Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1869-09-23
The Coal Mine Disaster.

ments OF the awful agony of those tw,
hundred men,-whch can never be de
scribed. Even the manner in which the
catastrophe originated is mainly "A mat
p ter OF conjecture. In all human proba
:. bility not one Of that wretchcd company
b. survives To tell the secrets OF their pris
on-house. and 50 to the actual horrors
ofsutIering aud death is added the gloom
of an mpenctrable mystery.
The collicry in which this terrible ac-
cident occurred is entered by a perpen.
dicular shaft. 321 feet deep. on the side
OF a mountain. From the bottom of il
10 feet below the surface of the valley,
run two main galleries sloping upward
one 800 and the other 1900 feet long
Smaller Passages and chambers. 30 in
number. branch of from these There
i no access 70 the open air except bv
this single shaft. which had to rye all
the purposes ola hoist-way tor the work
men and the coal, and n channel for The
ventilating current which in all mines
must be constantly forced BY machinery
through the various galleries and drifts.
The sides of the shaft were built up with
wooden supports and wooden parti-
ton ran pcrpendicularly through its
whole length, dividing il into two pas
sagcs, one for the upward. tho other Tor
the downward current. Right over it,
| mouth stood a great wooden building.
containing the machinery for hoi.fino
and for breaking. sorting aud cleaning
I the coal. 10 assist in crcatiuga current
I oi air fire was always kept burning in
/ q furnace ~ the loot of the shaft and
/ from this it i supposed the woodwork
must have caught.
on Monday morning two hundred
men went down that shaft to resume
work after q long strike Thcy were
followed, about nine o'clock. bv one
Of the mule-teudcrs. with hav tor hi,
beasts. A. hc reached the bottom he MI.
heard to cry Fire but what hc saw We
never shall know. for ia an instant n
fierce column of flame rushed up the
shaft, caught the breaker d. ii il had
been house of paper. and wrapped the F.
whole structure IN sheets ot fire The
mouth ot the pit bclchcd forth dr>trur.
tiou. Hundreds Of ton. of coal in the
~hutcs aud bins were soon in a whit.
glow, and dropped with the falling
beams into the >hat. |; WAS seven or
cight hours before the engines which
hurried Ia the scene of disaster from all
the neighhoring towns succeeded IN eN-
tingnlshing the burning mass Work
G
tire mining region. for il wa- known
that two hundred oftheir brethren we.r
imprisoned among the deadly vap.rS or
thlt awful pit The rubbish wa cleared
away from the mouth. aud iittv expert
cnccd miners volunteered To attempt the
descent. l. was now about ia the even
Ing. r. test tn purity OF the air
dog aud lighted lamp were first low
cred into the shaft II tar a. they would
GO. At the end OF five minutes they
i.,n~. .irlYp up: the dog was alive. the
rhP burning. miner NAMED
connoitcr. but about hall way from tho
bottom he found the shaft blocked with
fallen timbcrs. Two fresh volunteer,
were then lowered with hatchet~ Alter
~ minutes they were drawn MP again.
faint and breathlc-.. They had pcnctru.
ted 20 or - yards into gangwav. find
ing three dead mules, and coming M
last 10 a closed door. They hammered
at il and waited Tor an answering sound.
but no answer came. and through the
crevicc- poured clouds of sulphuruus VA
pur-thc fatal black damp" Several
other parties. in the course ot the even
ing and night, made attempts to pcuc-
tritc into the gangway-. but with little
more success. Few could remain more
than five ur Fix minutes. and when
drawn up they were all spccchlc,> and
exhausted. Several were brought back
by their companions entirely inscnsible.
Two brave fellows, Daniel Jones and
Thomas Williams. were brought back
dead
There was no hope now thar any ot
the miners remained ali.c, unless pos
sibly they had succeeded in walling
themselves in AT some remote part Of
the mine so eifectually IA Ia prevent the
entrance OF the foul gases from the 4
shaft. II wa, only the shadow of "A
hope. still the work went on while wo-
man sat wringing their hands and weep I
ing for their husbands and children,
and miners from distant regions came
in hundreds 10 offer their assistance. /
Bv . O'Clock on Tuesday morning an /
engine and fan had been placed III po- |
-ition To force fresh air into the mine. /
All day long parties went down al in
teryals. but the black damp drove them
back, and the fans did not seem TO gain |
upon it, About in the afternoon it
was discovered that the fire at the foot
OF the shaft. which was su opposed TO be
entirely extingui.hed. had been revived
BY the fresh current and communicated
with a mass Of coal lying near. Thus
the workmcn had actually been acceler
/ ating the generation OF gas. and destroy
| ing what yestige of hope might remain
| for their impl isoned comrades. \
stream of water was with some difficult
| ty brought To lay upon the flames, and
the greater part Of the night was de-
voted to the suppression OF the fire. the
clouds of gas that came up the -haft be-
ing meanwhile 80 awful that worhmen
at the mouth were removed insensible.
Between , and o'clock on Wednesday
morning two bodies We're found, both
fearfully disfigured and unrcco.nizabie.
About 8 80 "a party of four succeeded
in penetrating some distance into one
of the principal galleries, and came up
on the bodies OF over sixty more where
they had met their fate together. They
had constructed two barriers of cars
and refuse coal, and stripped off their
clothes to stuff the creyices. One poor
fellow, whose duty it seems to have
been to close the last aperture after all
had passed beyond it, had fallen dead
on the outside, his work not yet com
pleted. Father and sons We're found
in each others arms. Some lay with
their hands clenched as if in agony,
some with their faces buried in the
ground, some in the attitude of prayer.
HEART RENDINC SCENES.
The scenes at the mines when the
bodies OF the miners were brought out
were most heartrending. Up to the
last moment the wives, children, and
relatives hoped that the doomed men
: might be found alive, but As one black
ened corpse alter another was brought
out, the low sobs of the women broke
1 into shrieks and walls of agony as they
!. recognized the remains of their friends.
I Even the men were not unmoved by the
!. piteous spectacle, and many an eye was
!. dimmed with tears as the bodies OF com