Lewiston teller. [volume] (Lewiston, North Idaho) 1878-1900, 1888-11-15
DETAILS OF THE DISASTER.
No Hope for the l6O Men Imprisoned
In the Mine.

No Hope for the l6O Men Imprisoned
IN the Mine.
ST.. LOUIS, Nov. ga special from
Pi.tsburg, 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 Consideration
among the inhabitants, occurred about
dusk to night. The violence of the
shock wa. so great as to hurl dishes from
shelves and demolish chimneys.
Half an hour after the explosion, the
villagers who were preparing to go TO the
mines were startled by ragged, bleed
ing man, who almost staggered into the
arms Of the searcbers. He said shaft
No. 2, at the front end of a mining
suburb of this village, had been dcs-
troyed by an cxplosisn, and that all the
men in the mine at the time except him
self and Dane, whom he left bleeding
at the mouth Of the pit, were undoubted
" dead.
Horses were quickly harnessed t.
wagons, and in few minutes villaser
were hurrying through fierce snow an'
slect storm which was raging.
A SCENE OF RUIN.
| At the mouth of the mine the tire
meudous force Of the explosion wa
apparent. There were huge seams j
the earth, and the timbers of the hois
ing apparatus were shivercd and burne(
Foul gases were escaping. The Dam
" no had escaped with the man who ha
alarmed the villagers, lay in the mu
with bis face covered With blood. F.
long time it was thought he was dca
but he rcgaincd consciousness in fe
hours and is now at his home. lie ca
not speak and does not know VIII
caused the explosion. His clothes We
in ribbons.
The man who reached this village wi
the first tidings of the disaster, and vi
accompanied the rescucrs back to t
mine, said the men were about to q.
work for the day when the explosi
occurred. Together with the Dane,
had ridden in the car to the top Of Il
shalt, when the earth seemed to so
beneath him, and the next thing
:, realized was the splashing Of snow al
water upon his face as he lay with /
comrade in tho wreckage above t
mine.
There were 1GO men in the mine
the time Of the explosion, and as tn
were at work liz feet below the surfa'
T it is believed that rot one survived t
shock, as the explosion must have d
troyed everything in the pit.
!. FUTILE EFFORTS AT REsCEE.
=, Big fires were built near the mouth
:, the pit, aud beside these blazing piles
= women of the entombed miners plae
=, their children, while they themsel'
:, tried by all kinds of entreaties to indl
miners from other shafts to enter the
:, and rescue their relatives. -
20 One rescuing party started down
-. shaft at I o'clock, but was forced to t,
), back, owing to foul air.
-. Another attempt was made at
90 o'colck, but the placky rescucrs ag
-, were forced to abandon their wo
a. They could hear no sounds from
=, chambers below, and this leads old min
80 to believe that all the men in the sh
Or have perished.
Other attempts will be made to rel
the entombed men before morni
,e Those who started down the shalt ca
in the evening say that tho shock
y destroyed the airhole drift, and that
: probable that the laen in the lower lev
nc are buried beneath tons Of slate.
H. Black damp is supposed to h
~ caused the explosion. Most Of
AZ miners at these shafts came ori.iui
~ from the mines Of Pennsylvania.
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