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VMS HUhUBW UAXITTi:. Vol •■••••• «. 'o. 12TERRIBLE CMRMITY!;Horrible Explosion at Well No. 2.Arthur Smith. Blake” Beam, George Landon,J U Woods,Tom Mason,Chris Kay I.Kl'KTIIRK--Hawkins.Lew Leeds.Henry Davis.EH tjuaintanoe, Cloeeon Willis.of lb kereTHIRTY-FIVE PERSONS BURNED!Several Horribly But Fatallv!NoneKnll Particular* of the Eventlt; oadllloD of the SuffVrrr*.—'Various rin an to Ihr t'auv ol the KiplMlon.Thro-At 4 :I5, a * Friday's issue was going to press J. I. Johnson came rushiug into our office laboring under great excitement and almost exhausted from running, with the horrible news that a dreadful explosion had just occurred at gas well No. 2, in which from thirty to thirty-live men were burned, many of them very badly, and that the entire derrick and ina-I’AKTICCLAKtf.The great gas well explosion is the one all-absorbing topic of conversation In the city. The well has been visited by hundred* of curious people who viewed the wreck w hile they “thanked their stars that they were not among the unlucky ones. A I tremendous amount of gas is burning at the well, in spite of the fact that the drill is still down at the bottom, occupying four-liths of the hole; a spray of water escapes with the ga* but it all immediately become* steam, because of the terrific heat of the ga-blaze and none fall* to the ground. Ii is thought that the drill was by the tire loosened from its mooring and swung over the well, and afterward by the loosening of the windlass brake descended into the well, and that the force of its fall cracked tin-layer of rock at the bottom of the well and allow’ed lt;|uitcan amount ot water to mingle with the gas.The loss of the derrick and the damage to the machinery fall* upon Contractor Churchill alone, a* he w»* the owner of everything but the hole. This loss is estimated at from $800 to $1,000. There wasn’t any troubleTh caum gas I black the d it cai from shut took prem porti cami ing« BLOtlitthe ■havehavebull.I»KA-chinery had been burned to theground. A prompt investigation—as j experienced in shutting off the blazefull as time and the general excitement would permit—soon confirmed the story and developed further sickening details. The facts are alwrnt as follows: The workmen were in the act of taking out the drill, as u-ual. and the derrick house w»« filled with i nterested sped at or*—stock holders, and other citizens—all eager to see and know for themselves a* to the volume and force of tho newly discovered ga-vein, which every hour's drillingduring the day had demonstrated to be rapidly increasing in power. Just after the drill had been withdrawn from the hole—some say before it was withdrawn—without a moment's warning, and with no op- house portunity for escape, there was a tremendous explosion. “Blake” Reamat the mouth of the well, and will uoi probably be in getting out the rope and drill. The ga* company are thoroughly -atis-fled with the volume of ga* and will bore no deeper, but will a- speed-ily a* possible proceed to get things ready for itp use. There is no doubt of the fact that well No. 2 is much stronger than No. 1. some say twice a* strong and others averring it lie live time* as stroug. We publish below the various theories of thecause of the explosion, a- well as an accurate account of the condition ofTIIK IVII.' KK P.Those who were so badly burned as to lie confined to theand placed under care of a physician were visitedby their medical advisers as late as 12had his hand over the hole at the time, o’clock Friday night and made to rest He was thrown with great violence a8 comfortably as possible, and eachfrom his stooping position out against the side of the derrick house, breaking off one or more inch lwards and rolling through the aperture. Confusion reigned supreme. Amid the wreck and ruin—the falling debris and the smoke and tlame of burningmorning since were again visited by the doctors, reporters and friends.and ail found to be resting comparatively easy. Some are very seriously burned, but none- fatally, as was at first feared in a few cases, when it was thought that they were burned Inter-timbers—the