Indianapolis vs. Prest-O-Lite

After three big expolsions within Indianapolis at the Prest-O-Lite factory (due to the volatility of acetylene) the city had enough. Following the June 6, 1908 explosion a meeting of the City Council was called to draft an ordinance to ban the manufature of the gas - pumped into brass canisters and used to spark a flame for headlights - within city limits. The Indianapolis Star naturally covered the story.
 
Attachment Prest-O-Lite060808 contains a June 8, 1908 article that reports on the decision of the Council to call a meeting and includes good quotes from company Founder and President Carl Fisher accepting liability and apologizing. The article within attachment Prest-O-Lite061608 reports on the meeting which was held June 15. Much of the article reports on the procedural tedium of the meeting but I love it because it provides a factual record to the business challenges of company founders Carl Fisher and James Allison, who together went on to also found the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. A pair of images in attachment Prest-O-Lite060708i help to illustrate the damage created by the blast.