death by violent and
accidental means-na namely, an explo-
sion not felonious.
An eye witness states that when
the explosion came column of black,
gasoline impregnated smoke, went up
info fba DIR abo,7R 000 foot x,h;ob