Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1886-01-21
4 rnanIg1o srIvs nxrbosrox.
Thirteen nHlners KiIlcd-FraEments
blown HALF "A Mile.

Thirteen Miners Kulcd-Frnxlmem ia
blown HALF mile.
EVANSTON, WYOMING, Jan. 18.--Details
Of fire-damp explosion which occurred
in mine No. 4, at Almy, at an early hour
Wednesday morning, have lust reached
here, and show II TO have been one of the
most serious in the history Of the Rocky
Mountain coal mines. Occurring as Il
did at night when only light force Of
miners were at work, the death roll was
limited TO IS souls, but had il taken
ylace during the day, the loss Of life
must have run up to hundreds, for every
person in the mine ut the time met with
instant death. The whole face of the
country and that portion of the settle
ment fronting the slope gives evidence Of
the terrible force Of the explosion.
The weigh and fan houses were entirely
demolished and the engine house
wrecked, while residences and business
houses lost fronts, windows, doors and
chimneys. The mouth of the slope has
the appearance OF huge funnel, from
which fully thousand cubic yards of
rock have been torn and distributed over
the adjacent country. A train of Is cars
going down into the mine ut the time of
the explosion was broken into fragments,
and shot out as though from the mouth
OF cannon. William and Joseph
Evans, passengers thereon were most
terribly mutilated, the former
being blown over the engine house
and portion of the town. The body
was found TOO feet from the mouth of the
slope minus the head and arms and the
contents of the stomach. It had bounded
and rolled fully 80 yards after striking
the ground. Timbers and tricks for 70
feet inside the slope were torn up and
scattered over the surrounding country,
and the ground for fully half mile from
the mouth of the mine was covered with
pieces OF cars, ties, timbers, and other
debris. Every air-shaft was blown away,
leaving huge pits. Many people living
near the mine narrowly escaped
death. Huge timbers crashed
through the roof of Superintendent
Faulk's residence, $50 yards from the
slope, and fell between two beds occupied
at the time by himself and family. John
Smith lives in a house in front of the air
shaft in the mouth Of the mine. Here
the force of the explosion tore q great
hole in the earth 20 feet in diameter and
rock weighing over q ton fell through
the roof into the kitchen, demolishinR
the stove.
The store of Beckwith, Quinn & Co.,
200 feet away, lost its front and some
goods were damaged. The wheel from
the pit car passed through an clubhouse
near by, as if thrown from catapult.
The mines are worked by Beckwith,
Quinn u Co., under contract with the
Union Pacific. Those at work therein at
the time of the explosion were Enoch
Thomas, Frank Mason, John Peake,
Ellis Gridgeman, John Hunter, Joseph
and William Evans, John Peterson, John
Hood, Henry Nommuck, William Has
seley Alex. Jones and Henry Milliken. The
bodies of the last two were found yester-
day in the eleventh level. Only one, that
Of John Peake, was burned seriously. The
remainder were evidently killed instantly
by the force of the conclusion. John
hunter, who was drying mule, attached
TO train OF cars in the sixth level, was
found between the first and second cars
and the mule had been blown backward
and wedged into the fifth car with lis legs
in the air.
The slope up to this point has the APP
Pehrance OF having been cleanly swept,
but otherwise is the same as every day.
The mine did not take fire, as at first re-
ported, and nothing save the destruction
Of the fan house and consequent trouble
in getting pure air into the mine delayed
the exploration and recovery of the
bodies. All of the victims save two were
Mormons, married, and leave large fami-
lies. The most acceptable theory
rs to the cause of the ex-
plosion is this: The foremen are
employed to examine the mine every
night for fire-damp to see that it is clear
before the day shift goes on. These men
carry both open and safety-lamps, and it
is believed one of them ventured into
some room with the former, where an
unusual quantity of gas had accumulated.
An explosion occurred here in mine No.
3, in March, 1883, by which 80 Cinnamon
and six white men lost their lives.
Mine No. 4, however, was considered
the model of the camp, and extreme care
lessness is the only reasonable explana-
ton Of the explosion. The funerals will
take place to-day.