The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1871-08-25
THE PITTSTON COAL MINE DIS.
ASTER.
Full Particulars Of the ExplOsiOn-search
for the Bodies of victims-Sev enteen
Bodies Recovered.

Full PARTICULARS OF the ExpiOsiOn-Senrch
for the Bodies Of victims-sey enteen
Bodies Recovered.
The explosion of fire damp in the
coal shaft, which occurred on Monday
morning, is another of those horrible
calamities which has taken place in
that section recently. 1t is not be-
lieved that any men at work in the
mine will be recovered alive. Entering
the chamber in which the explosion oc-
Cured, fall rock was first found,
which lay partly upon the car, COM
pletely blocking up one side, and leav-
ing space on the other side just suffi-
cient for man to force himself
through. Some distance further in
there was another fall which complete
ly filed the passage, and behind this
the men are walled so completely that
it took hours of the most persistent la
Dor TO reach them. Volunteers went to
work to get around this fallen rock, so
that they could reach the entrenched
miners, but the density Of the black
damp prevented them from prosecuting
their work with full effect. They were
brought up at short intervals in an ex-
hausted condition, and their places i'm.
mediately supplied by other volunteers.
Those assuming control have ordered
the pumps reversed. Water has been
forced down the shaft, thus helping to
increase the volume of pure air and ex-
pei the foul. This mine has been near
ly exhausted, and was known to have
been filled with black damp, and yet it
has been constantly worked since the
conclusion of the strike, although not
to its full capacity. Twelve feet of gas
was found just off the gangway, which
has been traversed all day by explorers
with naked lights, and the merest acct
dent would have caused another and
worse explosion, involving the loss of at
least SO lives.
During Monday afternoon five bodies
were brought to the surface, and after a
short cessation of the search for the pur-
pose Of again ventilating the mine, the
work of removing the debris and reliev-
ing the entrenched victims, again COM
menced and at about O clock on Tues
day morning, the last body was taken
from the shaft. Seventeen persons were
either sutfocated or killed outright.
THE VICTIMS
were carried to their homes and placed
in coffins ready for interment. 1t is
not known, and most likely never will
be exactly, how the men came to their
death, whether all were instantly killed
by the explosion or whether
they were stunned and after
ward sufocated 10y the cholle-damp.
One or two bodies were badly burned,
and others considerably bruised.
The scene at the entrance Of the
shaft was heartrending in the extreme.
Thousands of sympathizing citizens,
miners and others were present, render
ing all the assistance that was possible
under the circumstances. Women and
children were weeping, wrlnglng their
hands and mourning aloud for the loved
and lost, waiting in anxious, hopeless
expectation each new report from the
poisonous pit. The women everywhere
did what they could to minister to the
wants of the exhausted volunteers, as
they were borne like helpless children
back to the mouth of the pit. Great
caldron's Of steaming coffee were ready
all known restoratives were at hand. Sad
hearts are everywhere and there is
much sympathy with bereaved friends
mourning for their dead.
There are many theories as to the
cause of the disaster, but the general
opinion is that it is due 70 the explosion
of fire damp, the first intimation that
anything was wrong being the rafting
and .jostling of the descending car as
the air rushed out of the shaft with
such velocity as for moment to stop
its descent.