Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1884-03-15
BURIED IN FIRE.
rur viuaiSi. coal MINE aoRH,
Une aundred ana titty tour Bodies Con.
sutusd In - Burning Mipe--No He
naius Recoverable

one nuudted and tiry tour Bodies Con.
sutusd In - Burning Mipe-No Ne
maius Recoverable.
The news of the frightful explosion in
the coal mines AZ Pocohontas, Va, spread
rapidly throughout the surrounding SEQ
tion aud crowds have been tlooking to the
scene Of the disaster. The arrival Of every
train increased the number and constant
stream Of humanity indicates the direc
tion of the mines from the village. Many
OF those from distance came as a matter
Of qualification Of their curiosity, while
others are interested in the fate Of their
kinspeople among the victims. An old
gentleman who had son in the mine,
whose fate he had been unable to lean.
| arrived on the train from Central and his
solcitude and grief was profound aud
heart rendering. 1t has been ascertained
that the number Of victims is at least
| ij4.
A visit to the mines presents to the gaZs
a spectacle that battles all attempts ~
description From mountain peak TO
mountain base could be seen prominent
evidence Of the frightful havoc that had
been wrought by the explosion, the hill
sides IN evsry direction being strewu with
| debris. blackened with coal dust, blown
| with terrific force from the entrances to
| the mines. IL was scene of destruction,
| of annihlation and desolation appalling 10
| the last decree. and the biackened and
| smoking entrances to the mines and hor-
| rible fate oi the hundred and fifty human
| beings whose charred and msugled re.
mains lie burning and smouldering in that
| chainel house cause the stOutest hearts TO
quail and shrink from q nearer approach
| to the awful scene. The trees on the
mountain sides were torn and blasted aud
their branches scattered in every conceiv-
| able direction. Some particles of the
wreck were blown clear over the mountain
ridge fronting the approach to the ruins
and picked up more than a half milo dis
tau,. Even the coal dust was blown over
the mountain and covers the earth on the
| opposite side to the depth Of half an inch,
| and the blackened and rent overcoat OF
one of the miners was picked up in agulch
| nearly half a mile away.
All of the laborers' shanties 10 tho
! vicinity were more or less wrecked aud
| those in the line of the mine approaches
| completely demolished. Ii Is iustanced
| that go terrific was the force OF the ex d.
| plusion that the windows in the house of a
farmer two miles off were shattered. A
| few minutes before the explosion occurred
| q tram of coal cars had been backed into
one Of the entrances of the mines and the
| locomotive had moved safe distance
down the track, The cars were sent, many
of them, hurling down the track aud
others were wrecked and the debris thrown
great distance upon the mountain sides,
the heavy aXles being wruug and twisted
into all sorts of shapes and the wheels
cracked and broken. The gluches in front
| OF the miues were tilled with car wreckage.
The Pccohontas mines embrace sn area
| OF twenty five miles that is to say, n
person traversing AL the chambers and
| galleries OF the mines would have covered
that distance. There ara five entrances,
every ono OF which served as an outlet to
the pent fury within. The entrances are
all filed with foul air, which renders the
recovery of the dead bodies impossi BILE
Every attempt to enter the mines has been
attended with bad results aud in seversl
instances men have barely escaped dying
from the overppwering effects of gas The
physicians are kept busy minstering tC
such cases.
The farthcst entry effected was by q
Hungarian, whose son was buried in the
mines He was nearly crazed by grief
lie could not be restrained, aud penetrated
10 a considerable distance but was event
ualy forced 70 retire lie reported seeing
inately in one chamber, torn and maugled
beyond recognition, One of the lost is q
youth IS years old, employed as door boy,
who was the pet Of the mining camp. The
little fellow had just entered the mines
| when the explosion occurred. After con.
sultation it was decided unsafe to attempt
TO use the fan, and orders were immedi
| ately issued to have the mines closed and
sealed as tho only means of suppressing
the fire, which is still burning. The reg
ular coal drifts are not burning; il is the
fire coal at the bottom of the mines which
il on fire. The entrances to the mines
will be tightly sealed 80 as to cut off al
atmosphere and smother the fire, and IL
one of the entrances a tube will be inserted
TO permit the escape Of gas.
Most of the miners killed were unmarried,
the night force being mainly composed oi
the youngest and most vigorous men
About eight families at Pochohontas al,
bereit and as many more at q distance
Hampton, the night foreman, left an in
valid wife and several helpless children
and one Of the young men killed was al
only son Of a widow, whose HUSBAND
perished in the mines several weeks ago
The generally accepted explanation o
the explosion Is that it was Occasoned b.
fire damp Some claim, what has alway
been contradicted by the mine officials
that there is gas in the Pocohontas coal
aud that the late explosions was caused b.
q miner striking gas hssure.