San Marcos free press. [volume] (San Marcos, Tex.) 1877-1892, 1883-04-12
HIDEOUS SIGHT.
,.,nsdss from the Diamond nlne-rhe
ssnoTsin o. 'u..a. IN Horrible Condition.

RnA"' -
c..rsspondents of the Chicago pa
At Braidwood, under date OF
per- 90 give the following particu-
hsi1 VI 1.-The recovery of the bodies of the
iais a - overwhelmed by the flood in
,bs Diamond mine; ,
'no The workmen ut the Diamond
ma na were engaged all night in re-
NIL ,,;ng the bodies of the dead. The
s a'O two corpses were brought into
n mo .h;ll night air about midnight.
F I'm, 500 persons of both sexes We're
r "sy;ng around the entrance of the
nU charnel-house, anxiously
Suing that some near and dear one
,n;pcbt be brought up first. Mothers
,rhe had lost sons, and young wives
w standing shivering in the cold,
Nth their little children clinging to
their skirts and whimpering' There
was no noise made but by the pump
,~g and hosting machinery. The
tumbling of the waters from the
nnmps kept up a monotonous swish
as 4 struck powders on the opposite
eide and trickled off towards the over
flowing prairie, whence it had rushed
into the mine. The water was black
from the contact with the walls of
COAL and seemed tinged with a more
somber hue by the Pickering torches
If the watchers and workmen. The
miners who were engaged in exhum-
inc the bodies, would occasionally
come to the surface to take a breath
Of fresh air and get relief from the op-
nressive nausea of the mine. In
their mining clothes, their faces seam
ed with coal-dust, and their little
lanterns attached to their heads,
these laborers among the dead looked
wierd and almost terrible in the dark
ness.
The scene was indeed CHASTITY one.
Sobs were breaking from the wo-
men, and strong men spoke with ba-
ted breath in the presence of the first
body brought out. The hosting ap-
paratus had scarcely deposited the
blackened remains upon the landing
when the expectant crowd swayed for
ward hoping to get a glimpse OF the
horrible sight. 1t was a horrible sight,
and required a strong heart to look
upon it unmoved. For thirty-eight
days the bodies had remained under
ground in the water, and decomposi-
ton had set in and was already in an
advanced stage. 1t was expected
that the corpses would be pu-
trid, but putrefaction was not yet
thorough and the corpses were easily
handled. The first body was hoisted
up in a long oblong box and hurried
into shanty thirty feet distant from
the hole, where the Coroner and jury
and few others waited to view the
remains and identify them if possible.
The box was opened and the crowd
gazed upon the sickening sight. The
face was black as ink, as was the en-
tire body, and it seemed impossible to
recognize in the disfgured heap of
clay the man who had been represent
ed byit. The clothing alone served
as q mark of recognition, and the
corpse was alleged to be J. P. Wall.
Soon another body came up, and the
creaking of machinery continued un.
til daylight dawned, when fifteen had
been brought to the surface. AS fast
as one body was identified it was
placed in coffin and removed a
short distance to the fat-cars to be
transported to Braidwood.
The Identification in a number OF
instances was necessarily imperfect,
because of the disfguration of some
of the bodies and the advanced stage
Ofdecomposition. The scene in here
was sickening. The saturated remains
were exposed to view a few moments
and eagerly gazed upon by the be-
reaved relatives. No women were
permitted within the morgue. The
bodies were contorted into all manner
of shapes, some of them almost doub-
led up, with the heads stiffened down
upon the breast. One man had his
arms uplifted as if to protect himself
from some impending blow. He had
raised them to ward off death, and
when it came it left him still appeal
ing. The eyes of nearly all were gone'
the noses fattened close to the face,
which in many cases were laid bare
to the cheek bones. Great gashes
caused by falling stones rendered rec
ignition of few an absolute impos-
sibility. The lips thickened into ex,