Waterbury evening Democrat. [volume] (Waterbury, Conn.) 1887-1895, 1890-05-17

Their Mangled Bodies Taken
from the Ashley Mine.
THE SCENE WAS HEARTRENDrNC
Terrible Sights Witnessed BY tho Her
Who Pound the Bodies.

Boss Aliens Lamp Caused the Explosion. |
Inspector Williams':Bold Attsmpt At
Resous-The Bodfss Conveyed to the
dorgue and Prepared fer Burlal-In-
tense Excitement Over the Calamity.
WnKEsBARRE, Pa, May 1.-THE ter
rfble disaster at the Jersey colliery at
Ashley is fully as awful as the frat re-
ports stated.
rescue the Imprisoned miners, and
through the debris on the slope and
were confronted by a steep fall. A long
rope was passed into the slope and
sturdy miner, Peter Murphy, was low
cred into the chamber. Anothy Frame
was the first rescued. Before reaching
tho outside Franc fsebly called for q
priest, and in the darkness Of the slope,
surrounded by the flicksring light
of tho miners lamps, Father Hogan ad.
ministered tho last acr%msnt.
Fire Boss Allen Taken Out.
About an hour or moro after Frame
was rescued q wild shout came from
pressed eagerly forward. The limp
form of John Allen, FIRE boss, was borne
out. He was badly burned and uncon-
scious, and died soon afterwards. Soon
after Robert Roberts was found at the
foot of tho plane badly burned.
Cause Of the Explosion.
It is now said that Fire Boss Allen
| caused the explosion. A slight cave
had stopped the air current. Allen ap-
| peared with naked light. The minors
who were cleaning the debris s1postu-
plosion occurred. Allen, Franc and
Roberts had started out and called tho
others to follow. TIE three got over
Eve hundred feet away before tho
| explosion came. They lay down fat on
their faces to escape after damp. The
cave-in occurred in 'front.' blocked the
way, and their companions were sepa-
accounts for the finding of these three
first.
| A Chamber Of Horrors.
Inspector Williams, accompanied by
A. Beduigo Rees, of Nanticoke. now
determined to make bold attempt to
penetrate the workings and rescue tho
other men. Gas aboundsd despite the
strong air current drawing through
the gangway, and their safety lamps
of fearful danger. They persisted In
their attempts, however, and followed
the gangway 800 feet Waiting but a
moment for the air to clear they ad-
vanced down a steep incline of nearly
go degrees 300 feet further, when the
gas became 50 plentiful that they
again paused. Finally, advancing 500
came to a large chamber, which proved
. veritable chamber of horrors. By the
faint glow of their safety lamps tho
two men discovered on every side of
them corpses, blackened, burned and
mangled. The mine inspector, STOPPING
with his lamp, examined and counted
the bodies, 10 in all.
A Wall of Sorrow.
When the 10 charred and mangled
bodies were brought up a melancholy
wall of sorrow went up. Men, hardy
honest faces, tried to soothe the hysteri-
cal women who had been made widows
by the horror, and tho little children
who had been rendered fatherless,
but 1t was a sorrowful task. The
bodies were conveyed in ambulances to
undertaking rooms and prepared for
| burial.
The excitement waa intense, and the
streets in the vicinity of the morgue
were completely blocked with people,
| many of whom came from other towna.
The scenes have never been equalled
in the pitiful speotacles presented
since the great Avondale disaster many
| years ago, wnen over 1UO miners were
burned to death. A guard of special
policemen was found necessary to keep
the pressing crowd away from the
morgue.
II A Terrible Sight.
Hero lay man with his head missing;
there boy stripped of every shred Of
clothing and covered with wounds; an
other lay near by with one arm and one
foot blown of. Dead bodies of mules
lay crushed to jelly by mine oars,
which were scattered about in splint-
, ers. Pausing but long enough to a.
certain the number of the dead, the
two men hurried back to the open air
; and summoned help. Stretchers and
sheets were brought, sopes provided
and a rude sled built to draw the
corpses up the steep incline. Soon the
work Of removing the dead bodies was
under way, and terrible soenes were
Witnessed a. they were brought to til q
surface.
Now that SO many of the bodies have
/. been reached and taken out it is learned
that no less than 81 men and boys lost
their lives in this awful disaster and
it is possible that ono or two others,
Hollanders or Hungarians. who have
not yet been missed.