Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1888-11-15
CALAMITY.
Awful Mine Explosion Near Pitts
burgh, Kan.-Over One Hun
bred
Coal Miners Thought to Be Dead and
Entombed- Miners Pass Over Dead
Bodies i'm Escaping.

Observation-Disclosures Pass over Dead
Bodies in Escaping.
Women and Children Plead Piteously For
Rssouers- Black Damp Supposed to Be
the Cause.
PrTsBURGH, Kan, Nov. 1O.-At 6:15
O'Clock last evening an explosion awful in
the horror OF its results, occurred at the
Cherokee and Pittsburgh Company's coal
shaft No. 2 at Frontenac, three miles north
OF this city, and the report was distinctly
heard hero. The working level Of tho
shaft is sixty-f1ve feet below the surface
and at the time of the explosion 1914 men
were down In the awful traps of death.
A few minutes later one man escaped by
the air shaft and since then twenty -four
have reached the surface by the same
means.
There can be little doubt that the re-
mainder have persisted, as the main en-.
trance to the shaft is piled full of debris
and dead mules, and those escaping re.
port crawling over dead men at every step
in the depths below. At least two thou
sand excited mon, women and children are
gathered round the mouth Of the shaft and
the cries of those whose husbands or
fathers are known to be below are heart
rending. Men are driven to desperation
by pitiful appeals from weeping women
and girls to get s'the boys out before they
all die"
Entrance to the mine is being achieved
as fast as within human power, but the
main entrance is absolutely blocked and
| imminent danger attends every attempt
by the air shaft. Among the anxious
crowds at the mouth Of the shaft are
lol
| many from Girard, Litchfield and other
places in the county. Snow and rain have
been falling since the accident and the
shivering crowd of addressed women
| pleading for some one to give them tidings
| of loved ones it pitiful.
The cause of the explosion can not be
now determined. A blast had Just been
| put in and q good deal of powder is known
| to have been in the mine, but whether this
| or flame from the lamps ignited the gas
and did the deadly work no one yet knows.
Ne such horror has ever shocked the peo-
| pie of Southern Kansas and q thorough
! explanation of it will be demanded. At
least 1877 men are now lying dead in the
| fatal shaft.
ANOTHER ACCOUNT.
ST. LOUIS, Nov. 1O.-A special from
Pittsburgh, Kan, to the Republic gives the
| following account of the coal mine explo-
sion there last evening: A terrible explo-
| sion that broke windows in this little VIII
lage and spread CONSERVATION among its
| inhabitants occurred at dusk tonight.
| The violence of the shock was so great as
| to hurl dishes from shelves and demolish
chimneys. Half an hour after the 'ex-
plosion the villagers, who were pre-
| pairing to go to the mines, were
startled by a ragged, bleeding man
who almost staggered into the arms
| of the searchers. He said that No. shaft
| at Frontenac. mining suburb of this
village, had been destroyed by an ex-
plosion and that all tho men in the mine
at tho time, except himself and Dane,
| whom he left bleeding at the mouth of the
pit, were undoubtedly dead. Horses were
minutes the villagers were hurrying
through a 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 hosting apparatus were
| shivered 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 q few hours
| and Is now at his home. He can not speak
and does not know what caused the explo-
sion. 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 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 Law
| with his cOmrade 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 112 feet below the surface, it
| is believed that no one survived the shock,
as the explosion must have destroyed
| every thing in the pit.
! Big fires were built near the mouth of
| the pit and beside these blazing piles the
their children, while they themselves tried
| by all means 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
O'Clock, but the plucky rescuers again
| were forced to abandon their work. They
could hear no sound from the chambers
| below, and this leads old miners to be-
| lieve 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 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
| supposed to have caused the explosion.