groans and cries of the nally. Among the very worst caseswounded were plainly heard, as each aud all made frantic and intuitive efforts to escape from a horrible death.We publish below a list of those injured in this sad catastrophe, theare l)olph Pickett, Milo Maudlin. Walter llockelt, George K. Stewart, W. W. George and con Fred and Marion Price.Dolph Pickett is badly burned aboutmost terrible in the history of Koko- the face and hands, themo. Among those badly burned Dolph Pickett, Milo Maudlin and tieorge Stewart are probably the most severely so. It is not thought by the attending physicians that any are fatally, perhaps not seriously, burned. Several, however, will carry the marks of the fire fiend with them to the end of their lives. Ol course it was the exposed part* of thelatter being may makedrawn in a manner that hint a cripple for life.MiloMaudTiu’s,face is badly burned, the skin peeling off, his eyes swollen shut and hi* lips badly parched and swollen. He was knocked down in the rush for open air and liberty from what scorned a horrible death, and sustained a severe bruise of the leftaudon aplos-ammatcarrat tlel osoriehowthesonistrtiof dSO sandtheit hido iB Mr. had tato and out inst ed i no « the; the aro Ma Sufi the sak aoli thejusi exi off al« £ vis at t cur bui I wii am hei bui wa say herigistilunishoulder by some one kicking or step-body thftt suffered fn etch in.,.me- ,,ing upoI1 hiln. The report that hi.the head* aud faces of many being terribly lacerated and disfigured while their hands and wrists were alarm wa* broken, however, is an error, though his shoulder gives him untold ..... . , tv pain, being even greater when visitedm horribly burned, .Imre of Dolph, b. . G.r.rrrr T„.n, reporter, tin.,. , ,h«to I ailcas out fee re i oulPickett aud George Stewart belug tin-worst. There are different theories abroad a* to the ransc of the explosion. One is, that there was tire in the blacksmith forge which was within the building and that this ignited the gas, which, of course, permeated everywhere. Another is, that some stranger took a lighted lantern in the building.sible to get at the full facts as to thethe burning sensation in his face. He was suffering greatly, hut will survive.George R. Stewart is badly burned aliout the hands and face; his left hand is one solid blister on the hack(we1dis(and raw inside; the other hand is wlikmburned badly but not severely. Alulthi. wriTi ngIm'uo'J- I* “,,ter“r~ ““fAwWe Pita I--'back of one of his ears, and the skin ■ •sure. or .s to whether ...you.!, to '1,1*;iit,,“‘ert hi’ no,c •“lt; cheek..blame. It would seem that there had been crimiual negligence somewhere, but whether it isnot (one of the greatest sufferers, but thi hears it with a great deal of fortitude, phi Walter llockett is severely burned.hargeable to workmen or spectators j ,’u, IM IVH,'nK ami no* i» danger, wawe do not now know aud we may never know.Following is a correct list of the injured :BADLY BURNED.bo!Dolph Pickett. Marion Prioe, Ira Lane, Uleeler,J. N. Loop, John W. Daily, John t’ooper,W. W. Ooorjce,Milo Maudlin, Walter I locket t, Fred George, Georgt, Stewart. Josh Ili-own, Dave Frazce. Joseph Berkley, Sam Haslet.The following are among thoseSLIGHTLY BURNED.George Defenbaugb, Dr. Moulder. M. Bell liiram Pitman.O. L. Moulder, Robert Gaskill,Lew Heed, Wa. Kinder.W. W. George aud son Fred are among those who suffer the most. Of the two it is thought the son is burned the worst, but both are getting along uicely.Marion Price is severely burned al»out the head and face; his right hand is terribly burned and he Is one of the greatest sufl'erers.The doctors report all as doing well and resting as easy as could be expected. Those mentioned above are the only ones scriouhly burned, but many more are burned painfully ami | suffer more or less. Many of those re-ported slightly burned arc out attend-ing to their regular avocations, many ! I(inpHesivscrsyrwo] it * we otli wa
Newspaper Details
Kokomo Gazette Tribune
Kokomo, Indiana, US
Tue, Dec 21, 1886
Page 1
Full Page
Clipped by
Kokomo-Howard C.
IN, USA 08 Jul 2017
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