Los Angeles daily herald., 1888-11-10
FEARFUL LOSS OF LIFE.
Terrific Underground Explo-
sion i'm Kansas.
INSTANT DEATH IN THE MINES.
One Hundred and Sixty Men Blown
into Eternity-Twenty Fire
Victims.
ASSOCIATED Press Dispatches to the HERALD

ASSOCIATED Press Dispatches to the HERALD
KANSAS Cry, November ga Jom
nal special from Pittsburg, Kans., says
The most dreadful disaster in the histor
OF Kansas occurred at 5 o'clock this even
ing when the men were preparing t
leave off their work at Shaft No. 2, a
Frontenac, suburb of Pittsburg. A ter
rible explosion was heard that shook tn
earth for great distance and completed,
shattered the shaft. On investigation
was found that 100 men were in thu
mine at the time of the explosion. Beinl
liz feet below the surface, it is almos
certain that all are dead At this writ
ing the only two exceptions were tw'
men who were in car coming up, ant
being near the top of the shaft managed
to escape.
Pittsburg is in the center Of the Goa
mines Of Southeastern Kansas and il
abcGGt 100 miles south Of Kansas City, on
the Fort Scott and Gulf railroad. TIE
telegraph office there is closed tonight
but every effort is being made to have Il
opened.
PARTICULARS FROM ANOTHER SOURCE.
ST. LOUIS, November ga special
from Pittsburg, Kan, to the Republican
gives the following account of the coal
mine exploaion there this evening: A
windows in this little village and
pcfa -
habitants, occurred about dusk tonight
The violence of the shock was so great
as to hurl dishes from the shelves and
demolish chimneys. Half an hour after
the explosion the villagers who were
preparing to 60 to the mines were
startled by ragged bleeding man who
almost staggered into the arms of the
searchers. He said Shaft No. 2, at
Frontenac, mining suburb of this vii
lage, had been destroyed by an ex-
plosion, and that all the men in the
mines 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 the fierce snow
and sleet storm which was raging. At
the mouth Of the mine the
TREMENDOUS FORCE OF THE EXPLOSION
Was apparent. There were huge seams
IN the earth and the timbers of the hoist
ing apparatus were shivered and burned.
Foul gases were escaping from the
shaft. The Dane who had escaped with
the man who had alarmed tie villagers,
lay in the mud with his face covered
with block. For long time it was
thought he was dead, but he regained
consciousness in few hours and is now
at his home. He cannot speak and does
not know what caused the explosion.
His clothes were in ribbons. The man
who reached this village with the tidings
OF the disaster, and who accom- panied
the rescuers back to the mine, said the
men were about to quit work for the day
when the explosion occurred. He and
the Dane had ridden in the car
the top Of the shaft, when the earth
seem ed to snap beneath him, and the
next thing he realized was the splashing
OF snow and water upon his face. as be
lay with his comrade in the wreckage
above the mine.
ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY VICTIMS.
There were 100 men in the mine at the
time OF the explosion, and as they were
at work 112 feet below the surface, it is
believed that not one survived the
shock, as the explosion must have des.
troyed everything in the pit
Big fires were built near the mouth
OF the pit, and besides these blazing
piles, the women of the entombed miners
placed their their children, while they
themselves tried by all kinds OF en-
treaties to induce miners from other
shafts to enter the pit and rescue their
relations. One rescuing party started
down the shaft at 7 O'Clock, but was
forced to turn back owing to the foul air.
Another attempt was made at
O'Clock, but the plucky rescuers again
were ordered to abandon their work.
They could hear no sound from the
chambers below, and this leads the old
miners to believe that all the men in the
shaft have persisted. Other attempts
will be made to reach the entombed
men before morning.
Those who started down the shaft early
in the morning say that the shock has
destroyed the whole drift and that it is
probable that the men in the lower levels
are buried beneath tons of slate. Black
damp is supposed to have caused the ex-
plosion. Most of the miners at these
shafts came originally from the mines OF
pounsvlvauia