The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1890-06-25
IN a oRAvr AND ALIVE.
rHa SEX INrasosKo u tue BUEntE ool-
IErY HEARD FROM.

An explosion Of fire damp occurred IN the
Hill Farm Mine at Dunbar last Mondsy
morning. There were dityiNo men in tie
mine at the time and ihirtyIvo are iaissinr.
The explosion was caused by The naked
lamp of a miner w 30 went 10 warn his COM
rades OF their danger from = ilow Of water
in the mine.
The village Of Dunbar, near which ;his
terrible mining disaster occurred, is located
in Fayetie county All hope of rescuing
the imprisoned miners alive was abandoned
Efforts were made TO enter the burning slope
through the Mahoney and the Ferguso'i
mines. II was found impossible TO get near
the men through the former, owing TO The
formation Of the slope aud in the Ferguson
Dit the air was 50 bad that it was impossible
to travel any distance Under these condi-
tions the most sanguine ofthe workers yie d
ell. and it was then determined to cut off
the fresh air and let the mine burn itselfopt.
that The bodies of the men might be recov-
cred
They are telling sad stories about the mi
and one Of the most touching is that OF u
man named Kelly and an old man named
HAYS. The latter, it seems had safely car
ried Kelley from the pits in Lancashire.
England, three successive times, and Hays
showed terrible scars to show the fight he
had with fire for the sake Of his friend.
When Hays rushed into the mine after the
explosion on Monday to iind his son, whose
unguarded lamp had sc; the damp on fire
he fell dead within a stones throw of BIS
boys body Then there came crawling in
after him gusnt biackemd sp' ctrc VI
gathered his scorchod form tendcrly in his
arms and Kelley carried all that was mortal
Of his three times savior to the air and fell
burned and blind.
On Thursday afternoon the rezcuing pa7ty
in the Dunbar mine heard the picks Ui tie
entombed miners. plainly signifying That At
least that some OF them are alive. There
remained seyenty-fye feet of ground TO be
dug through before they could be reached,
which, it was expected would be accom-
plished soon.
OF the hundreds who have gone through
all phases of hope and despair, there is one
whose steadfast faith has been more than
encouraging. even when the affair looked
! blackest. David Davis, an old Welch mi
| ner. was at one time entombed nine days in
mine in Cornwall and his wife never gave
up. She remembers that day, and should
| David Davis ever emerge from the mines
! here, he will find a woman calmly awaiting
at the door to welcome him. She patiently
repeats to all visitors that DAvy will come
and no amount Of reasoning or argument
will make her believe that her husband is
not alive aud hoping for his final return to
her as placidly as she awaits his coming.
DUNBAR, Pa, June 2l.-Wearily the
| friends of the imprisoned miners are wait
log for the moment when the Hill Farm
Mine will be entered and the Imprisoned
miners rescued or their bodies found. All
hope of finding them alive is slowly fading
away. 1t is now more than five days and
nights since those in the mine have seen the
light of day or tasted palatable food. and
should they have any favorable conditions
they could not possibly survive much longer.
Harry Hazard, a member of the firm,
sent word TO Samuel B. Dickson, of Phila-
delphia, tonight that such slow progress
had been made to-day that there was but lit
tie hope of getting the men out alive.
THOUSANDS WAIT IN THE RAIN.
Hundreds of the friends of the imprison-
ed miners are standing about the pit mouth
waiting for the latest report from the face.
A heavy rain is falling at intervals making
the work for the men on the surface very
disagreeable. There is no protection and
everybody is drenched. Every train brings
crowds Of curious people to the little village.
Tomorrow will see larger crowds There
are no hotel accommodations. and many
will spend the night in the open air.
The air is filed with rimors. IL was re-
ported at one time to-day that there had
been an explosion in the Mahoning mines.
Before the baseless rumor could be contra
dicted many people had started for the mines
women rushing bareheaded and screaming
over the hill.
STILL SADLY PRoBLEMATICAL.
The workmen in the MahOning pit al this
hour are as doubtful with regard to the dis
tance between the rescuing party and the
entombed miners as they have been at any
stage of the proceedings. The rescuers may
break into some of the chambers of the Hill
Farm mine within the next u hours, as they
have gone thirty feet in the last six hours.
There is at least a fInt hope in the ulti-
mate safety of portion of the prisoners.
But there are six of whose rescue nobody
now entertains the slightest expectation.
Their names are William Hayes, Jos Bigley,
William Turney, Barney Morris, Peter Egan
and Joseph McCune. These poor fellows
were working in a chamber OF the side of
the mine opposite that occupied by the
other "a They are in such position that
they must come through wall of fire to
reach the man-wsy and it would be utterly
useless TO make any attempt to reach them.
The probability is that they have long before
been suffocated.
The only thing which can be done with
safety by the imprisoned living miners is to
kill the three mules, subsist as well as posi-
BILE so such diet and sleep, in order to save
strength and have The patience TO wait.
They are known TO have water. and If they
have not been overcome by afterdamp,
which is the greatest peril that menaces
them, may be safe.
Four distinct signals Of the engineers bell
were heard at the mouth of the Hill Farm
mine this morning. 1t is probable that fall
ing slate caused the signals but there is 4
possibility the miners are still aliveand used
this means as signal.
Mr.. Woman said this evening Il have
Just come from the mine, and we have
struck the solid coal. think we may reach
results tomorrow morning, but am not
certain. You can rest assured that we feel
better now since we know absolutely where
we are.
The July number of oir Litie Nea md
Women reaches our table, as usual The lit
tie stories and verses are attractive and
charmingly illustrated. The child who
is so fortunate as to have this magazine is
| filed With nav daligbf aS aacb nr.phor