Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1867-01-10

AT ihislin,s woSnen ind 'ebildfen had been
prohibited from approaching the shaft, and
thus many painful demonstrations were pre-
.fktstene iflt0 pit q described {. Mat
ful. Bodies and limbs lay apart, and sever.
al hesdless trunks were sent up. The total
e!sSt egRs1r tosP sSsHS sbIisSi fEs rss
deAdibediesl hdh,bSred foftylthreS Latter
damp was the cause of the death. Deduct
ing the upiDjured, the burned and the dead.
there must then have remained in the pit
beNseH fdJyIspd fffy mon, and ascsune Be
were alive; II IS but reasonable to Suppose
that these. too, have perished.
CAUSE OF TIE DISASTER.
The force of the explosion, as evidenced
by the ,appearanceo Tthespit,sN workhqs,
must have haeut tntense. lbe batiieiug Oh ali
sides having been blown away, the plank
scattered in all directions, and the road.
ways, for the most part, consequently block
ed up Notbing was perceived by the mi
Ders ptiorLolhe accident 10 cause them 10
suspect the approach OF danger, the explo.
sion, it is-said, c6ming6A thsm with OIL the
sudaenbess ofa gunshSt. } Nor Cd hahy oa use
he yet fixed upon, except what may be in.
ferred from the fact that on the persons of
several, deceased duplicate lanp keys iwere
found. The possession of these keys is in
opposition to EheE ders TSoAtained in The
Mines Regulation act, which requires that
feclpcking apd unlocking, oil then shiety
LAMPS shan beysoIely performed by appoints
ed officers. The seam which was being
worked was called the Ranbury seam. The
ceal was very gaseous, and the exercise Of
utmost -carerwas epjoined on the workmen.
Any such departure from the rule as that
suRgestedimu therefore have been doubly
culpable. But beyond the finding of the
duplicate keeps, there is nothing to substan-
tiate the sHppositioD, most OF the lamps
having been oshiycred into the minutest
atoms. The. safety lamps in use were the
'Olanny, and Mills lamps. sos sac 800.
INCIDENTS.
Isaac Bolton, a collier ut the Talk the
Hill pit, said that about eleven P. NJ he felt
a wind blowing through the mine. Hecon
cluded that something had happened, and
he did bis bestto1eave. On his way to the
bottom of the shat he cane across man
who ked fallen. 9 He took him in hand for
some distance, but eventually was obliged to
leave him, eWithess got to shGeotr Of the
shaft, but be and others could not, at first,
ENt tbC iWUC iOWcfSu. tlhC tuc
cage was leGd6Bn. and he and Others were
extrlcated. As soon as he got above ground
he ran home. (Mr. Wyane, the Govern
mept Inspector Of mines for the district
explained that it was usual in such cases for
those who were saved to make for home as
quickly as they could. In order to set at rest
the minds of their families)ph
Some of the bereaved are III q most pitt
able plight. A widow named Booth has
lost two sons who were her only support. -
Another woman has lost her husband. son
and an adopted child aad'is left with four
young girls Several families have been
deprivedo9ffaher and SON Ii 8nother case
six young children s;Inamea Knowles, whose
mother died only few weeks ago. have now
become orphaps7, In one row of four houses
every window blind is drawn down.
The coliery was worked day and night by
two shifts of men. Had the explosion oc
Cured little more than half an hour later
most of the golfers would have been away
at dinner and thusthe loss oflife would have
been considerably less. As it is. the num-
ber killed will, ll,itisthought. be under eighty;
for of those believed op Thursday night TO
be still under ground, lpa9y, it, appears,
con'rivcd TO escape by No. shaft. The
number of horses buried was fourteen.