The Hocking sentinel. [volume] (Logan, Ohio) 1871-1906, 1888-11-15
DIGGING Up TlID DEAD.
Details Of the Terrible
Holocaust Near Pitts
burgh, Kansas.
Twenty-Five Of The Bodies Re
covered, Whils as Many More
are Missing.

KANSAS CRY, Mo-, Nov. ga
special from Pittsburgh, Kansas.
says, tho most dreadful disaster in
the history of Kansas occurred at
! 5 O'Clock ,hl; evening. When the
men were preparing to leave Oft
their work at Shaft No. ?, at From
ttnac, suburb of Pittsburgh, a ter
rible explosion Was hcard that
shook the earth for a grcat distance.
and completely shattered the shaft
Upon investigation it VAS fonnl
that 160 men were within the mine
at the time of the explosion. Be
ing 112 tcet below the surface, it is
almost Ger tain that all are dead at
this writing. The only exceptions
we're two men who wers in car
coming up being near the top of the
shaft managed to escapo
Pittsburgh is IN the center of the
coal mines of Southeastern Kansas.
and is about 100 miles south oi
Kansas City on the Fl. Scott and
Gulf road.
The company had more orders
than they could fill and ill an at
tempt to Keep mp they have been
running and unusual largo force of
miners. Yesterday morning 16i
men were lowered into the mine.-
At noon the shots were fired ali
right and later :he miners descend
ed Tor afternoon duty. At $50 o.
clock they were ready to fire their
shots again. The first shot was hr-
ed, but before man could be hoist
ed u terrible rumb'ing nois, was
heard above and a black cloud Of
dirt, slate and dust shot into the
arr from the mouth OF the shaft.
tearing away tho tracks upon which
the cages are ioisted, and Fl ling the
shaft with debris. The explosion
occurred an tie cas-. si.lo. and Is at
tributed to the lncype rience ofsome
of the new men.
j Before the men outside could re-
cover their senses one of the miners
appeared in the air shaft nearly
suffocaied. He was helped out and
followed by others, until large
number had escaped-how many is
not known. There was plenty of
help at hand and those ut the top
devoted .heIr attention 10 rescuing
their entOmbed brothers. The mine,
which was only slightly damaged.
was hrst repaired, canvass beng
tackled over the holes that had TO
tbe closed. About - O'Clock the
fan house was ready and fresh air
was pumped into the mine, driving
back the poisonous gas and avert
ing sufocation. A force was then
turned to repairing the cribbing so
that the cage could he lowered. -
Men lowered into the shaft by rope
and bucket could accomplish MOTH
ng.
At 3 a. m. the cage was ready to
descend aud tho first wreckrng par
ty WAS lowered into the shaft
Owing to the bad air they could
not remain long. On the first re
tnrn of the cage 1t contained a mum
ber of uninjured but badly dcmor
allzed msn Tho bottom of the shaft
was badly damaged, and 1t was diff
ficult to get at the dead. AS found
they were piled together at the bot.
tom. while the living and badly
wounded were hOisted to the TOP
At 4 a. m. five had been rescued
and at l p. m. four more were
brought out alive. At this time
they struck an entry containing II
more dead todies.
2p. m.-There are twenty five
dead and nine wounded, with twen-
ty five missing who are supposed to
be dead. A large number of tho
killed are French and Italian mi
ners.
A temporary hospital was pre-
pared in blacksmith shop near by
where the most heartrending scenes
were witnessed as the mangled and
badly burned men were carried in.
A special from Cherokee. Kan.
to the Post Dispatch says nine bod
les have been recovered from the
mme.
THE AWFUL SCENES
81. LOUIS, Nov. l1.-Dispatches
from Piltsburg. Kan, give the tol
lowing as scme OF the incidents of
the nine horror at that place. For
hours after the explosion snulfcsi out
the iivcs of nearly "a hundtcd men
the scene at The pit WAS distressing.
Poorly clad women with bah es clasp
ed to their breasts came through the
darkness by the light cast from the
bonfres like Ilaggard's uncanny be-
ings from some other world. Some
shrieked above the storm and NUT
tered as they fell helpless on the
shoulders OF the stronger neighb0rs.
Still others were mad in their dis
pair and tore their hair and gar
ments and would have dashed into
the tomb headlong but for the
s. strength exerted by miners from
other shafts. One poor woman
whose husband and two sons were
in the pit lay their young children
beside bl-stirg fire AM then fell
into mysteries among them. She lay