Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1886-01-17
ALMY'S MINE EXPLOSION.
CARELESSNESs ON THE PART
OF THE MEN THE CAUSE.

The Death of the Thirteen Victims Be
Deved to Have Been InstantaneOus-
Hundreds Would Have Perisbed Had
the Calamity Occurred I'm the ID ay Time
Complete Destruction.
EVANSTON, Wy, Jan. 16.-DetaIls of
the fire damp explosion, which occurred
in Mine No. 4, at Almy, at an early hour
Wednesday morning, have just reached
here, and show it TO have been one of the
most serious in the history Of the Rocky
Mountain coal mines. Occurring as it
did at night, when only light force of
miners was at work, the death roll was
limited to thirteen souls, but had 1t taken
place during the day the loss oflife would
have run up into the hundreds, for every
person in the mine at the time met with
instant death. The whole face OF the
country and that portion of the settlement
fronting the slope gives evidence of the
terrible force of the explosion. The
weigh and fan houses were entirely de-
mOtlshed. ana the engine house wrecked,
while residences and business houses lost
fronts, windows, doors and chimneys. The
mouth Of the slope had the appearance of
huge funnel from which fully a thousand
cubic yards Of rock have been torn and
distributed over the adjacent country.
TRAIN BLOWN OUT.
A train OF thirteen cars going down in
to the mine at the time of the explosion
WAS broken into fragments and shot out a
though from the mouth OF a cannon. Will
liam and ) Oseph Evans, passengers, there
on, were most terribly mutilated, the for
mer being blown over the engine house
and a portion Of the town. His body was
/ found 100 feet from the mouth OF the slope
minus his head and arm and the contents
of his stomach. 1t had bounded and
rolled fully thirty yards after striking the
ground. Timbers and track for 70 feet in
side the slope We're torn up and scattered
over the surrounding country, and the
ground for fully half a miie from the
mouth of the mine was covered with
pieces Of ties, tim bers and other debris.
Every air shaft was blown away, leaving
huge pits. Many people living near the
mine narrowly escaped death. Huge
umberS crashed the roof OF SupeRlnten-
dent Faulk'S residence, 25O wards from
the slope, and fell between two beds oc-
cuDied at the time by himself and family.
ROCK WEIGHING A TON.
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 "A
-
diameter, and rock weighing over a ton
fell through the roof into the kitchen, de-
mOlshing the stove. The store Of Beck
with, Quinn Il Co.. 200 feet away. lost its
front, and some goods were damaged.
A wheel from the pit cars passed
through the clubhouse near by, as if
thrown from a catapult. The mines are
worked by Beckwith, Quinn q Co., under
a contract with the Union Pacific Rail-
road Company.
THE DEAD.
The bodies of two of the dead miners
were found Yesterday in the eleventh
level. Only one was burned seriously.
Til remainder were evidently killed in
stantly from the force of the cOncussion.
! John Hunter, who was driving a mule
attached to a train OF cars on 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 its legs in the air.
The slope up to this point has the ap-
pearance Of having been cieanly swept,
but otherwise is the same as seen every
day. The mine did not take fire as at
first reported, and nothing save the de-
struction of one house and the consequent
trouble OF getting pure air in the mine
delayed exploration and the recovery Of
the bodies. All Of the victims save two
were Mormons, married, and leave large
! families.
CAUSE OF THE EXPLOSION.
The most acceptable theory az to the
cause of the explosion is based on the
following facts: Two foremen were en-
ployed to examine the mine every night
Tor FIRE damp to see that il was clear be-
fore the day for 70 went on. These men
carried both oper aud safety lamps, and
| il is believed that one OF them ventured
| into some room with the former where an
unusual quantity OF Eas had accumulated.
| An explosion occurred here in mine No.
| in March, 1888, by which 81 Cinnamon
/ ana 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-
! place to-day.