The Osceola times., 1888-11-17
THE KANSAS HORROR.
4 Hundred and sixty-Four Men
Entombed in q Mine.

A Hundred and sixty-Four Mon
Entombed in a Mine.
Only Fourteen Rescued Alive. and The,
In q Terrible Condition - A Par
tiai List OF the Unfortu
nate victima.
PrrTsBupG, Kas., Nov 10-A terrific ex.
plosion that broke windows In this little
village and spread CONSERVATION among
its inhabitants occurred at dusk last
night. For few minutes the startled
people scarcely dared TO stir out OF their
buildings. The violence OF the sho ok
was SO great as to hurl dishes from
shelves and demolish chimneys. HALF an
hour after the explosion the villagers,
who were preparing 10 go to the mine,
were startled by a ragged, bleeding
man, who almost staggered into the
arms Of the searchers. He said that No.
shaft at Frontenac. a mining suburb OF
this village, had been destroyed by an ex.
plosion, and that all the men in the mine
at the time, except himself and Dane.
| whom lie left bleeding at the mouth OF
the pit, were undoubtedly dead. Horses
were quickly harnessed TO wagons, and
In few minutes the villagers wers hur-
rying through the fierce snow and sleet
storm which was raging.
At the mouth OF the mine the tremen-
dous force of the explosion was appar-
ent There we're huge seams in the earth
and the timbers OF the hoisting apparatus
NJ oil nd hpr Al
were escaping. The Dane who had es-
capped with the man who alarmed the
villagers lay in the mud with his face
covered with blood. For long time it
was thought he was dead, but he re-
gained consciousness ia a few hours and
Is now at his home. He can not speak
and docs not know what caused the ex-
plosion. His clothes were in ribbons.
The man who reached this village
with the first tidings OF the disaster, and
who accompanied the rescuers back to
the niue, said the mon we're about to quit
work for the day when the explosion oc
Cured. Together 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 oomrade
| in the wreckage above the mine.
There were 100 men In the mine
at the time of the explosion,
and as they were at work liz feet
below the surface, it Is believed that lot
one survived the shock. as the exp losion
must have destroyed every thing In the
pit.
| As soon rs the relatives OF the miners,
who live in the little cottages at From
tenac, recovered from their alarm the y
went to the mouth OF the fatal pit and
made pitiful appeals for their husbands ),
fathers and sons to return to them. Al.
though the storm was severe and the cold
exceedingly bitter for this time of year. the
poor, soantily. .cla1 women stood about In
the water until long after midnight Big
dres were built near the mouth Of the pit
and beside these blazing piles the
women placed their children, while they
themselves tried by all kinds of entreaties
to induce the miners from the other
shafts to enter the pit and rescue their
relatives. One rescuing party started
down the shaft at seven O'Clock, but was
| forced TO turn back, owing to the foul air.
Another attempt was made at nine
|
again were 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 perished.
Those who started down the shaft early
| In the evening say that the shock has dc.
| stroyed whole drifts and that it is pro ba.
bio that the men in the lower levels are
| buried beneath tons of slate. Black damp
Is supposed TO have caused the explosion
Most Of the miners at these shafts came
| originally from Illinois aud Pennsylva-
| mia.
Out Of q total OF l84 men who descended
into the mine, only fourteen have been
| taken out alive, the greater part of thom
being terribly and fatally burned; thir-
ty-six bodies were found In the north and
west sides. where the work Of rescue had
to be stopped until other parts o. the
mine could be strengthened, so that it
could be explored for the rem aiming vic.
tins. 1t will probably be three or four days
before all the bodies can be recovered, nd
many being burned beyond recognition,
a full list Of the names will never be
| learned.
| The following is list of those who are
supposed to be still in the mine j. Greitz.
ger, Joseph Krois, Louis Sozie Frank
Zeelick, Peter Knell, Fred Yorkaham.
James Quick, Charles Fisher, VIM. Tun.
leers, Thomas Jones, Herman Smith
Anton Bietler, Ed Mole, John lbbey, A.
Barber, NJ. Zolk, w. Jennings, l.. ROM
ca, J. w. Crock on, H. +, Harris Ed
| Longaka and z. T.. Bent
Up to noon yesterday a partial list Of
| the dead was:
| John Labeca. James Barbiera