River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1888-11-15
a TERRIBLE FATE.
Eighty Lives Believed to Have Been Lost
In the Mine Explosion at Pittsburg,
Kan.-Thlrfy-Nine Bodies Recovered
PiteOus Scenes.

LIVES btAAGhCA ~ AA1fN hfNNN N%N7N
In the Mine Explosion at Pittsburg,
Kan.-Thlrty-NIne Bodies Recovered
PiteOus Scenes.
PIrTsBURe. Kan, Nov. I2-Three more
bodies ere taken from the wrecked
FrOntenac mine Sunday, making thirty
nine altogether recovered There are
probably fifty more in the mine. Most
Of the victims were shOckingly
, mutuated. There was nothing left Of the
first man brought up from the dreadful
hole but blesding. PUPPY trunk The
head and arms and legs had been blown
OF. Many Of the searchers tainted at their
work. Some Of the victims were
found buried beneath immense weights
of slate waile others we're discov-
cred in groups and in all kinds Of posi-
[ Ons. TsgO men, who have not been iden-
titled. were so tightly locked IN each
other ; arms that II was with great diff
Gully they were torn apart Their eyes
had been blown out By the explosion and
the r faces so horribly crushed that the
bones were ground into the flesh
PITTsBUsG, Kan, Nov. I3-The explo-
sion in shaft NJ ~ the Cherokee q Pitts
burg Coal Company's mine At Frontenat,
Kan, Friday night proved TO b the most
appalling that has ever occurred - this
country and brought death TO the homes #
E ~
and Girard The explosion occurred
at $50 O'Clock, when the usual dali
~ blast was fired One Of the
blasts proved 10 Je defective and
shot a stream Of fame into the air, iguit-
ing the gas and fine particles of the coal
dust stirred Up by two previous blasts
and in an instant vast, terrific explosion
took place which Knocked all Of the miners
on their faces. hurled masses Of coal upon
them and shook every part Of the mine.
One hundred and sixty four men
were in the mine, and Of that num-
Der about half were uuinjured and found
their way TO the air shaft and escaped.
The explosion was heard in every part OF
Frontenac and Pittsburg, and in a incredi-
bly, short time the road leading TO the N ne
was thronged with wives. mothers aud
daughters of the miners with locks Of ter
ror depicted upon their faces fastening to
the scene.
Hundreds Of citizens and miners joined
the thrOng OF anxious relatives about the
shaft, and as a fortunate miner emerged
from the air shaft in safety he was seized
by the wife. mother or daughter
aud carried of home On account Of
the al. fan being damaged and the
shaft Elockaded by the debris the work
of re cuing could not be begun IN
til after midnight, when a rescuing party
descended the shaft and began sc rching
for the living The most horrible sight
met their gaze. The dead lay in piles m
every entry on the north and west sides,
while the p, ssageways were strswn
with dead men, mules and wrecked
carts. The air was bad, aud a num-
Der Of the rescuing party were
Frustrated and had to be carried out, but
their places were supplied with ready vol
In M M F1 w. Z
dead and mangled and burned in the most
horri BILE manner. Here and there in pro-
tected spots a man was found yet i've
and he was quick Y carried TO the surface,
where a large force Of physicians had been
organized TO receive b m
Only fourteen Of such were found. but
the last one was n0t rescued until after
daylight yesterday morning. They were
all terribly burned and the greater part Of
them will yet die. Arrangements were
then made to bring up the dead. and at
noon that work was begun and carried on
rapidly. Thirty-six bodies were found in
three entries on the north and west sides,
where the work had to be stopped
until other parts Of the mine could be sc
cured so that il could be explored and the
dead recovered. 1t Will require three days
TO get all the bodies, and, as many are
burned and mangled beyond recognition,
the names of all the dead will never be
learned. The portions not explored con-
tain large number Of bodies, which VIII
swell the number lost to nearly eighty.
Various causes are assigned for the &C
cident, but the best informed Of the
miners agree that il was the result Of an
overcharge of powder imperfectly put in
by an unskilled miner in the third entry on
the north side, where French and Italians
were employed in that part Of
the mine the damage Of the explosion was
greatest and not a single person in the en-
tries near escaped death and their bodies
were horribly mangled. The desolaton n
FrOntenac is complete and general. One
half of the homes in that little village have
lost their bread winner, and the piteous
cries of the stricken ones are a sad incl
dent of the calamity. Maj = Of the families
are destitute, and a subscription for their
benefit was started. and 500 subscr bed in
a few moments by employees in shafts Nos.
] and g.
One of the men who escaped SAID that he
ran through the main way to the air shaft
The miners had gathered in lunches, and
all were engaged in prayer, not even try
ing to escape. Shaft No. was opened
about two years ago, and is 80 feet in
depth and employed a full force of about
200 miners, and is the largest of the three
owned by the company at Frontenac
The miners censured the company for
employing incompetent miners, which
they say made the operation of the mine
so dangerous that many of the best min
ers had quit it and gone TO other mines at
Wear City and Esenhere About a week
ago a defective blast was fired. and it was
only an accident that an explosion did not
occur then. A number Of the miners pro-
tested, and several refused 10 go into the
mines again.