The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1883-01-13


occurred at the coal mine operated by Jones
4 Nisbet to-day. An eXplosioat1re thugs
ia pieces generally, entailing terrible loss
ellie.
10 was Just four o'clock this afternoon
when the engineer, L. Davis, was startled
by mufled explosion which shook the
earth, and looking toward the mouth OF the
shaft he saw volume OF thick, black smoke
pouring therefrOm. Only one explanation
presented itself to his mind, and that was a.
horrible one-au explosion OF fre-damp.
He knew that the ioremG., and eleven other
human beings were below, aud he was fair
~ paralyzed for an instant at the thought
OF their fate. lie was brought to his
senses by a sharp ring at the signal bell,
showing that there was some one still alive
below, and in another second he had set
the machinery in motion with all the steam
pressure he could control. II seemed lite-
time before the cage came to the surface,
but the engineer had to stand by his engine
and had to watch for it at distance. When
It did appear the foreman, Sylvester Mason,
and boy named William Starr staggered
off it and emerged from the cloud OF smoke.
They were so uniformly black as to be
hardly recognizable, and they were all but
senseess through suffocation. Mr. Mason
soon recovered sufficiently to make state
ment that there had been an explosion, that
all the men were probably dead, and that he
and young Starr had only escaped by a
miracle.
Mr.. Nisbet, one OF the firm OF Nisbet q
Jones, was one of a small party to immedi-
ately board the cage, and, taking their lives
! in their hands, they went down. The smoke
! proved too dense, however, and they were
| compelled to return. a second trip was
made soon afterward, and third, and
/ fourth, but they were futile. One brave
| fellow named Harry Longshore made such
desperate endeaYor 10 reach his dying
friends that he was overcome, dragged out
| senseless and now lies in a critical cOndi-
/ ton For four hours nothing could be done,
and meantime a telegram was sent TO a
neighboring town for miners to aid in the
rescue. While waiting for the smoke to clear
away Mr.. Mason gave full statement sub
stantialy as follows:
The shaft is 800 feet deep and at the bot
tom a corridor seven feet wide leads east
ward for over two hundred yards On
either side OF this corridor the mining rooms
open off and the men during the day work
in there, drilling holes into the seven-foot
vein Of coal and charging them with pow
der. 1t is customary about four o'clock
every evening to discharge these blasts with
fuse. This afternoon about four O'Clock 1
went down and found that there were thr-
teen charges ready to be fired. The men
were about ready to quit for the night and
i told them to fire off the shots. When they
do this they all seek some safe niche or nook
not far off and the charges are fired one at
time. After giving the order l started for
the foot of the shaft about 300 yards
away, and was accompanied by Billy
Starr, a boy whose father and brother
were at work in the pit l was stand
ing at the foot Of the shaft for the men to
come out so that l could check them off and
make sure that none got left there all night.
We heard three shots few minutes apart,
and then we heard fourth, which was fol-
lowed Immediately by a terrible explosion
in the direction Of the men; then a rush of
air, and then great volume Of fire that
filled the whole corridor. Was blown
against the side OF the shaft and badly in
jured, especially in the leg, and the little
boy was stunned. l thought at first / would
wait and try to save the men, but the flames
were coming fast, the air was sitting. and
l felt it would be death to remain there an
other minute. / stepped on the cage,
dragged the boy after me and rang the bell
BY the time we reached the surface l was
nearly stranged and barely conscious, and
the boy was UNCONSCIOUS. 1t was clearly
an explosion OF gas, and as it occurred way
back where the men were they had no
chance for escape.
BY O'Clock the smoke had entirely ceased
to ascend and all was quiet as the grave in
the deep black hole. Again the cage was
manned aud hardy miners were among The
party this time, having comea long distance
TO aid in the work. A hearty God-speed
from the multitude attended them as they
disappeared below the surface, possibly to
face death also. They found the smoke still
thick below, owing TO the absence Of air
currents, the traps by which these currents
were kept up, having been blown down by
the explosion. Still they persisted, and
shortly before O'Clock they had penetrated
100 yards through the debris. They found
, James w. King, the first OF the victims,
lying fiat on his face, dead. lie had evil
IDENTITY crawled half why TO the shaft after
the explosion, as he, laid on topo the slate
e which must have beep tqrndoNn by the eX-
, plosion. He was carried oct. and the
body, still warm, was hosted above.
Next the party found dead mule, which
I had been terribly mangled by The explosion,
its stall being torn all to pieces. r
Another hundred yards through The dan e
gerous passage, and they came upon the
balance OF the victims, al dead and only a
{ few PAGES apart. First, Henry Starr, Sr. q,
was picked up, then Frank Sanford, then
Nicholas kahl, then Harry Fury, then
Thomas Hansen, then Robert Dunlap, then
Frank Brown and then Henry starr,Jr Most
of them lay on their faces, seeming TO have
4 died while seeking to avoid strngulation by