The Indianapolis journal., 1890-06-17

could pass In the hope of even seeing
score of men dead beyond. They finally
came upon two bodies. and they were
brought to the opening of the mine. When
and Hays. the elder. were drawn into
daylight. moan went up from few of the
hundreds about the pit, but their anguish
was nothing to the silent watch kept by
the wives. children and sweetheartS of
the thirty more still in the mine The vol; 3I;
late tonight with no result but the two
dead above named. and each trip but
oronght q deeper despair, and showed there
was no hope, and nc. one alive below. One
man Kelly, who had entered several times.
hnally from sheer exhaustion fell into an
open pit aud was drawn out fatally
injured. The sullen, lowering night
added rain to waste, and woe 10 an
anguish almost unbearable to the wives.
children, sisters and sweethearts of the
becaus< akpown. One could well enough
stand tbs wfif3pering of the children who
missed the fathers friendly pat. or the
desolate wall of the STRIPPING. but the
sullsn, stony glare of the dark-browed
men fac standing about and the drawn WI, White
mother, were too pitifui to comfort and too
At midni KIT tonight the smoke and gas
from the right shaft >poured up the main
exit. exit in an pnbroken volume, and. after
trials almost beyond human endurance, the
rescuing party gave mp all hope Of ever re-
covorinR their comrades dead bodies from
that. entrance. and turned their attention
TO the Ferguson mine. one and half mile
away. AT this hour they are striving to
and smoke balk their every effort. The
universal and unwilling verdict from the
old miners about the shaft tonight Is
that the entombed men have either
been killed outright by the explosion, or
be the more probable. az least in part. as
sounds were heard from the entombed
men aB late as l o'clock this afternoon.
These grew weaker and weaker. however.
and half an hour later even the most hope
81 the ws Sof hs saT
that had they known the shaft was to be
broken into they would never have en-
tered the mine, as either water or gas
.wonld surely have followed. since in these
regions % gas always comes from the upper
some of the men themselves, say it was an
accident pure and simple, that could neither
have been avoided or atoned for.
The mines are owned by the Dunbar
Furnace Company, and the owners are all
chsres % PARISH ina Of sU is prssi ms
dent and +. A. Hill. of Dunbar. is superin-
tendent. The latter has been here four
months and seemed perfectly conversant
with the mines. though the men say fire
damp has been more than plentiful in this
region lately. .Keaghley, the mine in
spector. had made a thorough tour of the
mine but two weeks ago. Some of the men
in certain portions invariably carried
safety lamps, but in other parts. as in the
case of young Hayes, the lamps were worn
uncovered. No definite reason or cause can
be given for the disaster until the coroner's
jury meets here, probably tomorrow.
The disaster is the worst ever known in
the Connellsville region. the nearest ap-
proach being the Leisenring explosion,
seven years ago, when twenty-three were
killed. The rescuers are still at work, and
will continue throughout the night A
large crowd still surrounds the mouth of
the pit. but all hopes of reaching the en-
tombed men before morning have been
abandoned. The damage to the mine can
not now be estimated. but the owners fear
the slope is lost. The Farm Hill mine was
one of the most valuable in this section Of
the region. If the fears of the furnace peo-
pie are realized, the loss will reach far into
the thousands.