Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1888-11-17
AWFUL NINE DISASTER.
A Terrible Explosion in Coal Mine
Near Ptttsburg. Kansas-ORe Hun
dred and Fifty-Eieht Men
Probably Killed.
Only Four Fscape-No One Able to Tell
tho Cause Of the Dire Explosion
Rescuers Driven Back by
the Flames

tho Cause Of the Dire Fxplosion-
Rescuers Driven Back by
the Flames.
PrrrsBuKG, KAN, November l0.-Of 162
men who went to work in shaft No. 2 at
| Frontenac, near here this morning, only
| four have yet left the mine alive, and it will
| be almost miracle if every poor miner still
IN the shaft is not now beyond the reach of
aid.
| This. the worst mine disaster in the his
| tory of Kansas, occurred at 5 o'clock this
| afternoon and was due to an explosion of
some kind-either of fire damp, as the in
aammable gas found in all bituminous
mines is called, OF of blasting powder used
| by the men IN getting out the coal.
| About the hour named, 80 far as can be
| learned here tonight the people above the
ground in the vicinity of the shaft of death
were startled by a dull, rumblipg sound
| which was at once known to have proceeded
| from the mine.
Men. women and children-relatives and
families of the men thoroughbred with
pitiful expressions of foreboding of disaster
| on their faces about the mouth OF the shaft
and anxiously inquired for news. In mo-
ment came the word that the first Fremont
| lions of disaster were likely to be fulfilled
as an explosion, the canse of which could
not bs determined, had occurred IN the
mine and it would only be miracle if any
of the miners left the shaft alive.
| ONLY FOUR RESCUED ALIVE.
Reasoning parties were at once formed,
even women volunteering their assistance,
and, as the machinery above ground had
not been injured, the first party was sent
below.
Soon the signal came to hoist the cage
| and few minutes later four men were
brought to the surface alive. They were
| daZed aud unable to give even the slightest
| explanation or account OF the disaster. All
they could say was that there was little or
no hope that any of those below could be
! save1.
Some time later, accord ding to the last ad-
vices from the pit of death, one of the res
cuing party returned to the surface and re-
ported that the mine was badly choked with
debris and the air Sd foul it was with diff
Guilty the men could work and it was doubt
full whether their labors would bring forth
even the most sorrowful fruit before morn
| ing.
to day and of these four have been rescued
and hopes are entertained that some who
were farthest from the scene of the exolo-
| sion may yet be alive. but it is regarded as
almost certain tonight that at least 150
men have persisted and that the Frontenac
mine will long be known as the scene of the
most terrible disaster in the history of Kan
| eas.
A special from Pittsburg, Kan, to the
Republic gives the following account of the
| coal mine explosion there this evening: "a
| terrific explosion that broke windows in
this little village and spread CONSERVATION
among its inhabitants occurred at dusk to-
night. The violence of the shock was SO
great as to hurl dishes from shelves and de-
molish chimneys. Half an hour after the
| explosion the villagers, who were preparing
to go to the mines. were startled by q
ragged, bleeding man who almost staggered
| into the arms of tine searchers. He said
that No. shaft at Frontenac, mining su-
burb of this village, had been destroyed by
an explosion and that 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 a
| few minutes the villagers were hurrying
| through fierce snow and sleet storm which
Was raging.
cat the mouth of the mine the tremend
Gus force of the explosion was apparent.
There were huge seams in the earth. and the
timbers of the hosting apparatus we're shiv-
cred 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 a
long time it was thought he was dead, but
he regained consciousness in few hours
and does not know what caused the explo-
8 on. His clothes we're in ribbons.
''The men who reached this village with
the first tidings of the disaster and who &C
companied the rescuers back to the mine,
said the men were about to quit work for
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 wreckage above the mine.
There we're 160 men in the mine at the time
of the explosion. and IA they were at work
liz feet below the surface, it ia believed that
no one survived the shock, as the explosion
must have destroyed everything in the pit.
''Big fires we're built near the mouth of the
pit and beside the Sc blazing piles the women
of the entombed miners placed their chill
dren, while they themselves tried by all kinds
of en- treaties to induce the miners from the
other shafts to enter the pit and rescue their
relatives. One rescuing party started down
the shaft at o'clock, but was forced to turn
back, owing to the foul air. Another at
tempt was made at 8 O'Clock, but the plucky
rescuers again we're forced to abandon their
work. They could hear no sound from the
chambers below and this leads old miners to
believe that all the men in the shaft have
persisted. Other assempts will 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 it is possible
that the men in the lower Levels are buried
beneath tons of slate. Black Damp is sup
posed to have caused the explosion. Most
of the miners at these shafts came originally
from Illinois and Pennsylvania"
WHIrECHAPEL FIEND.
The London Murder Ffend Adds One
More to His List.