The daily phoenix. [volume] (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, 1871-06-01
Th. ..Mss,en zIprreet., 1

tiotlars ofswhioh were given! 6S tetss
graph yesterday, LAS been; q Inose h ealtT!
rending calamity. q Ups to- ! this .ho1f
(2:90 P. M. all stha men ih the mine6zz-!s =
thirty eight in = numbeEt-hnye =, been
brought up, Of whom, eighteen ate dead;
At half-past 12 last night the rescuers
succeeded in effecting On entrance to the
bottom of tho shaft, aud brought them
lo- the surface. --..--.-->.-,---
with his fate lii the watef.,S. At IL. .45
barricaded themselves in, and algoy ysent
up a cage for men and tools. This morn
ing the excitement ut the shift Is greater
than ever. Up. to s O'clock twenty four
men had been brought to tho top, of
which number 81. were dead md I'LL in
sensible when brought out. One or two
have 80 far recovered us to be able to
give nm account Of themselves. Morgan,
Meifrst man discovered. is still alive,
though his recovery is doubtful. The
parties are compelled TO proceed with
the utmost caution, aud are frequently
brought up asphixiated. at 10 A. IL,
thirty men had been brought out, ten
Of whom were dead, and 'ut noon not
moro than one or two remained in the
mine. Every. one of tho men brought
up for tho pnst two hours has beun found
to be stone dead: The excitement is
almost indescribable. Thousands of peo-
pie have crowded around the mouth of
the. pit in their eagerness to see and
hear! and are with difficulty. kept outside
Of the rope whioh is stretched around
the shalt. II
Atthe time of ignition Of tue upper
parb OF tho shaft yesterday, the shifts Of
miners we're being changed by their
companions coming out, and the alarm
being given to engineer MoDermott, he
at once communicated the warning of
danger to.the bottom Of -sthe mino and
began to hoist tho carriage, bringing
with the frst four trips several mon. In
three succeeding trips no-aErivals were
made the rope slipped off the. pulley md
q possibility. At ono time young lad
ut the bottom Of the shaft, $50 feet
down, saw nervous twitching OF the
bell-wire to which the. bell refused to re-
sponl, and being suspicious OF some
disastrous accident Immediately ran into
the East gangwny several hundred feet
and warned his brother of the circum-
stance. These two, with Mr.. Evans,
were the last to ascend from the pit. In
aR ho:S and 9 quarter the hrealser hnd
burned to the ground, and men of all
vocations OF life began removing tho
half-consumed timbers that obstructed
the passage to the mouth of the shaft.
Water was drawn from the river one
mile distant in barrels and by every
nther available means. kilograms were
also despatched to fire departments for
assistance. and by S o'clock the water
had cooled the iron and wood near the
shaft, and preparations were made to
clear the mouth. In the meantime, hun
dreds OF women and children had con-
gregated near the scene Of the disaster,
and their heartrending cries pierced tho
air. At p. Id. there was bronght to
the mouth Of the mine q temporary
framework. made to cover the opening
A platform carriage was constructed and
two men. David Harris and William
Warren, were let down about twenty
feet. They had lights, ropes, water and
tools. They removed tho burned timber
and charred bantGngs aud constructed a
partition to secure mp and down q cur.
rent of air. A few minutes previous to
this. William Law was let down by a
| rope seventy-hve feet into tho shaft, but
Immediately gave the signal for hosting.
A strong current Of air came from tho
opening, carrying with it thick smoke
and obnoxious gases. Preparations for
! the rescue OF the miners continued to be
pushed with the greatest vigor until
1890, when, as above stated, the first
man was reached. The fire originated
in spontaneous combustion in the fric-
ton Of the woodwork Of the breaker.
Martin Cox, one Of the miners taken
| out alive, makes the following state-
mcnt:
We went in at a. ". Ny brother
Robert cut through from ono nir-wny to
another and turned on tho gas, and six
miners came out with him before their
shift was up. Tho mir was SO bad they
could not work mt nll This was about
fifteen minutes before the fire, and seven
miners came up to tho top five minutes
before the fro was discovered. The first
intimation wo had OF tho fire was a
sound through the mino as if there was
an explosion. An English miner said :
"There is fire about fifty yards from the
bottom of the shaft, in tho West side. !"
then ran to the bottom of the shaft,
and saw the fro coming down. Kan
back to my comrades and told them we
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