The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1869-09-13
THE COAL MINE Ho1ocA UsE.
A Connected Acco6nt OF the Horrible
- Affair.

The story OF the Pennsylvania disaster grows
more ezd more horrible as the details are
eca5ually brought to light. There is part Of
i.Athe closing moments Of the awful agony OF
those two hundred men-which can never be
described. Even the manner in which the
catastrophe originated is mainly matter OF
conjecture. In all human probability. not one
OF that wretched company survive, to-telI the
| secrets Of their prison-kouse. and so to the
aStual horrors of suffering and death is added
the gloom Of an impenetrable mystery. The
New York Tribune sums up the facts in the
following clear and oonnectednarrative:
The coIliery in which this terrible accident
occurred is entered BY O. perpendicular smart,
327 .fesh deep, on !xlhe side q o mountain.
From the bottom Of it, 40 feet below the sur
facs Of the valley, run 5o two main galleries. 5ses
feet longS Smaller passages and chambers, 80
in number, branch of from these. There is no
| access to the open air except by this single
shaft, which bad to serve all the purposes OF
o hoist-way for the workmen and the coal. and
9 channel for the venilsting current which In
all mines must be constantly forced by ma
chinery through the various galleries and
| drifts. The SIDES Of the shaft were built up
with wooden supports, and q wooden partition
ran perpendicularly through its whole length,
dividing it into two passages, one for the up-
ward, the other for the 'downward current
Right over its mouth stood great wood
en- building, containing the machinery Tor
| hoieting and for breaking, sorting and cleaning
| the coal. 10 assist in creating current OF
cir fire was always kept burning In furnace
at the foot OF the shaft, and nom this 1t is
supposed the woodwork must nave caught.
| On Monday morning two hundred men went
down that shaft to resume work after long
strike. They were followed, about 8 o'clock,
nv one OF che mule-tenders, with hay Tor MS
beasts. As he reached the bottom he was
heard to cry. Fire !" but what he saw we
never shall know, for in an instant fierce col.
umn OF fame rushed up the shaft, caught
| the breaker as If that had been house Of pa.
per, and wrapped the whole structure IN
sheets of fire. The mouth OF the pit belch-
| ed forth destruction. Hundreds Of tons OF
coal in the shutes and bins we're soon 10
white glow, and dropped with the faiing
beams into the shaft. Il was seven or eight
bonrs before the engines which were hur-s
RED to- the scene of disaster from all the
neieliboring towns succeeded in e1tinguishing
the burning mass. Workmer had hocked To
| the spot from the entire mining region, for 1t
was known that two hundred OF their brethren
were imprisoned among the deadly vapors OF
that Iawfui pit.i The rubbish was cleared away
| from the mouth, and fifty experienced miners
volunteered to attempt the descent. 1t was
| nov about in the evening. To test the puri.
| ty OF the air dog aud lighted lamp were first
| lowered into the shaft as tar as they would go.
| At the end OF five minutes they were drawn mp,
| the dog was alive. the lamp stil burning.
miner named Charles Vartue then went down
| to reconnoiire, but about bali way trota, the
| bottom he found the shaft blocked with fallen
| timbers. Two fresh volunteers we're then low
| cred with hatchets. After twenty minutes
/ they were drawn up again. faint and breath!ess.
/ They had penetrated seventy or eighty yaros
into gangway, finding three dead mules. ana
| coming at last 10 closed door,. They ham,
mered OF it and waited for an answering
i sound, but no ans wer came, and through the
creyices poured clouds Of sulphurous vapor-
the fatal ''black damp" Several other parties,
in the course Of the evening and night made
attempts to penetrate into the gang ways. but
with little more success. Few conid remain
more than five or SIX minutes, and Ehen
| drawn % they we're all speechless and e1-
bausted. SeveraFwere brought Back by their
companions entirely lnsensible. Two brave
fellows, Daniel Jones and 'Thomaso Williams,
were brought back dead. There was 10 hope
now that any Of the miners renI7ined alive,
unIess possibly thes had succeeded in walinS
themselves in at.some remote part OF the mime
so effectusIy as to prevent the entrance OF the
foul gasses from the shaft. 1t was only the
shadow OF O hope; still the work want on, while
women sat wrlnging their hands and weeping Tor
their husbands and children, and miners from
distant regions came in hundreds to offer
their assistance. By nine O'Clock on Tues
day morning an engine and fan had been
placed in position to force fresh air into the
mine. All day long parties went down at in
tervals, but the black damp drove them back.
and the fans did not seem to gain upon 1t.
About four in the afternoon it was discovered
that the fire at the foot OF the shaft, which was
supposed to be eatirely extinguished, had
been revived by tie fresh current, and com.
municated with q mass Of coal lying near
Thus the workmen had actually been accele-
railing the generation Of gas, and destroying
what little vestige of hope might remain tor
their imprisoned comrades. a stream OF water
was with some difficulty brought to play upon
the flames, and the greater part Of the night
was devoted to the suppression OF the fire,
the clouds of gas that came up the shaft being
meanwhile so awful that workmen at the mouth
were removed insensible. Bstween two and
three o'clock on Wednesday morning two bodies
were found, both fearfully disfgured and un-
recognizable. About $50 a party offour sue
ceeded' IN penetrating some distance into one
Of the principal galleries. and tcame upon the
bodies OF over sixty moro where they had met
theiy fate together. They had constructed
two barriers Of cars and refuse coal, AID strip
bed of their clothes to stop the crevices. One
roor fellow whose duty it seems to have been