Austin American-Statesman from Austin, Texas • 8

THE AUSTIN STATESMAN THURSDAY, MAY 10, 1925 PAGE EIGHT NUMBER OF DEAD Ife CATASTROPHE NOT DETERMINED MS ale of (Continued from Page Four) LADIES' DAY LUNCHEON VERY POPULAR EVENT. (Continued from Page One.) About elehtv members and truestar MESSES attended the regular ladies' day lunch borers about. Whether any of these' eon and bridsco party at the Country unKnown lahnrpra ara nu will iia known only as relatives and friends Club this noon, with Mrs. lucnara Robinson and Mra Evans Swann as hostesses. report mem missing, it was said.

I mree nunureu leet 01 name, amaze There were about eighteen covers at across the horizon, with attendant leaps and starts, ominously signalize the hostesses' table, where spring flowers were used In decorative effect, I Qor Mother's Day Zmottoes I r-Q GIFTS IfOLI JORDAN'S IS YfSvX Alfred Ellison A. D. Boone kS the fire for fifty miles around. At as they were at all the tables. Corslcana, eleven miles from the belch Mrs.

Jud James, Mrs. John i'ope ana ing monster, billows of black smoke clouds continued their advance this morning. Miss Mary Louise Kobinson each had small parties for luncheon and bridge and Mrs. T. B.

Cochran and Mrs. John Chiles entertained larger parties, The huge producer, which came In Purchased at a fraction of their former value by Mr. Rosner, now in New York, from a prominent manufacturer who was hard put for cash. Values that are easily worth twice what we ask. Sale opens 9 a.

m. tomorrow morning. late Tuesday, flowing 15,000 barrels of pipe line oil, is a veritable funeral pyre. METZ SCHOOL TO GIVE MUSICAL PROGRAM. The identified dead: W.

A. Hicks, Wortham, Texas, head Metz School will give Its annual driller for the development company. music and art program Friday after S. P. Allen, Corsicana, field superin noon from 1 to 3 o'clock at the scnool.

tendent for the company. Fatrons and patronesses for the queen's ball, to be held this evening in the women's building, ronowmg me coronation, are: Dr. and Mrs. Robert M. O.

Turner, Norris, Miss. Ban Phillips, 35, Kerens, Texas. James Phillips. 32, Kerens, Texas. Max Meisner, 30, Kerens, Texas.

J. C. Cook, 30, Kerens, Texas. Travis Owens, 30, Kerens, Texas. Jack Cooper, Corsicana.

E. Vinson, Miss Lucy Newton, Mr. and m0m O. N. Dilworth, Air.

ana -Mrs. Walter Fisher, Mr. and Mrs. Malcolm Reed, Mr. and Mrs.

Pierre Bremond, Mr. and Mrs. Haskell Caswell, airs. M. L.

White, Mr. and Mrs. Ewell Nalle, Mrs. J. O.

Creighton, Mr. and Mrs. M. Fred Craig, Corsicana. L.

P. Sheek, Dallas. E. C. Cooper, Corsicana.

Emmet Byrd, Corsicana. Owens and Byrd died last night at a hospital here. Mrs. Byrd was pres -The Little Department Store with a Big Purpose Tub Silks, Printed Crepe de Chine and TaffetasA big range of colors to choose from C. Parrish, Mr.

and Mrs. A. W. Griffith, Mrs. Faye Watkins, Mr.

and Mrs. D. D. Fairchild, Mr. and Mrs.

Albert Burleson, Mr. and Mrs. Jud James, Mr. and Mrs. E.

B. Gilliam and Mrs. R. J. Brackenridge.

902 Congress The Friendly Store ent when her husband died. She also i lost her brother, E. C. Cooper, in the disaster. Byrd almost escaped death when he Jumped in a nearby creek i shortly after the gas and oil caught Mrs.

Lewis, wife of Senator H. L. Lewis of Navasota, will arrive in Austin Friday to remain until the close of the special session of the legislature. Mrs. Lewis is one of the brilliant and charming women of the state and her many friends in Austin are delighted at the prospect of having her with them again.

OUR COTTON GOODS SALE IS DRAWING BIG CROWDS Welcome University Alumni 1883 Fortieth 1923 36-inch 50c Ratine, the yard fire. Caused by Spark From Hammer. A spark from friction of a hammer as the control valve was being changed at the well ignited the oil and gas from the gusher, and when the blast came sixteen of the fifty-odd men in the two crews were sucked in the sheet of flame. Among those who escaped were: L. W.

Wilkitz, E. W. Arnett, Wayne Short, J. W. Crosby, James A.

Mc-Daniels, J. A. Story, Jim Ball, B. B. Simmons, Ned Dumos and John Ken-non.

They escaped by running through oil knee deep some distance from the well and falling flat to the ground. Ellis Hammel, drilling contractor; E. W. Quillan, scout, and James Meeks, scout for the Humble Oil Company, 12k 15c 36-inch Bleached Domestic, yard 40-inch Brown Domestic, yard Mr. and Mrs.

