The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1883-01-18

One of the saddest accidents that has ever
been chFonicled in this section of the State
occurred at the coal mine operated by Jones
& Nisbet to-day, An explosion tore things 4
to pieces generally, entailing terrible loss
of life.
1t was just four O'Clock this afternoon |
when the engineer, L. Davis, was startled /
by a mufled explosion. which shook the |
earth, and looking toward the mouth OF the |
shaft he saw a volume OF thick, black smoke |
pouring thereirom. Only one explanation |
presented itself to his mind, and that was a |
horrible one-an explosion OF hre-damp.
He knew that the foreman and eleven other |
human beings were below, and he was fair
ly paralyzed for an instant at the thought
of their fate. He was brought to his
senses by sharp ring at the signal bell,
showin5 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. Tt seemed life
lime before the cage came to the surface,
but the engineer had to stand by his engine
and had to watch for il at a distance. When
it did appear the foreman, Sylvester Mason,
and a 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
senseIess through suffocation. Mr.. Mason
soon recovered sufficiently to make a 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
miracle.
MIR. Nisbet, one Of the firm OF Nisbet &
Jones, was one Of small party to immedi-e
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
a desperate endeavor TO reach his dying
friends that he was overcome, dragged out
senseIess and now lies in a critical condi-
ton. For four hours nothing could be done,
and meantime telegram was sent to
neighboring town for miners to aid in the
rescue. While waiting for the smoke to clear
away Mr.. Mason gave a full statement sub
stantially as follows:
The shaft is 320 feet deep and at the bot
tom 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 seYen-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 thir-
| teen charges ready to be fired. Tie men
! were about ready to quit for the night and
| 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 a
| time. After giving the order 1 started for
/ -. O1 d.
| away, and was accompanied by Billy
| Starr, a boy whose father and brother
were at work in the pit. 1 was stand
ing at the foot of the shaft for the men to
come out so that | 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 a fourth, which was fol-
lowed Immediately by a terrible explosion
/ in the direction of the men; then a rush Of
air, and then a great volume of fire that
filled the whole corridor. / was blown
against the side of the shaft and badly in
turcd, especially in the leg, and the little
boy was stunned. 1 thought at first would
wait and try to save the men, but the flames
were coming fast, the air was sitting, and
felt it would be death to remain there an
other minute. J. steppel on the cage,
dragged the boy after me and rang the bell
BY the time we reached the surface was
nearly strangled and barely conscious, and
the boy was unconscious. It was clearly
an explosion of gas, and it occurred way
back where the men were they had nc
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 and hardy miners were among tht
|
TO aid in the work. A hearty God-speeC
from the multitude attended them as they
disappeared below the surface, possibly tt
face death also. They found the smoke still
J thick below, owing to the absence of ali
currents, the traps by which these current
were kept up, having been blown down b,
! the explosion. Still they persisted, ant
j shortly before O'Clock they had penetratet
100 yards through the debris. They foun,
James w. King, the first OF the victims
} living fat on bis face, dead. He had eYi
: IDENTIFY crawled half way, TO the smart aite
: the explosion, as he laid on top Of the slat
= which must have been torn down by the eX
I plosion. He was carried out, and tn
body, still warm, was hoisted above
4 i Next the party found dead mule, Whicl
: had been terribly mangled by the explosion
0 its stall being torn all to pieces.
Another hundred yards through the dan
gerous passage, aud they came upon th
! DatA0CG O4 LuO FlCJlitiSg ali NtCdtA anu Oiliy
! : few PAGES apart. First, Henry Starr, Sr.
! was picked up, then Frank Sanford, the
Nicholas Kabl, then Harry Fury, the
? Thomas Hansen, then Robert Dunlap, the
: Frank Brown and then Henry Starr,Jr. Mos
$ Of them lay OH their faces, seeming to baY
g died while seeking to avoid strangulation b
;, breathing the air close to the floor Fran
n / Brown was crouched down with his fac
Z buried between his knees, while the cloth
. \ Ing on his back was burning slowly, IN
) flesh Ihaving been cooked where the clot
Z was burnt off. Two others were also burne
/ badly, but the other seven had clearly stran
! ! gied.
s The work of removing these bodies aion
, over great piles OF slate aud stone unde
e rocks that threatened TO fall, and throug
f marrow passages where the corridor was a
but barred was a tedious and dangerous on
Eight Of the dead men were married; near
- Iv all of Them were young. They leay
possibly twenty orphans altogether.