Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1888-03-31
THE MINE EXPLOSION
Al RILH bill MISSOURI. ATTENDED WITH
GREAT DISASTER
As Bad as twas 1t Nigh, Have Been Nl.a Wols0 -
a Number Of Miners Taken IN, Alive
BNLne Hopes Are Entertained
Of Their Surviving.

KANSAS CITY, Mo, March 30 The
following details of the mine disaster At
Rich Hill, Mo, were received here this
morning:
1t was Just 3.lO o'clock Yesterday after
noon when Low rambling noise was
heard in Nine No t, owned by the Keith
X Perry Coal Company, tour miles from
Rich Hill. 1t WAS quickly followed by Il
fearful report, which shook the earth TOR
many miles away
Had the explosion occurred few min
utts sooner it would have imperillcd the
lives OF over q hundred instead Of the
thiIty i've men who were in the shaft. The
excitement was a. nothing compared with
the suspense whicl! prevailed
Immediate steps were taken to rescue
the miners who were Imprisoned by the
explosion, and as soon as it was safe 10 do
50, and the tire resultiCg from the explosion
had been suhdued, re-cuIug party de-
sceuded into the shaft They had scarcely
got to work when aLOlhtr tNplos'o on &C.
CURED aud the would 1c t., cucrs narrowly
escaped with th,iy lives. Olcoft these was
George W Sweeney, Superintendent the
mines, md he was badly burned about the
hands aud face The work OF rescuing
was Thus deiuyed for many hour The
cries OF the imprisoned m"n could he heard,
hut they grew fainter aud fainter, aud 10y
9 u'clcclS ceased altogether
THE DEAD AND INJURED.
Thus tar live have been taken out dead
and fifteen alive Most of the latter have
suffered intensely from the tire and suflo.
cation and their recovery is very doubtful.
The delu are. ChIrles smith. Gecrg, NJ
May, e McPhsrSou, Frank Teller, Jordan
smith The injured are. Joshua Strickle,
c ! Neptune, VIM Taylor, c. W. Young,
X Mason, Frank Jackson, W Richards.
J. l. Williams, H. Fernando, john Roberts,
Arch Marshall John l.uct-, d. c Jones,
Frank Carr, the foreman ol the mtue was
in a. the time of the explosion, lat not in
Iured.
Fifteen bow remain in the mine, being
IN the west end and it il believed that
most Of lhem will be taken out dead.
Work proceeds y,fy slowly, being attend
ed with much danger.
K H. Keith. President of the Keith *
Perry Company, arrived at the mine at
o'clock his morning "lt will be imp0s-
slbie for ne to tel, ' said he 10 q reporter,
what vas the cause OF this disaster, al
though, OF course, We have our surmises,
hut nothing d,inite can hr known until
the tire Is pat out and We eau re, in and
make an inspection The mine nus well
ventilated and nothing was lacking in any
particular to make everything sale and
perfect
CAUSE OF ENrIuSIJN MOI KNOWN.
David Mckay, General Manager for
Keith * Perry, said that it was possible
that the explosion had h,rU due to au
ovDIchalEe of powder There were $50
pounds of powder iu the niue, aud this
po-Nbly all hCClmr iguitsi lie said ne
hd given the mine thorough inspection
a month ago aui there Wa not tura two
per cent Il ga tLry ding hat had
heen asked of The management iu running
the mine aud making tie equipment per
:ect bad always been Grvut,d.
Mine No % Ia which the explosion, uC.
CURED WIS a usw mine, and Gtd never
been fully developed The shaft was sunk
last summer and the utnl.g Of coal began
September /. II ht- been a very pTOdUC-
tive mine, having yI,ld,i 500 tons OF coal
per day Tnr Value ut the mine "a est-
mated at S5U,UuJ. Il hp- employed an
average Of about - men ard IL located
one quarter of mile distant i,um the
,omptny's next nearest mines For the