St. Landry democrat., 1883-01-20
ANOTHER NINE HORROR.
Terrible Results OF an Explosion OF Fire.
Damp in Coal Mine at Coultersyille'
nl-Description of the Calamity by One

ul.-DeScrlptlOn OF INC SssistAiA.y ~ O~
of the Survivors.
CoULTERsyILLE, ILL., January 8.
One of the saddest accidents that has ever
been chronicled in this section Of the State
occurred at the coal mine operated by Jones
& ,Nisbet to-day. An explosion tore things
to pieces generally, entailing aterrible loss
OF life.
1t was just four o'clock this afternoon
when the engineer, L. Davis. was startled
by muffied explosion which shock 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 !
horrible one-an explosion OF fire-damp.
He knew that the foreman and eleven, otner
human beings were below, and he was fa1r-
1y parayZed for an instant at the thougnO
of their fate. He was brought to his
senses by sharp ring at the signal peil,
showing that there was some one still ailVe
below, and in another second he mad seS
the machinery in motion with all the steam
pressure he could control. 1t seemed l1te- 7
time before the cage came to the surface,
but the engineer had to stand by his engine
1t 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
senseless through suffocation. Mr. Mason
soon recovered sufficiently to make state.
Inent that there had been an explosion, that
all the men were probably dead, and that he
and young Starr had only escaped by
miracle. 80
4 Mr.. Nisbet, one of the firm of Nisbet &
Jones, was one OF 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
a desperate endeavor to reach his dying
friends that he was overcome, dragged OUT
senseless and now lies in a critical condi-
tion. For four hours nothing could be dones
and meantime telegram was sent to q
neighboring town for miners to aid In the
rescue. While waiting for the smoke to clear
away Mr.. Mason gave full statement sub
stantially as follows:
The shaft is 800 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, drillitg Z holes into the seven-foot
vein of coal and charging them with pow
| der. It is customary about four O'Clock
every evening to discharge these blasts with
fuse. This afternoon about four O'Clock
| 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
4 do this they all seek some safe niche or nook
not far of and the charges are fred one at a
time. After giving the order started for
the foot Of the shaft about 200 yards
away, and was accompanied by Billy
Starr, boy whose father and brother
were st work In the pit. 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 terrible explosion
in the direction of the men; then a rush Of
i air, and then great volume OF fire that
filled the whole corridor. Twas blown
against the side Of the shaft and badly in.
iured, especially in the leg, and the little
! boy was stunned. thought at first I would
wait and try to save the men, but the flames
were coming fast, the air was sitting. and
4 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 wa!
nearly strangled and barely conscious, ant
the boy was unconscious. 1t .wasAcleafly
an explosion Of. gas, and as it toccurredgW
back where the men were they had NJ
chance for escape. Il
By O'Clock the smoke had entirely ceaset
to ascend and all was quiet as the grave III
the deep black hole. Again the 4cageHswa
manned and hardy miners were among tn
party this time, having come q long distanc
to aid in the work. A hearty God-spee'
from the multitude attended them as the,
disappeared below the surface, possibly t
face death also. They found the smoke sti
!. thick below, owing to the absence Of ai
currents, the traps by which these current
/ were kept up, having been blown down b
, .the explosion. Still they persisted. an
) shortly before o'clock they had penetrate
] 100 yards through the debris. They foun
/ James w. King, the first Of the victim!
!, lying fatson his face, dead. He had evi
IDENTIFY crawled half way to the shaft afte
!. . the explosion, as he laid on top Of the slat
. which must have been torn down by the ex
! plosion.s He was carried out. and th
) body, still warm, was hoisted abov,
!, Next the party found dead mule, whic
: had been terribly mangled by the explosion
:. It's stall being torn all to pieces.
Another hundred yards through the dan
= gerous passage, and they came upon til
g balance of the victims, all dead and only
t. +. Gtnyr Sp