Evening star., 1923-05-10
SHEETS Of FLAME
FROM BIC GUSHER
TAKE LIVES OF IS
Score More Missing as 300-
Foot Wall of Fire Rises
From Oil Well.
BELCHING PIT KEEPS
RESCUERS FROM TASK
Clouds of Steam Poured Upon
Blaze-Confusion Reigns Near
Tragic Scene.
BY the Associated Press.

BY the Associated Press.
CORSICANA, Tex, May 10.-Thir-
teen identified bodies, three skeletons
smouldering in a grim we'll pit and
possibly score Of others to be un-
covered mark tally of death
wrought late yesterday by the ex-
plosion OF the giant gusher of the
j. X. Hughes Development Company
(Mckee No. 1 welD.
Visible Fifty Miles.
Three hundred feet of flame. ablaze
across the horizon with leaps and
starts, omniously signalize the fire
Tor fifty miles around, reports radi-
ating back here tell, and to here. but
eleven miles from the belching mon
ster' bellows of black smoke clouds
continue their advance this morning.
The huge producer, which came in
late Tuesday, flowing $4,000 barrels
or pipeline oil, is a yeritable funeral
pyre. Charred. twisted. mangled
bodies remain while the well burns.
consuming the complete flow. and
2,ooo,OOO feet of gas as when it first
ignited.
w. A. Hicks. Wortham, Tex, head
drlller for the development company
,. r. Allen. Corsicana. field super
intendent for the company, who re-
Gently brought in one OF the country's
greatest nigh grade oil producers in
the Currie field.
NJ. o. Turner. Norris, Miss; Ban
Phill1ps, James Phillips. Max Meisner,
J: Q. Cook and Travis Owens.
kerens, Tex; Jack Cooper. Fred
l. -
Corsicana. and L. p. Sheek. Dallas.
Three unidentified Skeletons
When the blast came sixteen, it is
known, of the ffty-odd men in the
two crews and a connecting gang
were sucked into the sheet of flames
Ten men escaped by running
through oil knee deep. some distance
from the well, and fall fiat.
Many DO Heroic Work,
Ellis Hammell. drilling contractors,
and E. w. Quinlan and James Meeks.
scouts, with others, did heroic rescue
ork. Quinlan, decorated by the
British government with the Victoria
Cross. and by the French with the
Medaille Militaire during the war,
Inhaled so much smoke that he could
not speak above a whisper today. He
was SaSSeQ overseas.
That onlookers previous to the ex-
plosion had been kept at a distance
prevented the loss of life from being
greater. About 500 persons watching
the work of the drilling crews gave
incoherent accounts of the f1are-up.
None being certain how the fire
started. but all testified to the huge
volume of smoke which rose, filled
and hid the oil-soaked derrick.
Some OF the workmen were hurled
fiat on the ground; others seemed but
to creep vatnly away from the mer-
ciless spread of the fire, although
they actually were running through
the oil drenched vicinity as fast as
legs could go.
L. c. Cook, head driller of one of
the crews, was seen to dash away
and jump into some water nearby. He
died on the way to the hospital.
Six OF the bodies are being held
by an undertaking company here.
Three unidentified bodies reduced to
are smouldering in a lake
of oil surrounding the well, which
caught fire from the gas flame com
ing from the well. The woods for
200 yards around are burned to
stumps.
Confusion Is everywhere. Steady,
unbroken streams of automobiles
keep coming. While operations in the
oil field have not been suspended.
hundreds of workers have crowded
to the tragic scene.
]. K. Hughes, head Of the develop
ment company, said he had not been
able to obtain enough information
to warrant making a public state
ment.
When the gusher caught fire Hughes 9
was being informed over the tele-
phone in his Office at Mexia that the
We'll, I wish it had been a dry
hole" he remarked ironically, and,
grabbing his hat. made for the Cor
sicana train to inspect the producer.
Some Of the crew which was re-
lieving the day crew at the we'll had
just come from Mexia a few hours
before. Other members of that and
vicinity Of the well were reported
missing in the general confusion, and
the personnel list makes it impossible q
to ascertain just how many are dead,
missing and unaccounted for, Mr.
Hughes said.
Steam will be used today to ex-
tinguish the flames. company officials
announced. Boilers and f1refighting
apparatus are being sent to the scene,
although there is little danger of the
fire spreading.
The burning well is the third COM
pleted in the new field from q sand
between 1850 and 5000 feet.
Oil field workers this morning fire.
quently worked their way near the
fire In hopes OF recovering bodies, but
gushes OF flame reaching many feet
and the intense heat drove them off.