DROPPED LIGHTED PAPER IN GAS WELL.
Ohio Democrat / November 1, 1883
MINERAL RIDGE, O., Oct. 27. — A terrific gas explosion, which fatally injured Dr. A. J. Leitch, a prominent physician and President of the School Board, and seriously injured several others, occurred Friday. Workmen struck a rich vein of gas, and many spectators came to see it. Dr. Leitch very foolishly, and against the remonstrance of the bystanders, rolled a newspaper around a stone, lighted the paper, and threw it down the well, a distance of fifty feet. A tremendous explosion occurred, which shook the earth and blew the bricks and trappings to splinters. Dr. Leitch, who stood at the mouth of the well, was hurled about fifteen feet in the air with terrific force, and was horribly mangled. Both eyes were blown out, and his hair and nearly all his whiskers were scorched off. It is feared his lungs are affected. He lies in a critical condition, with little hopes of his recovery. Several others were seriously burned and injured by pieces of timber.