Emil Baumert of Wichita Falls have returned to their home, after a week's visit with Mr. Baum-ert's mother, Mrs. H. Baumert, of Austin. Anniversary 75c $1.69 50c Imported Tissue Ginghams, $1.00 Permanent Finish Organdie, yard 10-Yard Bolt Longcloth for Mrs.

Leslie Caldwell has been removed to her home in College Court from the Physicians and Surgeons' Hospital, where she underwent an operation for appendicitis. 35c Window Scrims, yard i 19c Styles of Mr. and Mrs. A. C.

Bayliss and little son of Houston are guests of their uncle and aunt, Mr. and Mrs. Roy Smith. with others, did heroic rescue work. Quinlan, who was decorated by the British government with the Victoria Cross and by the Frenoh with the' Medaille Militaire during the war, inhaled so much smoke while aiding in the rescue work that he could not 1883 1923 Mrs.

Edgar Hall and her father, S. F. Fisher, have returned from El Paso, where they visited for some time with a daughter of Mr. Fisher. speak above a whisper today.

He was gassed overseas. Onlookers, previous to the explosion, being 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 flareup. Some of the workmen were hurled Mr. and Mrs.

D. A. Frank are guests, for the homecoming, of Mr. and Mrs. Visit our Store "While In Austin W.

B. Duncan. PROOF ENOUGH. Mrs. N.

M. Wilcox and Mis. Joe flat on the ground, others seemed to creep vainly away from the merciless jvioore.wilL spena tne ween enu in Georgetown. in twelfth! I thought you said he waa a great mud horse." "That's just it," explained the smootft tipster. "That horse likes mud so much that he just dotes on having alt the other horses kick it in his face." Dr.

and Mrs. II. C. Morrow left today for Del Rio to visit their son, II. C.

Morrow, and his family. The track was muddy and Jones had received a tip to bet his last penny on Flying Ace. It appears that Flying Ace was a wonderful mud horse and would win In a walk. The next day found Jones dead broke. Meeting his tipster, he remarked: "That was a fine piece of dope you were trying to adjust it, and about five men, subsequently cremated, were in the pit at the time.

"I was standing on the derrick, handing waste to the workers to wipe oil out of their eyes, which was spewing from the valve," Mr. Simmons said. "When the valve fell back I saw a tiny spark caused by friction of the metals striking, and sensing disaster, I ran from the well justa moment before the explosion, which sent showers of burning oil in every direction. "It eeemed as though I was being pursued by the great burst of flames, Misses Etta Bain and Louise Stevens will leave Friday for College Station for the Texas A. M.

games. 40-inch $2.00 Georgette crepe, $1.69, Chas. Rosner. Adv. 40-inch crepe de chine, $1.39.

Chas. Rosner. Adv. handed me yesterday! That dog came spread of the fire, although they were actually slipping rapidly through the oil-drenched vicinity as fast as legs could go. L.

C. Cook, head driller of one of the crews, was Been to dash away and jump into some water near by. He died on the way to the hospital. Skeletons in Lake cf Burning Oil. Six of the bodies are being held, by an undertaking company here.

Three skeletons, unidentified, are smouldering in a lake of oil surrounding the well, which caught fire from the gas flame coming from the well, and the woods for 200 yards around are burned to stumps. J. K. Hughes, head of the development company, said he was not able to obtain definite information of the Miss Elizabeth Hutchison of Fort Worth is a week end guest at the Kappa Kappa Gamma house. MEDIUM BROWN HAIR LOOKS best of all after t.

GOLDEN GLINT shampoo. Adv. when a terrific gust of heat swept past me." Mr. Simmons said a small nephew HOMECOMING FOR MOTHER of Mr. Hughes was standing by his side and also escaped by running.

A stranger who was standing near the derrick evidently did not see or heed the spark and was enveloped in tho flames. His skeleton now floats in the pool of liquid fire. "TEXETTES" PLAY LATEST HITS IN RADIO PROGRAM Shall it be Nineteen "Plenty Three" 1923 finds this country progressing on the long pull toward healthful prosperity, in spite of the fact that so much of the world is upside down or wrong-end-to. The words of Thomas Jefferson have certainly come true: "An educated citizenry is indeed the foundation of i real DEMOCRATIC 7 THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS has indeed measured up to its responsibilities its future is bright and the service it will render to Texas, and the nation, is without limit. LUEDECKE-MOFFATT CO.

"High-Grade Merchandise Moderately Priced" When the gusher caught fire, Hughes The well is peculiarly located. The derrick towered on the high east bfink of Chambers Creek and was completely camouflaged by a cluster of heavy was being informed over the telephone in his office at Mexia that the well had come in Tuesday night. Some of the crew which was relieving the day crew at the well had just come from Mexia a few hours before. Other members of this and a "Eleanor." the snappy number featured by the "Texette Sextette," the Scottish Rita Dormitory orchestra of six pieces, was played for the fans of Central Texa-? by the orchestra Inst nierht at WNAS radio station. The green timber, interwoven with under I roustabout' crew working in the vicin girls made a big hit with this number they received numerous compli brush of dogwood and briar bush.

