The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1888-03-30
The Accident Occurred at the Dinner Hour,
Just as the Men We're About to Quit
Work and Ascend the Shaft.
The Most Shocking Casualty That Ever
Occurred in a Western Mine.
Graphic Description of the Calamity by the
Superintendent of the Mines-The
Loss of Property Very Heavy.

patch has just been received from Rich Hill:
About o'clock this afternoon, there was
rumbling sound in mine No. 6. of this place,
that entirely wrecked the mine and buried in
the debris over hundred miners, who were cut
off from all means of escaDe. Up to the hour of
sending this dispatch forty bodies have been
to have met a similar fate. The superintendent
of the mines was taken out badly injured, but
will survive. In the terrible excitement and
confusion it is impossible to give list of names
disaster. but is now thought that over fifty men
were killed.
Later news from Rich Hill is to the effect that
the mine is situated six miles distant from the
said the total loss of life will reach sixty men,
Rich Hill is located in Bates county. about one
hundred miles South of Kansas City. on the
Missouri Pacific road. It is in the center of the
coal bearing district
The following is the Journals account of the
accident at Rich Hill:
Rich HILL. Mo-, March 29-The most hor-
rible mine disaster that has ever occurred in
the West happened at noon to-day, in Keith &
Perrys No. mine, and, result, large num-
Der of men are entombed and thousands of dol
lars worth OF property destroyed. just at the
dinner hour, when the men were ascending
eight at time, on the cage. a terrible gas ex-
plosion occurred, filing every entry with
fame of fire which shot out of the shaft
a distance of one hundred and forty
feet It cannot be ascertained tonight
just how many men yet in the m inc, but at
IL o'clock one man had been taken ont dead
The work of removing the debris and cleaning
the shaft has been going on all the afternoon,
but it will be several hours before much can be
done toward entering the mine proper A Jour
nal reporter called at the residence of the super
intendent at IL o'clock, and found him propped
in a chair with his fEce ana hands handased and
scarcely able to talk, but he made the following
statement
"At just seven minutes after noon, was tele-
phoned that an explosion had occurred at No. 6.
which Is four miles northwest of town. I went
out as soon as possible and found the south cage
which the men always ascend, stuck in the
shaft about half way from the bottom, with
eight men on it. went down on a tub lowered
with ropes. and found them all badly burned
and in frenzy; in fact, they were crazy, some
shouting and others singing. / found it impossi-
BILE to have this cage hoisted, as the
timbers were all blown out of position. We
finally managed to be hosted by means
of ropes and pullies in a fainting
condition, and it was ascertained that the north
cage could be worked by clearing some timbers
which had been driven through from the south
shaft. This was done by saving them short off,
I then called for volunteers to go down with
me, and see if any of the poor fellows at the bot
tom could be got out Robert Bick. George
Henry. Charles Smallwood, and Mat Dulehand
responded. When we reached the bottom I
looked through into the entry, and saw light
and asked who was there, and voice respond
ed "Gray," and told him to put out his light
I then asked him to crawl to me, but he was SO
exhausted that he could not do so, and reached
through the small aperture and dragged him on
to the cage just as this was done wind
rushed with the velocity of a cyclone up the
entry, putting out all our ligats but one This
was followed by two loud reports and seething
flame of fire, which came with deafening roar,
completely envelopins for length of time,
which seemed like age. and shot out the
mouth of the shaft two hundred and forty feet
burned and thought our time had
come, but the flames receded as
suddenly they had come, and we
had to abandon the attempt to save the others
yelled to the mon the top to hoist away,
bus it sometime before they got the sig.
nal or understood my meaning. The moments
thus spent were living death. / thought they
could not hear me, and concluded we would
have to crawl through into the south shaft and
undertake to climb out that way. was just in
the act of doing so when felt the cage move
and assembled about thirty feet when the
cage began descending. I thought the machine.
ry broken, and that We were falling to an awful
and certain death.
'Thexwail that went up from those men WAS
heartre nding. and / shall never forget it. The
knowledge that at the top were thei r wives ex-
tending their arms ready to clasp and shield
them from further danger was maddening and
enough to destroy reason. All at once, however,
the cage came to q sudden stop and again began
responding to the pressure of ropes and pulleys
and we were soon at the top"
1t is probable that all who were in the mine at
the time OF the first explosion are dead. The
bravery of Superintendent Sweeney almost cost
HIM his life, and is applauded by everybody.
About eighty-ive miners are employed in this
niue, ana tne prooaollt1es are tnas the majority
of them were out, but this cannot be told TO
night They are mostly negroes, who came from
Springfield. illinois. when the mine opened
less than year ago
SPRINGFIELD Mo-, March 29-The Herald of
this ctr will start relief fund tomorrow for
the benefit of the families of the miners killed
in the Rich Hill disaster.
Another Account of the Affair.
RICH HILL, Mo, March 29-An explosion OF
gas occurred in mine No. 6. of she Keith s.
Perry Coal Com pany, located about three miles