St. Landry democrat., 1888-11-17
FRlGHTFUL CALAMITY.

FRlGHTFUL CALAMITY
Terrible Explosion in a Pittsburgh
Kan, Goal Mine.
Nearly Two Hundred Miners Caught in th
Fatal Trap-Chances of Rescue Slim
Probably Over One Hundred
Victims.
PITTSBURGH, Kan, Nov. 10.-At Sci
O'CLOCK last evening an explosion awful il
tne horror OF it's results, occurred at thf
Cherokee and Pittsburgh Company's Goa
smart No. 2 at Frontenac, three miles nortf
| or tals city, and the report was distinGtl,
heard here. The working level Of tn,
shaft is sixty y-five feet below the surfac,
and at the time of the explosion 1874 mer
were down in the awful traps of death
A few minutes later one man escaped by
the air shaft and since then twenty -four
have reached the surface by ths same
means.
There can be little doubt that the re-.
malnder have perished, as the main en-
trance to the shaft is piled full Of debris
ana oead mules, and those escaping re-
port crawling over dead men at every step
IN the depths below. At least two thou
SAND excited men, women and children are
gathered round the mouth of the shaft and
the cries of those whose husbands or
fathers are known to be below are heart.
rending. Men are driven to desperation
by pitiful appeals from weeping women
and girls to get ''the boys out before they
all die"
Entrance to the mine is being achieved
as fast as within human power, but the
main entrance is absolutely blocked and
Imminent danger attends every attempt
by the air shaft. Among the anxious
crowds at the muuth of the shaft are
crowded every doctor from this city and
many from Girard, 1itchfeld and other
places In the county. Snow and rain have
been falling since the accident and the
shivering crowd of half.dressed women
pleading for some one to give them tidinps
OF loved ones it pitiful.
The cause of the explosion can not be
now determined. A blast had lust been
pst in and good deal of powder is known
to have been in the mine, but whether this
or flame from the lamps ignited the gas
and did the deadly work no one vet knows
No such horror has ever shocked the peo-
pie Of Southern Kansas and a thorough
explanation of it will be demanded, At
least 1877 men are now lying dead in the
fatal shaft.
ANOTHER ACCOUNT.
ST. LOUIS, Nov. 10.--A special from
Pittsburgh, Kan, to the Republic gives the
following account of the coal mine expIo-
lion there last evening: 4 terrible expto-
non that broke windows in this little viii
age and spread CONSERVATION among It's
inhabitants occurred at dusk tonight,
The violence Of the shock was SO great as
o hurl dishes from shelves and demolish
himneys. Half an hour after the ex-
'loslon the villagers, who were pre-
'aring to go to the mines, were |
tartled by a ragged, bleeding man
Vho almost staggered into the arms
t the searchers. He said that No. 9 shaft |
{ Frontenac, mining suburb of this
lllage, had been destroyed by an ex-
ioslon and that all the men in the mine
t the time, except himself and Dane,
HON he left bleeding at the mouth of the
it, were undoubtedly dead. Horses were
uickly harnessed to wagons and in a few
llnutes the villagers were hurrving
trough fierce snow and sleet storm
'hich was raging.
At the mouth OF the mine ths tremendous
'rce of the explosion was apparent. There
ere huge seams in the EARTH, and the
moers OF the hoisting apparatus were
i1Vered and burned. Foul gases were
'caping. The Dane who had escaped
lth the men who alarmed the
llagers lay in the mud with his
ce covered with blood. Fer a long
me it was thought he was dead, but
regained consciousness in few hours
I'd is now at his home. He can not speak
Id does not know what caused the explo- !
on. His clothes were in ribbons.
Ihe man who reached this village with
9 first tidings of the disaster and who
companied the reseuers back to the mine. .
i'd the men were about to quit work for !.
day when the explosion occurred. To-
ther with the Dane he had ridden in the L
r to the top of the shaft when the earth v
emed to snap beneath him and the next {
ing he realized was the splashing of the =
ow and water upon his face as he Law
Tn his comrade in the wreckage above 7
3 mine. There were 160 men in the mine
the time of the explosion, and as they o
re at work 112 feet below the surface, it o
believed that no one survived the shock,
the explosion must have DESTROYED D
cry thing in the pit. II
Zig fires were built near the mouth of "
pit and beside these blazing piles the !, !,
men OF the entombed miners placed u
IF children, while they themselves tried
all means of entreaties to induce the U
ners from the other shafts to enter the p
and rescue their relatives One es
cuing party started down the shaft az
seven O'Clock, but was forced to $.
back owing to the foul III
Another attempt was made at nine
ock, but the plucky reseuers again
re forced to abandon their work. They II
Id hear no sound from the chambers
DIV, and this leads old miners to be-
g that all the men in the shaft have tu
ished. Other attempts will be made to qr
ch the entombed men before morning, su
hose who started down the shaft early
he evening say that the shock has de- co
yed whole drifts and that it is possible co
the men in the lower levels are buried to
cath tons of slate Black damp is
posed to have caused the explosion. co
It of the miners at these shafts came CO
,inally from Illinois and Pennsylvania. to1
Democrats Concede California.
m FRANCISCO, Nov. 9.-The count of 70 70
precincts in the city out of 176 give 40,
rison A,sso; Cleveland, 27,693. The W..
ublican State Committee claim the y.
Q by from 10000 to 1900. The Demo- ~, ~
ic State Committee comedies the State 81 ~"
le Republicans, but with q small ma 70 70
y. The latest figures indicate the me me
'ion OF four Republican Congressman. the
'e OF the Congressional districts are sea
close. ali.
HOstetter's Insurance.
rTsBURaH, Pa, Nov. 9-The death of Z