Driftwood from the high waters of the creek catches in the open recesses of the dense growth. All of this growth was thoroughly showered with oil and in hardly more than a second following the flare, for hundreds of feet around, ltw of the well were reported missing in confusion and personnel list makes it impossible to ascertain just how many are dead, missing and unac counted for. Mr. Hughes said. Steam will be used today to extin guish the flames, company officials announced.

Boilers and fire fighting the location was a mass of flames. Green trees were burned to the ground and the once virgin green plot is now a blackened area. Great thick clouds of inky black smoke are settling over Corsicana, and the smell of burning oil is heavy In the air. High gravity oil was consumed by the flames. Seventeen steam boilers were being assembled today about the ill fated well, the flaming oil from which covers an area of about four acres.

It was planned to turn on steam from the entire battery in an effort to check the fire. The boilers were proffered by a number of oil companies in the Ens Navarro field. These companies are tendering every assistance possible, Hughes officials say. ments on their splendid program. Their future appearances in WNAS radio' concerts will be anticipated with interest by radio fans In this section.

The "Texettes" also played "You've Got to See Mamma Every Night" and "Carolina in the Morning." Members of the orchestra are Miss Clyde Wat-kins of Henderson, violin and director; Miss Jane K. Worthington of Dallas, piano; Miss Schmidt of Fort Worth, traps and drums; Miss Bernice Gardner of Austin, banjo; Misses Ma-zlne Graddy of Austin and Bernice Milburn of San Antonio, saxophones. Mrs. Luther Thompson, soprano soloist, sang "Absent" and "I Love Thee" and Miss Emma Bell Moore sang "Love's Old Sweet Song," "I'm Lonesome, That's All" and "When I'm Gone You'll Soon Forget." Miss Wilma McMordic, piano soloist, played a piano solo, "The Flatterer." During the program Senator W. R.

Cousins of Hemphill spoke on "Improvement of Rural Sanitation and Rural Centers." Other talks were mado by Senator I. E. Clark of Schu- HOME COMING! Make It Sweet for Mother With a Box of apparatus aro being rushed to the scene. The burning well is the third completed in the new field from a sand between 2850 and 3000 feet. Oil field workers this morning frequently worked their way near the fire in hopes of recovering the bodies of s.me comrade, but gushes of flame and the intense heat drove them off.

Once they were within fifteen feet of the skeletons, but a spurt of flame sent them scurrying over smoking stumps. The groups venturing near the pool of yellowish liquid fire are not without a few women, drawn close, with stricken faces, peering wide- eyed, only to retreat with covered faces and exclamations of horror. Story of a Survivor. Wn 1 B. B.

Simmonds, representative of I the J. K. Hughes Development Company, an eyewitness to the blast, was Ion the derrick floor and miraculously escaped unhurt by running. He said lenberg on Senator W. II.

Bledsoe of Lubbock on "Practical Methods of Increasing the Span of Representative H. R. Maxwell of Wayland on "Interpretation of the Law of Representative L. E. Price of Daingeifield, Senator W.

E. Watts of Cleburne and Representative H. W. "Wells of Edna. Dead May Number Sixteen.

MEXIA, Texas, May 10 Sixteen were killed in the fire at the Hughes-McKie oil well, according to information received at the headquarters of the company owning the well today. The -'ad were said to be those named in the list from Corsicana, a brother-in-law of Allen, the company's field superintendent, whose name was unknown, and two others, names unknown. It was said at the company's office the death list might be greater, but the list of sixteen was believed to be authentic. C. D.

Davis, of Mexia, present when several bodies were removed, said the work was done by men who covered tne men were engaged in taking off the control head and putting on a gate valve, when gas blew the valve up a bit and it fell back out of line. They All to myself, I think of you Think of the things we used to do, Think of the things we used to say, Think of each happy childhood day, And Sunday, 0 Mother of Mine, Is not yours but ours To tell you my love and "Say it with flowers." Sent anywhere you. may desire. See us Early. Hyde Park Floral Co.

917 Cong. "The Halls" Phone 6964 Fresh Stock Today! Phone 9105 Quick Fee Delivery ROSES, ROSES, ROSES Friday and Saturday Only I will offer for sale the finest variety of roses, about 2,000 in all. All will grow when trimmed back, in fact they will grow any time of the year. I have American Beauty, both colors Los Angeles, Marie, Henrietta and about 25 others $150 Per Dozen Or 25c Each VACANT LOT 611 RED RIVER themselves with wet blankets. The loss to the owners of the well Is estimated at about $100,000.

J. K. Hughes, head of tho company repeatedly has stated he wished it had been a dry hole. "While the work of attempting to control the well before the fire was under way the usual rules keeping spectators at a distance were enforced. This gave the fifty or more persons close to the rig opportunity to outrun the fire.

Men left Mexia today for the well to prepare to uso nitro-glycerine to blow out the flames in cane the steam from the boilers falls. The explosive is so placed that it usually snuff out the blaze in a blast set off at a pre-arranged time. J. K. Hughes has said he" does not care if the well is lost in extinguishing the fire.

36-lnch $2.00 Bilk shirting, yd, $1.25. Chas. Rosner. Adv. Evans-Cox Drug Go.

Successors to Graham's.