Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1884-03-15

pair OF boots belonging to one OF the mur-
de-ed men. Slsgle riddled the bodies with
bodies of the two Adsirs over 8 cliff 100 fest,
aud was about to throw thst If Claiborne
over the ssma place, when he was frightened
away Claiborne lived long enough to men
tiop Slsgie's name and give clue to the
murderer.
The CoIIIery Disaster.
PocAHoNTAs va, March 14th.-The mine
is still on FIRE, and the only means to put it
out is to close snd seal it. This is now being
done, and the mines will remain sealed for
probably two weeks. No bodies have been
recovered.
SECOND DIsPATCR.l
RICHMOND Wal. Msrch 14th.-The Gen.
eral Assembly to-day, in view Of the awful
coal disaster at Pocshontas, and the Ekeli-
hood Of great destitution among the families
of victims. adopted joint resolution, author.
izing the Governor to ascertain the approxi-
mate amount OF money necessary to relieve
immediste wants.
FOURTH DISPATCH.l
PHILADELPHIA, March 14th.-The Direct
ors of the Southwest Virginia Improvement
Company. the owners of the mine at Poca-
houtes, Va. to-day, adopted resolu lions
authorizing the Superintendent Of the mines
to lake all necessary means to alleviate the
sufferings of the wounded, aud furnish food
and clothing to the families Of the dead and
injured. Tbs introduction of electric lights
in the mines, TO guard against repetition of
the disaster, is being considered. The fol-
lowing dispatch from the Superintendent OF
the nine wss received 1--WE will make s
desperate attempt to get in tonight. Have
temporary fan NJ. The indications are
the mine is on FIRE. viii know in few
hours, and if found TO be the case will zeal
all the openings at once and fill the mine with
steam. Have boilers on hand now, and q
steam pipe will be ready by II P ". No life
saved. The company is giving me every
assistance. Have also physicians. Have
wired the Superintendent of the Midlothian
in a special train with seventeen men. My
men are nearly played out, chiefly from the
eff cts of after. damp"
A later dispatch from the Superintendent
states that two expert miniug engineers have
arrived, and agreed that the bodies could not
be recovered unless the mine be sealed and
the ire smOthered.
GRAPHIC DESCRIPTION OF THE SCENE.
CENTRAL VAL March 14th.-The news of
the frightful explosion at the Pocshontas coal
mine spread rapidly throughout the surround
ing section, and to-day crowds have been
hockirg to the scene OF the disaster. The
arrival Of every train increases the number,
aud a constant stream of humanity indicates
the direction of the mine from the village
The special train which left Central at s
o'clock last night with the Midlothian relief
party and newspaper correspondents ran into
a slide twenty-three miles east of Pc h0ntas,
and the party were belated five hours. The
track is still blockaded, making a transfer
around the wrecks necessary. A visit to the
mines this morning presents to the gaze
spectacle which batfl ss all attempt at descrip-
ton. From mountain peak to mountain base
were evidences Of the frightfgl havoc
wrought, by the explosion. The hillsides
in every direction were s.rewn with de
bris. blackened with coal dust, blown with
terrific force from thu entrances to the mine
presenting a scene of destruction,
of annihilation and of iesolation appalling to
the last degree; and when attention is at
trscted to the blackened and smoking en-
frances to the mines, and one ref =cts upon
the horrible fate of 154 human beings, whose
chsrred and msngled remains are buried and
smoldering in that chsrnel house, one reed
not be astonished if the stoutest hearts quail
and people shrink from a nearer approach to
the awful scene. The very trees in the noun
tain sides, that have withstood the storm for
ages, were shTivep, torn ard blasted, and
their branches scattered in every conceivable
UTecllOD. Oh tue WIeCh were DlOWu
clean over the mountain ridge fronting the
approaches to the ruins and picked up more
tnan half mile distant. Even :he coal dust
was blo9u over the mountain, and covers the
earth on the opposite side to a depth Of an
inch, and the blackeBed and rent Overcoat
Ot one OF the dead miners was picked
up in o gulch nearly half nile away.
All the lAborers' shanties in the vicinity
are more or less wrecked, and those in the
line Of the mine approaches completely de-
molished. So terrific was the force of the
explosion that the windows in the house of a
farmer two miles off were shivered. A few
minutes before the explosion q train of coal
cars had been backed into one OF the en-
frances of the mines, and the locomotives re-
moved some distance down the track. Many
cars were hurled down the track and others
wrecked, and others thrown great distance
up on the mountain side. Heavy sxles were
wrung and twisted into all sorts of shapes,
aId the wheels cracked and broken. The
gullies In front Of the mines are filed with
wrecksge. The Pocshontss mines embracs
an area Of twenty-five miles. That is to say,
8 p rsou travelling through all the chambers
aud galleries of the mines would have COW
cred that distance. There are FIVE entrances
every one filed with foul air, which renders
the recovery of the dead bodies im-
possible Every attempt to enter the
mines has been attended with bad results,
and in gever9l instances the men barely es.
Gaping dying from tile overpowering gas.
Physicians were kept busy yesterday in min.
istering to such Gases. The furthest entry
effected was by = HUI garian, whose son was
buried in the minss. Nearly crszed by grief,
he could not be restrained, and penetrated TO
a considerable distance but was eventually
forced 10 retire. He reported seeing q num-
Der Of bodies in one chamber, torn and man
gled beyond semblauce of recognition.
One was that of youth aged l3, employed
as door boy, who was the pet of the mining
camp. The little fellow had just entered
the mines when the explosion occurred.
Colonel George Dodds, Of the Midlothian
mines and other experienced mining engi- !
neerF, visited the mines this morning, and
and made careful examination. After con- !.
sultation, it was decided 10 be unsafe to at
tempt to use the fan, and orders were i'm
mediately issued to have the mines closed /
and sealed, es the only means OF sup
pressing the fire, which is still burn
ing. The regular coal drifts are
not burning. Il is the fine coal at the bot
tom of the mines which is on fire. The en-
frances viii be tightly sealed, so as to
smother the fire. In 0ns of the entrances q
tube will be inserted, to permit the escape OF
the gas. 1t is impossible to get from the off
EAaIs VI lilS staiuAuS COD4phhl NIG dL1ibuH5 VI
dsmsge, which must be enormous. The
mines will remain sealed for at least two
weeks, and perhaps longer, and when opened
there must be extensive repairs before the re.
sumption of work. Most of the miners killed
were unmarried. The night force was mainly
composed Of the youngest and most vigorous
men. Hampton, the night foreman, leaves
an invalid wife and several helpless children.
One Of the young men killed was the only son
Of widow, whose husband psrished in the
mines several weeks ago. The physicians
sent up from Lynchburg hsve returned, and
only the mining engineers and press repre-.
sentatives remain on the ground tonight.
Republican Apportionment to the Ma.
tiOnaI Convention.
New York. March 14th.-A circular was
issued to-day by the Independent Republican
Conference Committee, showing the r pub.
lican vote in each State at the last Presi-
Dental election, and the numb:r Of delegates
to the National Convention to which each
State is entitled. It sppears that in the States
of New York, Ohio. Pennsylvania and In
diana there is one delegate to every z, ,755.
while in Mississippi, Texas, Georgia and
Louisiana the representation in the Conyen-