The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1890-07-05
HEROIC SEARCHERS.
DEATH FACED IN THE FARM HILL
MINE AT DUNBAR.
The Final Effort to Rescue the
Imprisoned Men Made with
Great Peril.
Dinner Pals and Tools Of the Missing
Men Discovered in
Chamber
4 Perilous Journey Over Fallen Rock and
Slate - Compelled by Foul Air to
Turn Back-Aid for the Living
Much Needed.

IIlIWF
being made to smother the flames, 1t Is
thought there is only one way in which
the property viii be OF any use again, thaG
is to shut up the burning portion IN walls
of brick BY cOniining it in this manner
part of the vein which has never been
reached viii be within reach.
The corOner'S inquest over the boaIes OF
the two men brought out Of the slope will
begin Monday. it will be one of the most
important ever held in this district 1t
will be the aim of the coroner to try and
test the entire work from the first.
What is most needed here now is relief
for the twenty-one widows and seventy
seven orphans of the victims of the eXplO-
sion. Money is needed badly, as there is
much suffering.
1t was a heroic exploration which was
made Tuesday by three brave men. 1t
was the first and probably the last search
for the lost miners. The party Of rescuers
descended into the MahOning mine about
3p. m. About half an hour before going
the inspectors held meeting and dis
cussed the wisdom of going into the mine
at all There were some who thought the
task was not only vain one but danger
GUS TO the explorers. 1t was decided,
however, to make one more effort
discover the mystery Of those I'M
derground chambers There were
sixteen men in the party which went
down. Inspector Keighly led the way and
six of the men crowded through the long
and cramDed hole leading from one mine
to the other. This cut is 6l5 feet long and
Is itself place of great danger. It is for a
large part of the way cut through loose
earth and is CaYing in slowly although
timbered up. Three of the party went only
few yards into the mine. The other three
men left them and pierced 100 feet further
into the darkness. These were Inspector
Keighly, Secretary Watchorn and In
'l,orv -1al I har,,
three clothes lines, which they tied one to
the other, making length of $50 feet.
They had also a bottle of CamphOr and
cloths, which they saturated and placed
over their nostrils. 1t was terri
bic journey.
The chamber into which they entered is
an old one. 1t has not been used for three
years. In many places the roof had fallen
in and over these falls the men had to
crawl. In one place the fall had extended
twenty feet into the roof, and they had to
climb up one side and down the other,
which was angle of about forty degrees
The opening in some places was only two
feet high. Through such places they worked
their way crawling one behind the other
The smoke had all been driven to the
south and the air was pure. Each man
carried safety lamp. In some places the
rooms Were found to be flooded TO a depth
of three feet. Through this the brave fel-
of holes through the floor. AT last the
rope came to an end. They had gone $50
feet and found nothing.
What shall we do now?" Inspector
Doran asked.
Let US go ahead" responded Mr.
heighly. and ahead they went.
The clothes-line was tied to post and
the explorers plunged into hidden places
from ont of which they had no idea wheth
er or not they would ever come. They cut
In through a cross to the heading furthest
90 the right and there, in a few minutes,
they came to the short side room where
some of the men bad been working when
the fire occurred two weeks before. The
inspectors can not themselves describe their
feelings as they came upon two dinner
pals One tin bucket was closed. When
the lid was lifted the food was
found inside undisturbed Beside
the bucket was a blue Jean blouse
The other bucket was about
three feet away, sitting right on the floor
of the mine. The lid was off and laid TO
one side. The coffee cup had been lifted
out and set beside the bucket. The nap
kin had been removed just about two feet
from the bucket, and between 1t and a
blouse was piece of bread with one bite
taken out of it. At the time of the dis
covery the searchers did not know who the
owners of these two buckets were. When
they came out the pals were recognized as
belonging TO John Mitchell and Patrick
Devlin There had been other men work
ing there. Half dozen picks lay in the
rooms, but no more buckets We're 1Ound.
MIR, Watchon says that Devlin and
Mitchell were evidently Just beginning to
eat dinner when some other miner ran INTO
the room and told them the mine was afire. |
They dropped everything and ran Tor the
main slope. Some of the men evidently
seized their dinner buckets and carried |
la
buckets was in good condition.
The SeaCherS entered nine chambers be
fore they were compelled to yield. About /
800 feet beyond the place wheee they found /
the buchets they came upon a dead /
mule hitched to coal cart As |
smelled nothing offensive. The |
mir was drawing away from them |
They stopped and looked a moment at the |
animal. 1t had been Sutfocated 1t was /
swollen and bUrSted. Then they passed it, |
and as they did so they started to run. |
The smell was horrible. They Clapped |
their camphor clothes over their noses and |
hurried on. This smell was almost the |
death of them. They were so anxious to |
escape from il that they rushed into dan |
ger. Ii was not until their lamps grew SO |
faint that they gave no light that one of |
the party. Mr. NatChorn, awoke To /
the TACT that he was IN danger He /
stopped and called ,ut: Boys, we have /
gone too far. Then all stopped. The lamps |
were almost out. There was not enough |
oxygen in the atmosphere To make a !
healthy blaze. The moment they discov-
Hred they were in bad air they began to
leel it physically. keighly jerked a row of /
chalk from his pocket and marked on the
timber wall, then all turned and hurried |
hack. The heat at this point was intense.
although no fire could be seen. 1t was a
difficult journey back. Half an hour was
lost by Mr.. WatchoTn going stray.
Finally, at $50 o'clock the three
tired men crawled into the Mahoning
mine and made their report. Then a
meeting was held in the manway which
must have been a solemn affair Five
men who were above were telephoned for
and went down. There were now twenty
men in the party. Robern Watchorn was
elected chairman of the meeting They
made their report. They had gone said
Inspector keighley, about 500 feet into
the Hill Farm mine and had made their
way within about thirty feet OF
the main slope Further than
this they could not go Mr
keighly gave it as his opinion that nobody
could 90 any further until the fire was out
A motion that search be suspended
while the mine WAS ahre was then adopted
with but one dissenting vote. Peter Wise
was the only man in the party who argued
against the notion Thus the thing i
ended. How long will the mine burn, :
There is one in Wales which has been atire
for forty years. The Beeson mine, near
Uniontown, has been burning thirty
years.
There Is great sadness here over the de
cision. The citizens believe, however that
the inspectors have done the right thing.