Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1888-11-15
AWFULMINNG HORROR.


PITTSBURGH, KAN, Nov. 10.-The
most dreadful disaster in the history of
Kansas. occurred ats O'clock last even
ing in the mining town of Frontenac, a
suburb of this city.
y terrific explosion that broke win
dows in this little village and spread
CONSERVATION among its inhabitants oc-
CURED at this time. The violence of the
shock was so great as to hurl dishes
from shelves and demolish chimneys.
Half an hour after the explosion the vii
layers, who were preparing to go to the
mines. were startled by ragged, bleed
| ing man, who almost staggered into the
arms of the SearcherS. He said that
shaft No. at Frontenac, mining sub
urb of this village, had been destroyed
/ by an explosion and all the men in the
mine at the time, except himself and a
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 vii
layers were hurrying through the fierce
snow and Sleet storm which was rag
/ ing.
Tt the mouth of the mine the tremen-
/ dOus force of the explosion was appar-
ent. 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 man who had
alarmed the village, lay in the mud with
his face covered with blood. For long
time it was thought he was dead, but he
regained consciousness in a few hours
and is now at his home. He can not
speak and does not know what caused
the explosion. His clothes are in rib
bOns. The man who reached this village
with the first tidingS of the disaster and
who accompanied the rescuers back to
the mine, said the men were about to
quit work for the day when the explo-
sion occurred. Together with the Dane
he had ridden in the car to the top of
the shaft when the earth seemed to drop
beneath him, and the next thing he re-
allied was the SplaShing of the snow and
water upon his face as he lay in the
wreckage above the mines.
There were 100 men in the mine at
the time of the explosion, and as they
were at work I12 feet below the surface
it is believed that not one survived the
shock, as the explosion must have de-
stroyed everything in the pit. Big fires
were built near the mouth of the pit,
and beside the blazing piles the women
of the entombed miners placed their
children, while they themselves by ali
kind of entreaties tried to induce the
miners from the other shafts to enter the
pit and rescue their relatives.
One rescuing party started down at
o'clock, but was forced to turn back ow-
ing to the foul air Another attempt
was made at 9 o'clock, but the plucky
reScuers were again forced to abandon
their work. They could hear no sound
from the chambers below, and this leads
old miners to believe all the men in the
shaft have perished. Those who started
down say the shock has destroyed whole |
drifts, and that it is possible the men in
the lower levels are buried beneath tons
of slate. Black damp is supposed to
have caused the explosion. Most of the
miners at the shafts came originally
from Illinois and Pennsylvania.
Searching parties worked all Friday
day night and Saturday, and by night, |
the bodies of thirty-nine persons had
been taken from the mine, thirty-three |
of which were dead,
One most astounding escape is re-
corded. 1t amounted to almost a mira |
acle, and the lucky fellow taken from
the grave itself was surrounded by a |
curious and almost incredulous crowd |
all the morning. at 5 o'clock this morn |
ing the relief squad working at the foot
of the main shaft were astounded to see
an apparition approaching them. 1t was
not one of their party and they did not
believe that there was living man in
the mine beside the rescuers. Their sur
prise can therefore be imagined when
the mysterious visitor staggered up to
them, dimly outlined by the uncertain
light of their lamps, and greeted them
with Here, fellows, let me have your
light"
1t was Henry Burns, who for thirty
six hours had been counted among the
lost. He was quickly taken to the sur
face, and there told the story of one of
most remarkable escapes from death on
record. He was slightly delirious, but
there was considerable coherency in his
account.