Oxford eagle. (Oxford, Lafayette Co., Miss.) 1876-current, 1888-11-15
FRIGHTFUL CALAMITY.
Terrible Explosion In Q Pittsburgh.
Kan, Goal Mine
Nearly Two Hundred Miners Csashs I'm ,hs
Fatal rr.p-Chsnee. Of Rsseu. srin-
Probably over One Hundred
Victims.

EEVo8o&f oN<r tuE Hundred
Victims.
Prrrssrrsa. Kan, Nov. IA, s,fs
o'clock last evening an explosion awful In
the horror Of It's results, occurred A. IN.
Cherokee and Pittsburgh Company. coal
shaft No at Frontenac, thr~. miles north
OF this city, and the report vas distinctly
heard here. The working Isv-l Of IN.
shsft Is SIXTY Ave feet below the surfac.
and At the time Of the explosion is@ man
were down In the awful traps os assth.
few minutes later one man escaped bv
the air shaft and since then twenty four
have reached the surface by the same
means.
There can be little doubt that the re-
maindsr have perishef, a. the main en-
trance TO the shaft is piled full OF debris
and dead mules, aud shose escaping rs-
port crawling over dead men as 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 10 get "ths boys out before they
all die"
Entrance 60 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 anHioas
crowds at the mouth OF the shaft are
crowded every doctor from this city and
many from Girard. Litchfsld and other
places in the county. Snow and rain have
been falling since the accident and the
shiyering crowd OF half-drsssed women
pleading for some one TO give them tidinss
Of loved ones it pitiful.
The cause Of the explosion can rot be
now determined A blast had Just been
put in and q good deal Of powder is known
to have been IN the mins, but whether this
or flame from the lamps ignited the gas
and did the deadly work no one yet knows.
No such horror has ever shocked the peo-
rlc Of Southern Kansas and . thorough
explanation OF it will be demanded At
least l37 men are now lying dead in the
fatal shaft.
ANOTHER ACCOUNT.
ST. LOUIS, Nov. i0.-A special from
Pittsburgh, Kan, to the Republic gives the
following account OF the coal mine explo-
sion there last evening; A terrible explo-
sion that broke windows Ii this little >il-
lage and spread CONSERVATION among its
inhabitants occurred at dusk tonight
The violence OF the shock was so great a.
to hurl dishes from shelves and demolish
chimneys- Half an hour after the sx-
plosiou the villagers, who were pre-
pairing to 60 to the mines, wsrs
startled by ragged, bleeding man
who almost staggered into the arms
Of the searchers. He said that No. Z shaft
at Frontenac. n mining suburb Of this
village. had been destroyed by an ex-
plosion and that all the men in the mine
at the time, except himself and Dane,
whom he left bleeding At the mouth Of the
pit, were undoubtedly dead Horses were
quickly harnessed to wagons and in few
minutes the villagers were hurrying
through . fierce snow and sieet storm
which was raging.
At the mouth Of the mine the tremendous
force Of the explosion was apparent. There
were huge seams in the earth, and the
timbers Of the hoisting apparatus were
shivered and burned. Foul gases were
escaping. The Dane who had escaped
with the men who alarmed the
villagers lay in the mud with his
face covered with blood. For Q long
time it was thought he was dead. but
he regsined consciousness in few hours
and Is now at his home. He can not speak
and does not know what caused the expio-
sion. His clothes were in ribbons.
The man who reached this village with
the first tidings Of the disaster and who
accompanied the rescuers back 10 the mine,
IA 3
the day when the explosion occurred To-
gether with the Dane he had ridden In the
car to the top Of the shaft when the earth
seemed to snap beneath him and the next
thing he realized was the splashing Of the
snow and water upon his face as he lay
with his comrade in the wreckags above
the mine. There were f60 men In the mine
at the time Of the explosion, and - they
were at work lie feet below the surface. It
is believed that no one survived the shock,
as the explosion must have destroyed
every thing in the pit
Big fires were built near the mouth Of
the pit and beside these blazing piles the
women Of the entombed miners placed
their children, while they themselves tried
by all means Of sntreaties TO induce the
miners from the other shafts TO enter the
pit and rescue their relatives Oas
rescuing party started down the shaft
at seven O'Clock, but was forced to
turn back owing to the foul
air. Another attempt was made at nine
O'Clock, but the plucky rescuers again
were forced to abandon their work. They
could hear no sound from the chambers
below. and this leads old miners to be-
lieve that all the men in the shaft have
perished Other attempts win be made TO
reach the entombed men before morning.
Those who started down the shaft early
in the evening say that the shock has de-
stroyed whole drifts and that ft is possible
that the men In the lower levels are buried
beneath tons Of slate. Black damp Is
supposed to have caused the explosion
Most Of the minsrs at these shafts came
originally from Illinois and Pennsylvania-
Democrats Coaesds CsIlforni.-
SAN FRAscIsco, Nov. 8.-rhs count Of
1856 precincts In the city out Of IT6 give
Harrison 34,se0; Cleveland, 27,eea The
Republican State COMMITTEES claim the
State by from l0, 900 TO Il, 900. The Demo-
cratic State Committee comedies the State
to the Republicans, but with . small ma
jority. The latest figures indicate the
election Of four Republican Csugrsssmen.
Three Of the Congressional districts are
very close.
Hostettsr's Insursaes.
PrrrsBuReH, Pa, Nov. a-The death Of
DR.. d. Hostetter, the millionaire. Of this
city, has created considerable Of nuttsr
among the life insurance companies Of
this country. He was the most heavily in
sGred man in the United States. He car
ried policies on his life aggregating s35o,-
900. These were distributed IS follows: