The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1883-04-04

BRAIDwooD, Ill, March 26.-In
the little town of Diamond last night
at midnight were brought to the
surface the bodies of nine of the
miners who lost their lives by the
catastrophe of Feb. 10th. From the
earliest hour of morning up to the
time ofthe recovery ofthe bodies the
roads leading TO the scene OF the
awful disaster were blocked with
excited people going to and from the
mine. By 10 O'Clock all the availa-
bic grounds in the vicinity of the
hosting shaft were completely
packed with the crowd Of people,
numbering not less than 1000.
When the bodies were found there
was great excitement among those
who composed the groups OF look
ers-on. During yesterday a private
search was instituted, and a thor
ough examination Of the various
passages was made. While in the
south workings OF the mine this
party came across a t~rap-door, part
iy imbedded in the cayed roof.
Bursting open this door the party
made an entrance into the passage
in spite of the black-damp, which
almos; choked them, and discovered
not far ahead two bodies with faces
downward. Proceeding farther, there
were two more on two Of the huge
piles OF soapstone fallen from the
roof. Without touching the bodies
the party ~retreated before the black
damp. which was coming upon them
faster and faster, TO the main shaft
where they were raised to the sur
face. When it was learned that six
bodies had been found the Diamond
mine officials made active prepare
tons to organize the searching party,
so that as soon as darkness came
they could go down and speedily re-
move the bodies already located.
At s o'clock in the evening the par
ty secretly prepared for the journey
to the depths below, and without
attracting any more attention than
was absolutely necessary. were low
cred, and after a descent of about a
minute they stood upon the cage
plates in the bottom of nine inches
of water. Proceeding to where the
bodies lay, the searching party
placed them upon canvass stretchers
and bore them to the mouth of the
main shaft where they were to re-
main until midnight, when, after be-
ing encased in wooden boxes, they
were to be hoisted to the surface
AT midnight two great soft coal torch
es were lighted and the party below
were instructed to send up the first
body. A slight putting of the en-
CINE and a gentle glide of the cage
up from the gloom of the shaft, and
the body was at the surface ready
for removal. Willing hands seized
the box, and it was borne to the
morgue and placed upon the floor.
The people were then allowed to
pass around and view the dead, in
hopes that some one would be able
to identify the corpse. Nearly half
the crowd had passed by when a
small boy recognized the features and
cried out:
Its my father!"
The childish identification proved
correct, the remains being those of
Patrick Wall. His face was in a
horrible condition, the flesh being
red and white, and the scalp badly
bruised. The other bodies were
then raised, and two of them were
identified as those of VIM. johnson
and John Huber.
Up to noon to day 26 bodies were
taken from the shaft, and of these
the following could be recognized
Patrick Wall, Joseph Smith, Joseph
Carroll, Frank Gloss, Michael Ban
non, John Johnson, Matthew Red
mond. John Cullough, Arson DEM
brosky, August Palensis, Frank
Morry, Daniel Mcbride, John Broke.
man, Herman timber, John Boyd
and John Atkins. The remainder
have not been identified. The bodies
generally are in a very advanced
state of decomposition.