The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1884-03-22
THE VIRGINIA NINE HORROR

what n Visit to the Scene BeveaIs-The En-.
frances 90 the Mine Sealed Up as the Only
Means of smothering the Raging Fire.
within-AlI Efforts at Reeover,no e..
Bodies OF the Victims NECESSARILY ahon-
doned.
PocHAoSTAs, VA, March Is.
A visit to the mines this morning pre.
sented to the gaze a spectacle that battles
all attempts at description. From moun-
tain peak to mountain base were evidences
OF frightful havoc wrought by the ex-
plosions. Hillsides in every direction
were strewn with debris, blackened with
coal dust blown with terrific force from the
entrance to the mines The scene of do
stluction, humiliation and desolatlon ia
APPALLING to the last degree. When atten-
ton is attracted to the blackened and
smoking entrance to the mines and one re
fleets upon the horrible fate of the I54
human beings whose charred and mangled
remains are buried and smouldering in
that charnel-house, one need not be as
tonlshed II the stoutest hearts quail and
people shrink from nearer approach to the
awful scene.
The very trees on the mountain sides
tnat nave wlthstood the storms of ages
were rlVen, torn and blasted, and their
branches scattered in every conceivable
direction. Portions of the wreck were
blown clear over the mountain ridge
fronting the approaches to the ruins and
picked up more than half mile dis
tant Even coal dust was blown over
the mountain and covers tine earth on the
opposite side to the depth of half an inch,
and the blackened and rent overcoat of a
dead miner was picked up in gulch
nearly half a mile away. All the labor
ers' shanties in tho vicinity were more or
less wrecked, and those on the line OF
the mine approaches completely demol.
ished. So terrific was the force of the
explosion that windows in the house
of farmer two miles off were shivered
few minutes before the explosion a
train OF coal cars had been backed into
one entrance to the mine and the locomo.
tive had moved some distance down the
track. Many of the cars were hurled
down the tracks and wrecked and the de-
bris thrown a great distance upon the
mountain sides. Heavy axles were
we'ung and twisted into all sorts anc
shapes. Wheels were cracked and bro.
ken. The gulches in front of the mines
were filed with the wreckagc.
The Pocahontas mine embraces al
area of twenty-five miles; that is to say
a person traversing the chambers ano
galleries of the mines would have Gov
cred that distance. There are five en-
frances, every one of which seemed as
though pent-up fury was within. The
entrances were all filled with foul air
which renders the recovery of dead
bodies impossible. Every attempt made
to enter the mines has been attended with
bad results, and in several instances the
men barely escaped dying from the over
powering gas. Physicians were KEPT
busy yesterday ministering to such cases
The farthest entry was by Hungarian
whose son was buried in the mines
Nearly crazed by grief, he could not be re-
strained and penetrated to a considerable
hut Ysss e 2tl,g y IL .ced to re
!. tire. He reported seeing lamber O
bodies in one chamber, torn and mangle
beyond all semblance of recognition
One was that of youth aged thirteen
employed as door boy, who was the pc
of the mining camp. The little fello'
had Just entered the mine when the ez
plosion occurred.
Colonel George Dodds, of the Midlot
ian mines and other experienced minir
engineers visited the mines this mornin
and made an examination. TWAS decide
that 1t was unsafe to attempt to use Il
fan, and orders were Immediately issue
to have the mines c.5sed and sealed as Il
only means of SURPRISING the fires whiC
are burning. The higher coal drifts a
not burning. 1t is the fine coal at IL
bottom of the mines which is afire. TT
entrances will be tightly sealed so as
smother the fire. In one of-the entranc
tube will be inserted to permit the c
cape of gas.
Most of the miners killed were unmarrie
The night force was mainly composed
the youngest and most vigorous me
Hampton, the night foreman, leaves {
invalid wife and several helpless childre
One of the young men killed was the on
son of widow whose husband perisht
In the mines several weeks ago.
AFTER MANY YEARS.