EXPLOSION OF AN OIL WELL.

Grey River Argus, Volume XII, Issue 1042, 28 November 1871, Page 3

EXPLOSION OF AN OIL WELL.

[TITUSVILLi!, PBNIVSYLViLNIA, • HERAIDj SBPTBMBBR'22.] One of those appalling accidents which sends a thrill through the hearts of all occurred on the A. J. Kerr farm, Church Run, yesterday, at about one o'clock in the afternoon. Well No. 14 took nre from the gas bursting out in great quan-' tities, and oil was thrown ! out of the' pipe, with the tools in the hole, to the height of upwards of 100 feet. Two men, Roberts andO'Hern, drillers on the well, were standing on the derrick when the explosion first took place, and as the fire rushed -furiously skyward, gathering in everything within reach, the two men were engulfed in the flames, and in making their escape were compelled to run through the fire out into the open air, and when first seen had nothing on but their pants and boots, the balance of their clothing having been burned off them. The two injured men ran to the derrick of Well No. 13, where four men, Cunningham, Fink, Baldwin, and Kerotzer, rushed out, and by desperate efforts extinguished the flames that were burning the bodies of their victims to a crisp. The scene is too horrible to describe, as each of the men, Roberts and O'Hern were the most piteous sights ever beheld, their face, hands and arms, and most of their body, being a blackened mass of charred flesh. Their clothing had been burned oft them, and while every effort was being made to relieve their suffering, they fell to the ground under the excruciating pain caused by the severe burns. Roberts explains the accident, that they heard the terrible roar of gas coming to the surface, and both stepped back from the hole, to the side of the derrick, but that the gas had no more than reached the surface before it ignited and the flames ascended to the top of the derrick, wrapping everything' around within its reach. The derrick, engine house, and other property was soon destroyed, and it required great effort to keep the flames under control. At intervals of about fifteen minutes the well would "blow out," throwing the oil upwards of a 100 ft in the air, after the fire and explosion had taken place and the men were burned. The well at which the accident occurred is owned by Thompson, Gilmore and Co., and is 7ft in the third sand. The. loss to the company will be about lOOOdol. The first explosion attracted the attention of the residents within the vicinity, and soon after the fire had got well under way a large crowd gathered around the burning well, and as the men, women, and children caught a glimpse of the victims, there was one universal wail of sympathy, and many turned their faces at the appalling sight before them.