Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1888-03-30

night just how many men were yet in
the mine, but at II O'Clock one NAH had
been taken out dead. The work of remov-
ing 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 re-
porter called at the residence of the super
lntendent at IL o'clock and found him
propped up in chair, with his face and
hands bandaged, and scarcely able to talk,
but he made the following statement:
AT just seven minutes after noon
was telephoned that an explo-
sion had occurred at No. 6, which
is four miles northwest of town. went
out as soon as possible and found the south
cage, on which the men always ascend,
stuck in the shaft about half way from
the bottom, with eight men on it, went
down in tub lowered with ropes and
found them all badly burned and in a
frenzy. In fact they were crazy, some
impossible to have this cage hoisted, as
the timbers were all blown out of posi-
We finally managed to be hoisted by
means of ropes and pullies in a
fainting condition, and it was then
ascertained that the north cage could
be worked by clearing some timbers
which had been driven through from the
SOuGu Sudll. lulS was uUHc Uy saving
them short off. / then called for volun-
teers to go down with ne to see if any of
the poor fellows at the bottom could be
got out. .Robt. Bick, Geo. Henry, Charles
Smallwood and Mat Dulehand responded.
When we reached the bottom l looked
thraugh into the entry and saw light.
and / asked who was there and a voice re-
sponded, Gray" and told him to put
out his light. | then asked him to crawl
10 l,frr ha owl Tod haf ba
could not do so, and reached through the
small apparture and dragged him on to
the cage. just as this was done a wind
rushed with the velocity Of cyclone up
the entry, putting out all our lights but
one This was followed by two loud re-
ports and seething flame of fire which
came with a deafening roar, completely
enveloping us for length of time which
seemed like an age and shot out the mouth
of the shaft two hundred and forty feet
above our heads and we were all horribly
burned and thought our time had come, and,
we had to abandon the attempt to save the
others. yelled to the men on top to hoist
away but it was some time before they got
my signal 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 under
take to climb out that way. was just in
the act of doing so when l felt the
cage move and we assembled about
thirty feet when the cage
began descending. / thought that
the machinery had broken and that we
We're all falling to an awful and certain
death. The wall that went up from those
men was heartrending and I shall never
forget it. The knowledge that at the top
were their wives, extending their arms
ready to clasp and shield them from fur
ther danger, was maddening and fought
to destroy reason. All at once, however,
the cage came to a sudden stop and again
began responding to the pressure of rope
and pully and we were soon at the top"
1t is probable that all who We're in the
mine at the time of the first explosion are
dead. The bravery of Superintendent
Sweeney almost cost him his life and is
by everybody. About eighty
five miners are employed in this mine, and
the probabilities are that the majority of.
them Were out, but this cannot be told to-
night. They are mostly negroes who came
from Springfield, H., when the mine was
opened less than a year ago.