The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1891-01-29
MAMMOTH MINE DISASTER
Out of 100 Men in the Inflated Pit 0
Nine Came to the Surface Alive.
One Hundred and Fifty-One We're Either Killed
or Smothered by After Damp-Cause Of
the Explosion Still q Mystery.
Special to the Indianapolis Journal


P~ITTsBURG. Jan. 2S-Mr. III. 9. Frick,
owner Of the Mammoth mine No. l, the
scene of yesterdays terrible explosion. has
been in almost constant communication
with his representatives at the pit since
yesterday afternoon. Mr.. Prick said this
morning that he had private information to
the effect that up to an early hour this
morning 103 bodies had been removed from
the shaft. Mr.. Frick says that there were
in all 160 men working in the mine at the
time of the accident. nine of whom escaped
with their lives. Some of them were bad
ly injured, the rest, or Isl men, were
either killed outright or suffocated
by the horrible after-damp. This
catastrophe, while involving more
than five times the loss of life occasi oned
by the Dunbar disaster, differs in many
respects from the latter. 1t was not true.
as stated last night, that the Mammoth
shaft was burning. At Dunbar the explo-
sion set fire to the mine, and the shaft for
days and weeks was o roaring furnace,
adding horrors to the great fatality. In
yesterdays occurrence this was not
the case, and by the perfect working Of
the fan pure air was forced into the
mine and the work of rescuing was per-
W OCklu az OuCOs ~ ul5pdlCu %
ceIved from Mammoth says that at 2
o'clock 10 bodies had been recovered, and
of this number fifty : three have been
Identified. Fifty collins arrived from
Plttsburg this morning and fifty
more reached here tonight. An additional
order for twenty-five more was sent this
morning. The victims will be buried by
the company. Many of the unfortunates
are Hungarians, and Will be sent to SCOTT
dale for interment.
Fire boss Snaith. whose body was so ter
rlbly mangled, had early yesterday MORN
ing filed the following report In the Office
of the company at the works:
This is to certify that we, the undersigned, have
this day. Jan. %, 1891. examined the working
places in Mammoth. and found the same to be In
a MT condition for men ard other workers em-
ployed therein.
This was signed by William Snaith, fire
boss; William Patterson, inspector of ma
chinery. and George Pfeffer. engineer.
The Mammoth mine was examined by In
epector Jenkins, of the Second district, on
Jan: 16. 1891. His report says: General
condition OF mine good. with sos cubic
Interviews were had this morning with
former owners of the Mammoth mines and
others, whose business interests and duties
require them TO keep posted on the cOndi-
ton OF every mine in the Connellsville
coke region. Their statements agree In
that there is absolutely no way to ac-
count for the accident. At no time
has the reever been a suspicion of gas in the
Mammoth mine, and this IN plant. as well
as at all others owned by the Frick COM
pany, no expense has been spared to make
their mines as safe as experience and
science can make them.
II TERRIBLE AFTER-DAMP.
An official of the Frick company said this
morning: 1T nay never be known how or
why the explosion occurred. The accumu-
lation of fire-damp was probably the cause,
but it was never known to exist in any
quantity before; in fact, it may be said that
the Mammoth mine has been free from
damp. There is a theory that a pocket of
natural gas was reached and that the Oper-
alton of the ventilarinR fans now prevents
any accumulation of it. The disaster has
some remarkable features. 1t was as dead
ly,. as sweeping and as complete as the
sinking OF a ship In mid ocean. Its history
Is TO be told by those who do not know ii,
| for there is no one of all those that worked
in the openings of that part of the mine
where the disaster occurred to describe it's
details"
1T comes to you like some whirlwind,
with blue tints of q RAINBOW, and when nc
bursts into flame 1t passes over your body
like q great log. God does not often let =
man live TO tell what has happened to him.
If 1T catches you upright you are like q leaf
In q tornado, and 1t rends the ribs of slate
in the openings like the ribs of o straw
rick" That is what q miner who has been
In the coal mines thirty-five years says of
the "after-damp," the "black DEATH of the
darkness and the silent. echoing passage
ways where men deive.
Never in the history CT American coal
mining has there been such an unexpected
accident, with such a complete annibila-
ton Of all within it's reach. The Mammoth
mine has been notable always as being par
mines in Great Britain aud this
country for thirty years. made his
usual careful inspection of all the rooms
and headings at the customary time-be-
tween 2 and 8 O'Clock in the morning. His
duty was to enter every place where men
worked, and to mark upon the wall of the
room or heading the sign of his approval
the figures of the day of the month. When
the miners went TO work on Tuesday morn
ing they looked for the indication of the
flre ooss's visit. and it was there, scratched
into the black-"27;" and so, on Jan. "a, 1891,
as on the DAYS that had gone before, there
was the familiar "all is WELL" As the best
Endorsement of his belief in the safety of the
mine: be remained for an hour longer than
usual With the men at work. Hls body
was found scattered in fragments for q
hundred feet. His home is now in the
public morgue. where scores of blackeDed
bodies are washed and made decent for the
less girl in the house across the hill-tops,
where friendly hands are mlnistering to
them.
But little remained to he done to-day but
bury the dead and clear np every vsstlge
of the recent explosion. At Scott
dale; Pa. this evening. sixty-two
dead miners were buried in the
Catholic Cemetery. Thirty more of
this religion will probably be buried to-
morrow In the same cemetery. Most all
the victims are of that faith. General
Manager Lynch took charge of the
bodies. which were buried during
a dr rem ram. in the Drsss nee
bodies were placed In two trenches
each two hundred feet long and six feet
deep. Each dead miner lay in a neat casket
furnished by the mine-owners. At this
writing Ito bodies have been recovered.
though the lower chambers of the mine are
being searched, as several men are still
reported missing. The truth, however.
is hard to learn, as many of the miners were
foreigners and comparatively unknown.
An appeal for aid has been issued through
out the coke regions, and L. v. Powderly
has been asked to issue a similar call for
the benefit of the distressed families.
Hamilton Alive In New South Wales.
- no IT,