New London, Texas, March 18, 1937

"Cenotaph," a Greek word meaning "empty tomb".

One of the best things about being in Texas for so long was the presence of all of that history. Working for Schlumberger, I logged wells all over east Texas and I'm pretty sure I've seen 90% of the back roads and read most of the historical markers. The battle for Texas independence from Mexico was fought all over east Texas. There are a couple of good stories there that I'll write about sometime, but I'll save that for later.

We were logging up around Tyler, Texas in Rusk County one time and needed to find a place to eat. The closest place to our well was a small town called New London. We settled on a small diner and ordered some soup and sandwiches to go because we had to get back on location rather soon. I noticed a stone marker outside and asked the waitress of its significance. She told me in her wonderful Texas accent that it was a "cenotaph" built after the school explosion. I'll have to admit, none of the three of us knew what a cenotaph was, nor did we know anything about the school explosion. However, CJ and Don were just as curious as I was, so we walked out to the cenotaph and found out.

That cenotaph is a 32 feet high granite monument dedicated to the 311 students and teachers killed at the New London School on March 18, 1937. It is a very nice monument with all of the names of those who died in this horrific explosion etched in the base of this fine structure.

This was a brand new school, built of steel and concrete, at the time it was a magnificent building. It was heated with natural gas that was drawn directly off the oil and gas fields that surrounded the area. The gas lines ran under the building into a sealed crawl space. A leak in one of the lines was enough to fill that crawl space with enough gas to demolish the building.

This natural gas was odorless so there was no warning or indication of any danger. It was determined from the investigation that the ignition of the gas came from a sander which was started by the shop teacher. The explosion lifted the building upwards and outwards and the steel and concrete came collapsing down upon all inside. A terrible tragedy that I can barely imagine today, the needless loss of so many young lives in an instant, how can parents suffer such a loss?

A young reporter, Walter Cronkite, working for United Press in Dallas was one of the first members of the national media on the scene. Years later he stated, "I did nothing in my studies nor in my life to prepare me for a story of the magnitude of that New London tragedy, nor has any story since that awful day equaled it."

Before the end of that year, Texas became the first state to require the addition of an odorant in distributed natural gas. Thiols or mercaptans are foul smelling organic compounds that are now added to all distributed natural gas lines.

Although these odorants allow you to identify the presence of a gas leak, these leaks are still just as dangerous.

23 Injured in Natural Gas Explosion in Harlem Building

Published: February 11, 1992

A natural gas explosion rocked and heavily damaged a problem-plagued Harlem apartment building yesterday, touching off a raging fire that drove hundreds of tenants into the cold, injured 23 people, one critically, and left more than 50 people homeless.

14 Hurt In Natural Gas Explosion At Hotel Construction Site In San Diego

May 19, 2008

A natural gas explosion in a downtown hotel under construction tore apart four floors, badly burned three construction workers and injured 11 others Monday afternoon.

The blast occurred about 2 p.m. on the lower floors of the Hilton Hotel, which is being built on Harbor Drive near the San Diego Convention Center. There were more than 400 workers inside at the time.

Natural Gas Explosion Destroys North Carolina Home, Kills Infant

June 23, 2008

The Charlotte, North Carolina Fire Department released the name of a 4-month-old girl killed in the explosion of a house in northeast Charlotte. Her parents were seriously injured.

These incidents are real. I copied these headlines verbatim. Please pay heed to my advice:

If you think you have a gas leak...what you don't do is as important as what you do!

When you smell gas, don't light a match or candle.

If you're smoking, extinguish your cigarette immediately.

Don't open windows in an attempt to ventilate.

Don't touch an electrical switch or use your phone and, most important, don't try to find the source yourself.

If you smell gas in your home, evacuate your home immediately. Call for help from a safe distance.

Take care and be safe.