The Middlebury register and Addison County journal. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1883-1885, 1884-02-01
A COAL MINE HORROR.
Terrible Explosion Of Fire Damp
in a Colorado Mine.
FHty-8even Miners Entombed Aiive---
Scenes of Agony.

The explosion Of fire-damp in a coal mine
at Crested Butte, COL. was one of the most
terrible disasters of that character that ever
took place in this country. At tn time of
the explosion sixty .une men were in the mine,
and only four of them succeeded in making
their escape, one of these four with serious
injuries. The other fifty-seven unfortunate
miners, who were nearly all of foreign birth,
were literally buried alive, the mouth of the
mine having caved in, and being covered
with debris The shock was so great to the
people of the village that it was fully half an
hour before they awOke to the realization
thar something must be done, and at once.
Word was telegraphed to Gunnison City for
aid, and two special trains bearing physi-
clans and hundred or more men were at
once dispatched to the scene Of the disaster.
In the meantime hundred miners who are
employed in the anthracite mine left their
work and began making efforts to uncover
the opening of the mine in which the miners
were entorDbed. but after they had dug their
way into the chamber they found it unsafe
to enter. a rush of horrid gas and nolsome
air overcame them, and number of them
had to be removed and to be given Stimulauts
to revive them. The scene bcEgars descrip-
ton Wives, mothers and sisters wept and
prayed while the strong men were endeavor-
ing to reopen the grave which contained their
loved ones. Little children chung to their
mothers skirts ahd cried from terror. Men
tainted from the shock of the horror.
w hen the wives of tine buried miners began
to gather around the opening of the drift
there was a babel OF pOlyglotlc misery. There
were but few Americans employed by the conf
ranN. The miner, were Mostly Germans,
Swedes, Danes, Cornishmen and Irshnen.
] he wives of these men moaued and prayed
i'll as many tongues One woman rushed
frantlcally at the barrier which held her hus.
band body from her and began to tear at
the earth and rocks with her hands Another
became hysterical and laughed and cried by
turns. Brave men turned away their heads
70 hide their emotion, curses mingled
with the prayers, AMI the scene was as wild
one of human misery a, could he conc eved
hen the special train arrived from Gunn
son the crowd rushed to the little station to
meet 1t as if deliverance was at hand.
Women threw their arms about the necks OF
the men and begged them to save their hus-
bundS. The poor creatures We're mad with
lriet and fright, The relief party consoed
them as best it could and promiS d to do all
that mortal could do to save the buried
miners, but they did not delude themselves
with any such hope They knew that the
men who were in the mire when the cxplo-
sion occurred would never lie taken out alive.
Seventeen hours after the accident occurred
the first body was recovered. soon after the
miners at work came across a mass of burned
mules ana zeal miners lying III horrible
heap A little further on the bodie, of fif-
teen more men were found. They had evil
IDENTIFY tried to escape to the furnace room,
thirty or forty feet distant. Some of
tn men hal their handkerchiefs tied over
their mouths. and others had wrapped up
their heads in their clothes. The b dies Of
little Tommy Lynch, Morgan and William
Meth, drivers and gang boys, were found
further in. They We're not much disfgured.
All the men who were found in that rart of
the mine evidently died of suiiocation Alto
gether forty-two bodies were recovered in
that section of the mne AMI the rest were
found in other places.