The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1869-09-23
gulitits ana Me'rs.
THE GREAT MINING CALAMITY

were hurried into eternity DY one OF tnoSe
disasters not unfrequent in mining coun'
tries. The cause of the disaster must, to
certain extent, always remain myste.
ry. Not one survives TO tell the story OF
suffering and death, and the origin OF the
catastrophe is manly matter OF conec-
turo. The newspapers are filled with
lengthy accounts, written from the scene
of disaster, giving such information as
will shed the most light upon this sad
event, and relating the agonizing picture
presented upon discovering the bodies OF
these unfortunate miners. We will give
such as our limited space permits, and
begin with the following concise nara
tive from the New York Tribune:
The colliery in which this terrible ac-
cident occurred Is entered by perpen-
dicular shaft, 327 feet deep, on the side
of a mountain. From the bottom Of it,,
90 feet below tho surface of the valley,
run two main galleries, sloping upward,
one 800 and the other 12OO feet long.
Smaller passages and chambers, 81 in
number, branch off from these. There
is no access to the open air except by
this single shaft, which had to serve all
the purposes of hoist.way for the work
men and the coal, and chanuel for the
ventilating current which in all mines
must be- constantly forced by machinery
through the various galleries and drifts.
The sides of the shafts were built up
with wooden supports, and wooden
partition ran perpendiculary through its
whole length, dividing it into two passa-
ges, one tor the upward, the other for the
downward current. Right over it's
mouth stood great wooden bullding
containing the machinery for hosting
und for breaking, sorting and cleaning
the coal. TO assist in creating u current
of air fire was always kept burning in
furnace ut the foot of the shaft, and
from this it is supposed the woodwork
must have caught On Monday morning
two hundred men went down that shaft
to resume work after a long strike. They
were followed, about o'clock, by one Of
the mule-tenders, with hay for his beasts.
AS lc reached the bottom he was heard
10 cry "Fire !" but what he saw we mover
shall know, for in an instant fierce col
umn Of fame rushed up the shaft, caught
1he.breaker as if that had been house
of paper, and wrapped the whole struc-
,ure in sheets OF fire. The mouth of the
Dit belchcd forth destruction. Hundreds
of tons of coal in the shutGs and bins
were soon in white glow, and dropped
with the falling beams into the shaft. 1t
was seven or eight hours before the CHI
yines which were hurried TO the scene OF
disaster from all the neighboring towns
succeeded in extnguisling the burning
mass. Workmen had focked 10 the spot
from the entire mining region, for it was
known that two hundred of their breth-
rem were imprisoned among the deadly
vapors Of that awful pit. The rubbish
was cleared away from the mouth, and
fifty experienced miners volunteered to
attempt the descent 1t was now about
6 in the evening. To test the purity OF
the air u dog and lighted lamp were
first lowered into the shaft as far as they
would 20. At the end of five minutes
they were drawn up, the dog was alive,
the lamp still burning. A miner named
Charles Vartue then went down TO recon-
noilre, but about halt way from the bot
tom he found the shaft blocked with fall
Gil limbers. Two fresh volunteers were
then lowered with hatchels. After ~
minutes they were drawn up again,
faint aud breathless. They had penetr;s-
ted seventy or eighty yards into u gang
way, finding three dead mules, and COM
ing ut last 10 closed door. They ham
mered ut it and waited for an answering
sound, but no answer came, and through
the crevces poured clouds of sulphurous
vapor-the fatal "black damp" Several
other parties, in the course of the even
ing and night, made attempts to penetrate
into the gangways, but with little moro
Success Few could remain more than
five or six minutes, and when drawn up
they were all speechess and exhausted.
Several were brought back by their COM
nanions entirely inscnsible. Two brave
f.Ilows. Daniel Jones and Thomas Will
liams, were brought back dead. There
was no hope now that any OF the miners
remained alive, unless possibly they had
succeeded in walling themselves in at some
remote part of the mine 80 etfcctually us
to ureyont the entrance Of the foul gasses
from the shaft 1t was only the shadow
of u hope still the work went ON, while
women sat wrnging their hands and
weeping for their husbands and children,
and miners from distant regions came in
hundreds TO offer their assistance. By
nine o'clock on Tuesday morning an ell
gine and fan had been placed in position
to force fresh air into the mine. All day
lonr parties went down Ut intervals, but
the black damp drove them back, and the
ia - did not seem to gain upon it. About
fonr IN the afternoon it was discovered
that the fire at the foot Of the shaft,
which was supposed to be entirely ex-
tinsuished, had been revived by the fresh
current. and communicated with mass
of coal lying near. Thas the workmcn