Ligonier Valley Rail Road Newspaper Articles
We have compiled over 1,400 newspaper articles that mention the Ligonier Valley Railroad, or related subjects. The articles were originally published starting in 1873 and our collection runs through 1995. Enjoy!
Latrobe Bulletin
Wednesday, October 28, 1914
Ligonier Valley Station Building Partially Wrecked Inside By An Explosion Of Gas
John S. Kuhns, employed in the office of the Ligonier Valley Railroad Company, was painfully burned, and the second floor of the company's station building, at Ligonier, was partially wrecked, by an explosion of natural gas, occurring yesterday morning, when Mr. Kuhns sought to look for a leak with a lighted match.
For some time past the odor of gas had been noticed on the second floor of the building, and yesterday, Mr. Kuhns reached the conclusion that the leak was in a pipe passing near the big vault which stands at the end of one of the office rooms, and which is about six by twelve feet in dimensions. He entered the vault, leaving the door open behind him, and proceeded to investigate, striking a match while pursuing the hunt.
Instantly, there was a terrific explosion, Mr. Kuhns was knocked prostrate, and his hands were badly burned, while his hair was singed off.
The force of the explosion, not quite strong enough to cope with the heavy walls of the vault, proceeded out the door, passed across the room, hit the partition, knocked it a foot or more out of plumb; then passed through a door in the partition, crossed another office, crashed against the opposite wall and sent is askew.
Still unspent, the force from the explosion, glanced to the side and put another wall of the room out of alignment, by a foot or more.
The three partition walls were all of standard strength, extending from the floor to the ceiling.
The explosion did not disturb the plastering on the ceiling nor were the outer walls of the building damaged.
A heavy steel filing cabinet, standing in the path of the force from the explosion, was damaged somewhat.
J. H. McDowell and Walter Overcash were in the offices at the time, but both escaped injury.
The explosion is said to have been of a most freakish kind, in its effects.
Gas is not used in the building, except for the heating plant in the cellar, but the structure is piped throughout, for it.