From the Lawrence Daily World for Dec. 31, 1910:

“Harold Wilson, a junior electrical engineer in the University, was assisting Roy Spear, a senior engineer, in the collection of data for a thesis. The two boys had been visiting a manhole at the corner of Lee and Kentucky every hour for the purpose of taking a sample of the sewerage water and measuring its rate of flow. On the midnight trip Wilson went alone, while Spear worked out an unfinished experiment. Wilson carried a lantern to illuminate the interior of the sewer. Eight or ten feet below the level of the street, the lantern became extinguished. Wilson struck a match to relight it – a thing which both the boys had done before that evening. Immediately an explosion of sewer gas occurred, which hurled him forcibly against he rocky sides of the manhole. With flames enveloping his body, he fought to climb to the surface. He finally escaped from the narrow circular furnace of fire, before overcome by gas, but not until his face, hands, and body had been cruelly burned. Today he is resting comfortably and no serious results are anticipated.”