The Chattanooga Commercial’s headlines on Friday, June 10, 1887, shared the tragic news of an explosion and fire at Standard Gas Machine Works, resulting in injuries and death. “General Manager Reeves Badly Injured - - Fireman Iler Killed and Matt Peak Fatally Injured and Dies in a Few Hours.” Explaining that the church bells being tolled across the city were a tribute to “the two brave lads,” the writer waxed quite poetically by adding that “the clanging bells which woke them from their last sleep on earth will never again call them to duty here.”
Both men had responded to the alarm signaling a furious fire following a gas explosion that had then ignited barrels of gasoline stored ... (click for more)