Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1890-04-23
PLAYED WITHFIRE.
Reckless Hardness in Giving a
Fire Alarm.
NEARLY FORTY MEN SACRIFICED,

thirty of Whom Are Buried in 4 Fiery
sepuiehre-Ihree Explosions In Sue
eession Terrible Scene at the Pit
Aouth-News from the Flooded Dis
tricts-Bayou sara Calls for Help-Des-
titution and Death Acknowledgements
Accident at a Bull Fight
CHEYEssE, Wy. T., April &S-Thirty
men ara imprisoned in the Rock Springs
coal mine. No 4, which is on fire AMI il is
almost certain that all are dead The mine,
which IS the largest in the far west, was dis
covered % be on fire at O'Clock y=st ariey
morning The flames were kept under con-
troll for time, but about the fire COM
uenced TO spread rapidly. and the men were
ordered 70 the surface They had b7sn
nervous for some time, and mutiny was
threatened an hour before the general alarm
was sounded They made a mai rusa for
the surface
The Warning Too Long Delayed.
The leaders, whose palIid features height
enei the effect Of the dust gathered on their
faces, were Just issuing from the shafts
mouth, when a fearful explosion, heard for
miles around. made the earth CULVER and
was followed by a volume Of smoke which
rushed out Of the shaft. The terrible fear
that hundreds of the men still below the
surface had met death pressed upon all and
reused the 5000 people in the camp, who
swarmei 70 the entrance of the mine. The
| agonizing oriss Of frightened women ami
children added 70 the terror
Reseuers Brayely Face Death.
There were calls for volunteers for a res
| cuing party, and 3 score Of brave men re-
sponded- Their diseppsarance was the sig
nal for another explosion, louder and more
forceful than the first Seven Of the search
, ers were injured, one past recovery. The
| camp seemed panic-stricken, but the appeals
| and demands OF the women for help to save
| their husbands and sons reused the men to
| action A dozen men descended this time
| and returned in few minutes with SIX in
| sensible Cinnamon, and said that ten Others
| OF the race had been seen lying PROSTATE.
Two of the rescued Cinnamon died in a few
| minutes Three explosions followed 10 rapi |
succession, each seeming more terrible than
| the preceding one
Further suecor Impossible.
| Smoke issued in full volume from ali the
entrances, and any further attempts to save
| the men imprisoned below was abandoned
| There are still at least thirty men in the
mine, mostly Chinese That these ara al
most certainly dead there is little doubt, but
even were they living their fate Is sealed
for there Is no possibility of another descent
| being made until the fire is under control
| OF the men injured three have already eX
pired, and it l. thought that four more can
not survive. All the entrances have beer
closed, and every effort Is being made Il
keep the fire within certain bounds, but i
cannot be sutiuei within three months.
The mine has an underground area Of nin'
miles, capacity OF 500 cars day, and th.
prestige OF producing the best fuel mined il
| the west. 1t is the property Of the UniOr
Pacific railway and valued at g. OF, 60.
Among the fifteen who were badly injurel
by the explosion or in the work of r sou.
are: DAVID Thomas and Ell Evans foremer
of tho other mines; Frank Hodges AMI Alex
| Diatt. the former q boss AMI the latter
| miner