Davidson, John - starts fire - Fountain County INGenWeb Project

John Davidson, of Hillsboro, Fountain County, having read in the papers about thousands of accidents occurring in attempting to fill a lighted lamp from a can of coal oil, thought he would try the experiment. John went at it systematically, just as the dead before him did, but with a little better success. He had about half filled his lamp, when a sudden explosion occurred, which caused John to take the floor after the manner of a boy just ready to sit down, and having a chair pulled from under him, while the can took a position on the ceiling, leaving its mark in burning letters, but not liking the locality, sought the further end of the room, where it proceeded to burn for vengeance. John, with the assistance of the hook and ladder company and four Babcocks succeeded in routing the enemy.—Covington Friend.