Morris tribune. [volume] (Morris, Minn.) 1880-2000, 1884-03-19
THE TOMB OF FIRE.
Horrible Disaster by F'ire.Damp In
Virginia Coal Pit.
One Hundred and Fifty Miners Killed
by the EXpI0siOn---An Unpar.
alleled Scene Of Horror
and Woe.

utes past midnight Thursday morning the
little village grouped around the mines at 20
cahontas, Tazswell county, was aroused by a
terrific explosion, which shook every founda-
ton and aroused the sleeping families OF the
$50 miners constituting the night force work.
ing underground.
A telegram from Pocahontas is as
follows: "The night relief went into
the mines at the usual hour at
night, $50 strong. A little after midnight
the town was startled from its sleep by a re-
port that sounded like the rumbling Of an
earthquake followed by clap of thunder.
Soon a messenger came from the Mines three
quarters Of a mile away, with information to
the superintendent that there had been terri
ble explosion there. The superintendent and
others went to the mines at once, and the
scenes there were indescribale. Words could
not convey the slightest idea Of the destruc-
tiOa wrought in few short seconds. Signs
CT it were plainly visible on every hand.
The entrance to the main draft had been
entirely torn out, and scattered pell-mell for
hundreds of feet. The little train track was
torn and twisted, and the shapeless timbels
and ties were mixed in confusion around
The cars were taken up bodily,
TORN IN TWAIN,
and their iron wheels broken and Shiverod.
They were thrown 800 and 400 feet away
The ridge and the timber on the ridge oppo-
site this drift were blackened to the summit,
6CO feet away. A searching party found
pair of shoes that had been blown to the sum-
nit of the ridge, and a mule found at the
same place twisted into an indescribable
shape.
The second entrance to the mine pre-
sented a similar appearance to the
first. At this point lived a Hungarian
family named Glassee, whose house was
shivered almost to atoms, but, wonderful to
relate, the inmates escaped without serious
injury.
AT the entrance of the fan tunnel stood the
cOmrany'S large elevator, which, with a
house around it, was swept entirely away,
leaving the engine standing on the founda-
ton, and all shattered and broken, with the
pipes twisted and forced The force of the
explosion must have been terrific Rocks
We're thrown through tho workshops, and |
every object that stood in the direct course
of the forced air was demolished. Several
workmen in the shops We're
SERIOUSLY INJURED,
and the shops, as well as the locomotive
house, were leveled with the ground. Of the
pi0sion, not one has returned to the surface |
to tell the story Of the calamity. There is no
probability that a single soul survives.
RENTS IN THE MOUNTAIN.
Flat Top mountain, over the mine, is rent
by the CONFUSION. The hill under which the
mine is dug was rent in several places by the
caving-in of the tunneling beneath.
Such a perfect scene of destruction is hard
to picture. The passages in the mine have
been entirely destroyed, and the entire hill
will have to be excavated to get to some Of
the chambers. The fact that the mine is on
fire makes the operation of rescuing all the
more difficult. If possible what is left of it
will be flooded as the quickest way of ex-
the flames, which, if not inter-
rupted, will consume the last vestige of the
buried unfortunates.
THE BEREAVED ONES.
The scenes around the mines beggar de-
scfiption. Men, women, and children be-
moaning and waiIing over the loss of their
loved ones in half a dozen different languages,
Poor Hungarian women who had but recently
arrived in this country, German men, women,
and children gathered around the mouth of
tho mountain of fire, calling the names of
those buried beneath in what is probably a
strongest |
are almost unnerved by the sickening scenes.
THE LATEST.
Dispatches just received by the United
Press from Pocahontas states that the gloom
cast over the village by the mine catastro- t
pho increases rather then diminishes as the
results of the explosion become known. The
work of recovering the bodies of the unfortu- 6
1ate miners is progressing as fast
IS possible under the circumstances. !
Lathrop and rescuing party
II experienced miners from Chesterfield |
county are here at work, and have succeeded
Il recovering the remains of number of a
lead Nearly all the bodies are mangled, t
ome beyond recognition. Many of the /
bodies are separated from the heads, necessi- !
atlng the removal of the corpses in pieces. L
The wives and children of the many victims s
;eief heartrending. q
A Western Associated Press dispatch saws; O
The mine is on fire, and the only means of
putting the fire out is to close and seal the u
nine. This is now being done, and the mine
will remain sealed probably for two weeks,
Sone of the $50 bodies have been recovered. y
LYNcHBURG, Va, March 15.-The follow
ng distressing particulars have been re.
eived here from the Pocahontas mines: Col.
>odd and party of miners from the Prince
1dward county coal fields, who went to
'ocahontas to render assistance, and Mr.. o
clifford. the English miner now at Pocahon- "
rs, all say they never saw anything to equal e.
he terrible destruction wrought by the b
xplosion. IL
LATER.-One hundred and five men are Il
ow certainly known to have been in the G.
lines at the time of the explosion, and others u u
re missing. Great volumes of steam and O
noke are pouring from every crevice and S;
pening in the mountain above the mines. n
nd experienced miners are looking for an il
ther explosion. II