Charleston Gazette
Pure Oil Plant Will Be Rebuilt
Loss in Cabin Creek Explosion Put at $100,000; Victims Are Recovering
October 27, 1923
Immediate reconstruction of the Cabin Creek plant of the Pure Oil company, destroyed in the explosion yesterday morning, will be undertaken, according to J. J. Rhiel, general manager of the division. In the meantime a temporary plant will be put in operation.
Loss to the company was estimated by M. Rhiel at $100,000, covered by insurance.
Pete McConihay, 42, the only employee in the building at the time of the explosion, is in the Mountain State hospital here where physicians say they believe he will recover. M. M. Pennell, 65, who was knocked down while walking along a railroad track a short distance from the building and covered with debris, is in a hospital at Montgomery suffering a broken arm and a broken leg.
No cause of the explosion has been officially determined, according to the general manager.
Others said the explosion was caused by excessive pressure in the oil finters [sic].