Daily Los Angeles herald., 1884-03-15
EASTERN.
Representative ELI. Exoneratea,

Resotued, That after an Examination OF
all the witnesses produced before the
committee, pro and -, in regard TO the
charges rejecting upon Hon. John Ellis,
Representative from Louisiana. in con
nection with the Star Route Frauds, re-
Gently published, the committee are of
the opinion that the charges are utterly
groundless and unsupported by evi-
dence
The Chairman was authorized to draft
and report to the House resolution
embodying the substance .of tho forago.
ing.
The Newspaper Cop, right BiIi.
WAsnISoToS, March i4-Henry
Watterson appeared before the Joint
Committee on Library this morning, and
made an argument in support OF the
Newspaper Copyright bill. In answer
to inquiries by members OF the commit
tee, Watterson said misappreh hension
with regard to the scope OF the bill had
grown out of the fact that the original
draft provided for exclusiveness in pub
lished matter for period Of forty.eight
hours, which time was subsequently, re-
duced to twenty four hours. Both forms
were impracticable and unnecessary, and
the present bill granting copyright
OF eight hours was caught up by the pro-
moters of the measure. Its object was
simply to prevent the pirating Of news
and concurrent publication. He illus.
trated the purpose Of the bill by numer-
Gus examples. He said it would not act
as o bar to the reproduction by afternoon
newspapers of the matter which ap.
peared in the morning papers, and could
not, in the remotest degree, affect what
is known rs the country press.
A Republican Circular.
New YORK, March IA circular
was issued to-day by the Independent
Republican Conference Committee show
ing the Republican vote in each State at
the last Presidential election and the
number OF delegates to the National
Convention to which each State is en-
titled. II appears that in the States Of
New Y York, Ohio. Pennsylvanion and In
diana there is one delegate to every
1855 whites; in Mississippi, Texas,
Georgia and Louisiana, the representa-
tion in Cony ention is one to every 2,20S
Republican voters. The next conven-
tion will be asked to provide that in fu-
ture National Conventions representa-
ton shall be proportional to the Rcpub.
lican votes of the States and Congress
ional districts, respectively.
The Poeahontas Disaster The
Mine Relieved to be on Fire.
PHILADELPHIA, Pa, March l4.-The
Directors of the Southwest Virginia I'm
fa.x, &c Al,A
mine at Pocahontas, Va, adopted reso
lutions authorizing the superintendent
Of the mines to take all necessary means
to alleviate the sufferings Of the wound
ed and furnish food and clothing to the
families of the dead and injured. The
introduction of electric lights in the
mines to guard against repetition Of
disaster is being considered. The fol-
lowing dispatch from the superintendent
Of the mine was ecsived: "We will
make a desperate attempt to get in to-
night; have temporary fan up. The
indications are that the mine is on fire;
will know ii, few hours and
il found to be the case, will
seal all openings at once and ill the mine
with steam. | have boilers on hand now
and steam pipe will be ready by II P.
NJ, No lives were saved. The company
is giving me every assistance; l have
also physicians; have wired the super
intendent ut Midlothian for advice and
help; he is on the way in a special, with
seventeen men; my men are nearly
played cut, chiefly from the effects OF of
ter damp.
A later dispatch from the superin-
tendent states that two expert mining
engineers had arrived this morning and
agreed that the bodies could not be re-
covered unless the mine could be sealed
and the fire smothered
The POcahOntas Mines scene Of
DesOlRtiOn impossible to Re-
cover ,he Dead on Account Of
Foul Air
CENTRAL, Va, March ll.-News of
the frightful explosion at the Pocahon.
tas coal mine spread rapidly throughout
the surrounding section, and to-day
crowds have been aocking to the scene
Of the disaster. A special train which
left Central at S last night, with the
Midlothian relief party and the newspa-
per correspondents, ran into slide %
miles east of Pocahontas, and the party
were belated hours. The hillsides in
every direction are strewn with debris
and blackened with the coal dust
which was blown with terrific force
from the mine. The entrances to the
mine presented scene OF destruction
and desolation appalling to the last de.
gree. The Pocahontas mines embrace
an area of twenty-five miles, that is to
say, a person traversiDg all the cham
bers and galleries OF the mines, would
have covered that distance. There are
five entrances, every one Of which
served as an exit for the pent fury
within. The entrances are all filled
with foul air, which renders the recov-
cry of the dead bodies impossible. Every
attempt to enter the mines has been at
tended with bad results and in several
instances the men barely escaped
from dying from the overpower-
ing gas. Colonel George Dodds,
OF the Midlothian mines and other
mining engineers. visited the
mines this morning and made careful
examination. After consultation it was
decided unsafe to use a fan, and orders
were Immediately issued to have the
mines closed and sealed as the only
means of suppressing the fire, which is
still burning. 1t is the fine coal at the
bottom of the mines which is afire. The
entrances will be tightly sealed so as to
smother the fire. In one entrance a tube
will be inserted to permit the ,s-
cape OF gas. 1t is impossible to get
from the ofiic ais of the mining company
the amount cf damage, which must be
enormous. The mines will remain
scaled for at least Two weeks and per.
haps longer and, when opened, there
must be extensive repairs before the re-
sumption of work. Most OF the miners
killed were unmarried. Tbs night force
was mainly composed OF the young and
most vigorous men. Hampton, night
foreman, leaves TN invalid wife and sew
eral children. One OF the young men
killed was the only son of a widow,
whose husband perished in the mines
several weeks ago.
PraisewOrthy Legislation.
RICHMOND, Va, March 1.-THE
General Assembly to-day, in view oil the
awful coal mine disaster at Pocohontas,
and the likelihood of great destitution in
the families of the victims, adopted a
joint resolution authorizing the Governor
to ascertain the approximate amount of
money necessary to relieve their imme-
diato wants.