Martinsburg independent. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1875-1900, 1884-03-22
GREATEST oFAlL MINE HORRORS
NOT A BoDY RESCUED FROM THE
PoCAHONTAs MINE--AN AWFUL
SCENE OF TERROR AND DEsoLA-
TION IN THE VICINITY.

LYNCHBURG, v A. March l4tb.-
The Pocahontas mine is mcnste
crematory and has undoubtedly cor
sumed every one Of the $50 miner
in 1t at the time Of the explosion
Not one is left to tell the story o
those underground, but they receiy
ed an acquisition to their number Ii
an Italian, Carlo Franchi, who, witt
several others, last evening entere,
the cage to descend. The smok
and flames which had been emitted
from the mouth Of the shaft from ,
few minutes of the explosion hat
abated somewhat, and q hardy res
cuing party determined to make tn,
attempt to so below the surface
They were below ground when The
flames shot up and were hurriedly
assisted to the surface. Franchi
was missing and had evidently drop
ped down into the fiery furnace. The
whole mine is ablaze. Another at
tempt will be made to enter the mine
this morning by y shaft which con-
meets with branch shaft filed with
rubbish. Men last night went into
this branch and sounded the walls
with hammer, hoping to hear some
signal from below. The tapping was
kept up for more than an hour with.
out avail and then WAS abandoned.
The general opinion is that ii the
men were not killed by the explosion
they have been suffOcated. At one
O'Clock this morning force OF thir-
ty carpenters commenced to make
collins for the dead. They are work
Ing in a plateau to the east of the
drift and are surrounded by torches,
AS the rude collins are completed
they are distributed to the 40 or so
families who have found, or think
they have found some portion Of the
corpse OF one OF their relatives.
There have been several disputes
about the bodies, rs owing to their
mangled condition Identification is
exceedingly difficult. The old min
ers think 81 that thA lhcd'"~ ---'''
The details Of the terrible disas-
ter are arriving slowly. The FIRST
known Of the explosion was terri
fic shock that reused the 1900 vii
layers and shook every house within
a quarter of a mile of the spot The
terrible sound was sufficient to in
form every one that terrible calam
ity had befallen the midnight labor
ers. In an instant the streets were
filled with crowd of screaming wo-
men, children and men all rushing
for the principal mine of the suburb.
Here dense volume of smoke was
found pouring from the shaft, and
scattered around within q radius Of
a quarter of mile, were broken tim
Der, shattered cars, pulleys and ma
chinery. On all sides were to be
seen fragments Of human bodies,
some of which were lodged in tree
tops and others on roofs Of houses
and sheds. For more than an hour
wild shrieking and the louder mani
festations Of grief from desperate
men filled the air. No one seemed
to have any idea of what should be
done, and all rushed frantically for
some evidence Of the fate OF relatives
below. For more than two hours
confusion reigned. Then, 9 CHASTITY
faced man, whose night clothing was
not altogether concealed by an i'm
mense blanket which he had thrown
around his shoulders, sprang upon q
stump and cried out: "F0r Gods
sake, men, lets stop this. We have
all friends and relatives down below
and maybe We can help them. Let's
zee about 1t, and let the women folks
do the crying I" Every one OF the
officials Of the camp were below, and
there appeared to be no one compe.
tent to lead except the man referred
to who at once called for volunteers.
There was q hurried movement to
the mouth Of the mine, and, led by
the man In the blanket and amid the
shrieking Of frantic women, some
of whom plead with the men to re-
main out of danger, the little band
disappeared In the gloom and smoke
around the mouth OF the mine. They
soon re-appeared, however, and it
was 8uuOuuCou tu6S Ill 6tOoluRto W
get into the mine were fruitleSs. A
dense volume Of flame soon COM
menced to shoot upward. and illumi-
mated the scene for half q mile, rem
dering the CHASTITY spectacle which
had heretofore been viewed only by
torchlight, ten times more impress
sive.
The outside world was not notifi-
ed OF the catastrophe until daylight.
Then help commenced to arrive, and
at noon aid and surgeons reached
the scene from Lynchburg. Colonel
Dodds, Of the cold field mines, ar
rived in the afternoon and organic
Zhnnon1noh FArfi1