The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1890-06-18
ALL STILL In THE MINE.
THE EFFORTS TO REACH THE
DEAD END IN FAILURE.

A Heavy Cloud OF Smoke Still Pour
ing from the Shaft-Adjacsnt Pits
Closed Against the Rescuers by the
Smoke-Every Man Undoubtedly
Dead Now.
DUNBAR, PA, June 17.-All night long
rescuing parties remained at the mouth of
the manhole at the Farm Hill mine, but
their efforts were fruitless. and when day
light broke upon them they were no nearer
the unfortunate men entombed in the burn
i1g mine. At O'Clock last evening all
hope of rescuing the imprisoned miners
alive was abandoned.
Efforts were made to enter the burning
slope through the Mahoney and Ferguson
mines. 1t was found impossible to get near
the men through the former, owing to the
formation Of the slope; and in the Fergu-
son pit the air was so bad that it was i'm
possible to travel any distance. Under the
conditions the most Sanguine of the workers
yielded, and it was determined to cut off all
fresh air and let the mine burn itself out,
SO that the bodies of the men might be re-
covered.
CLOSING IN THE OPENING.
At the first drift solid wall of brick,
we'll plastered, was built across the opening.
The material was wheeled down the en-
ha
the air fan was set at work supplying fresh
air to the rescuers. The Associated Press
correspondent was enabled to reach the
point where the men were working. Traces
of fire-damp still remained in the air, and
its effects were felt in aching Of the head and
partial loss of speech. There was little to
be seen. The men were working like
beavers to finish the wall. The only light
was obtained from "Davy" lamps. There
was no wasting of breath in idle talk All
the strength of the men was needed in
building barriers through the interstices Of
the wall. Far of to the left could be seen
a heavy cloud of smoke, occasionally
pierced by flames.
WHERE THE BODIES LIE.
Back Of this wall of fire lay the bodies
of the workers relatives and companions
At 10 o'clock this morning there was very
little change at the mine, except that the
fire was tlercer, the smoke blaoker, and the
despair of the survivors deeper than ever
before. The fight for the dead was kept up
by the men all night, but the early gray Of
morning only found the rescuinR party
driven farther back from the death
chambers. and they could not penetrate
within 100 feet Of the place they had reached
last night. Early this morning Martin
Markey, pit boss of the Anchor mines, made
a daring attempt to reach the right drift
ings of the Hill Farm mines from the Maho-
ney entrance, one and half miles across
the hills. He crawled over the drifts and
fallen slate to within 100 yards of the fatal
chambers and sounded again and again, but
listened for q response in vain. The men
were either smothered or were fighting
fire that was now steadily encroaching on
their narrow territory, and Markey, cut
and bruised, abandoned the hopeless quest
of seeking an answer from the 100 yards of
solid dIlinb slate
A PITIABLE SIGHT.
The sight about the pits mouth is al the
more pitiable because of the twenty-four
hours OF anguish that have rolled over the
heads of the relatives and friends of the
entombed miners, and hundreds stand stead
lily at the mouth gazing wretchedly at
the black columns of smoke that seem to
grow thicker every hour, Indicating that
that the coal is now burning instead Of the
timber and roofing. Cries for volunteers to
relieve the workers were constant, and re-
sponses came before the sentence had been
finished, for there were no idlers.
SAD STORIES
They are telling sad stories about the
mine to-day, and one of the most touching
is that of man named Kelly and an old
man named Hayes. The latter, it seems,
had safely carried Kelly from the pits In
Lancashire, England, three successive
times, and Hayes bore terrible
scars to show the fight he
had with fire for the sake Of his friend.
When Hayes rushed into the mine after
the explosion yesterday, to find his son,
whose unguarded lamp had set the damp
on fire, he fell dead within a stones throw
Of his boys body. Then there came crawl
ing in after him gaunt, blackened specter,
who gathered the lifeless form tenderly in
his arms, and Kelley carried all that was
mortal of his three times savior to the open
air and fell, burned and blind.
The mine is in entire charge of Mine In
spector Keoghly, who is making strenuous
efforts to enter from the Mahoney drifts.
His men tell the women and children that
their people may be alive in the distant
chamber; but they scarcely hope, and GER
tainly do not believe it themselves.
Coroner Holbrook was there this morn
ing and viewed tho two dead bodies. but
refused to hold an inquest or render a ver-
dict until the other bodies are recovered,
and no one seems to be able to guess when
that will be.
THE BLAME FOR THE ACCIDENT.
There seem to be many views as to the
cause of the fire and the proper place, if
any, for placing the blame. Coroner Hol-
brook has appointed three miners and two
citizens on the jury. He placed the miners
there because they were the greatest suffer-
ers and because they wanted q show If a
remedy could be applied. The mine is SO
located that flooding the fire is impossible,
and smothering it means certain death to
the men below, provided any are living
Nearly all the mines in this region are
closed down, and men, money and provis-
ions are pouring in on every train. The
rescuing party at the Ferguson mines
reports the chambers of that drift
rapidly filling with smoke. This delays if
it does not entirely cut off all hope of
reaching the imprisoned men from that
side. Some slight hope was raised at noon
by the return of one of the rescuing party,
who reported that far down the slope he
heard mule braying as IL in great distress
This leads to the belief that men may yet
be living.
Great crowds are arriving on every train
and aocklng to the scene of the disaster.
FEELING OF APATHY.
DUNBAR, Pa, June IS, A. MA feeling
of apathy has settled over the people at the
mouth of the burning pit that viii not be
lifted until it is known to certainty
whether the thirty-two entombed men are
either living or dead. At 2 o'clock
yesterday afternoon the Hill Farm
pit showed but a faint wreath of
smoke, as If the fire within was
burning feebly. From that time. however,
the smoke grew gradually thicker and
heavier, until tonight it is coming from the
mouth in torrent ten times blacker than
yesterday. The reason given for this is