The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1891-01-29
WEEPING BY THE PIT.
The Mammoth Colliery Explo-
sion Killed Isl Men.
GREAT SCARCITY OF coFFlNs.
sirty-Three OF the Dead Laid Side by
side in One Grave-The Whole
Coke Region DemoraIized.

p,rrsBuRG, Jan. 2s.-H. c. Prick, owner
~ the Mammoth mine, the scene of YES
tsrday's terrible explosion, says there were
i ali 100 men working in the mine at the
time OF the accident, nine of whom escaped
x;th their lives, some of them badly in
;ured. The rest or 15f men. were either
tilled outright or suffocated by fire damp.
ScorTpALE, Pa, Jan. 28.-AI the Con-
neasville coke region stood today, with
bowed form and reverent head. while
sixty-three dead miners, taken from the
Mammoth shaft. were shrouded, coffined
and laid to rest for their long sleep.
The remains and the mourners were car
red to ST. John the Baptist's cemetery,
II scottdale. on a special train. Along
The road hundreds of citizens turned out,
md wherever the train halted great crowds
rathered. Over 5000 persons were pres
ent as the bodies were placed side by side
IN common grave. The coaches behind
the baggage car with the corpses were
crowded with sobbing women and sad
faced men The scenes at the cemetery
we're affecting. Not until the bodies were
being placed in the grave did the women
and children seem to realize the full extent
oftheir bereavement, and then q pitiful
chorus of cries and means were heard.
4 All day long the work of recovering the
I bodies from the pit went on, and the work
Enot yet concluded.
An appeal for aid has been issued
throughout the coke regions, and L. V.
\ Powderly has been asked to issue a SINH
4 lar call, for the benefit of the families. The
! remarkable fact that not one man escaped
cannot be explained. even by old miners.
The entire coke region is in a state of
generalization.
YousGwoop, Pa. Jan. 2s.-One hundred
and ten bodies had been taken from the
iLfated Mammoth mine of Frick d Co. up
10 o'clock this afternoon. Nobody slept
\ at Mammoth last night. In every home
in the little mining hamlet was mourning.
In the little one-story houses, scantily
furnished and illuminated with tallow
* candles mother, wife, sister or sweetheart
!. sobbed in silence.
After the explosion of yesterday the
news of the awful fate of the scores of
IN miners at work III the shaft, spread rapidly
u among the mines and the miners homes.
fonriers carried the dreadful tidings
hiiher and thither. Families were dashed
/ from the comforts of home into the depths
I Of grief and despair. The scenes at these
miners cottages can readily be imagined
In very short time the entrances to the
shat swarfned with eager, anxious men,
women and children, some of whom only
with great difficulty could be kept at
safe distance. As the bodies of the
~ victims, mangIed by the terrible
Il explosion or burned almost out of human
rmblance. were brought up from the
III yaEning depths, the crowd of watchers
pushed forward TO the pits mouth for
glimpse of recognition. The hearts of
wives and mothers stood still in fear of
j finding iayad ones arnapu ha daa1 Taara
coursed down bronzed and bearded cheeks
and we're dashed away by brawny hands
that had swung the pick for many years.
The rescuing party proceeded with their
grim task, aud the crowd of watchers
fInt silently looked on. Fifty cofi1ns arrived
W fIom Pittsburg this morning, and another
- hall hundred will reach here tonight. An
additional order for twenty-five more was
sent this morning
The cause of the explosion has not yet
been determined. The coroner is on the
ground, and a thorough investigation will
be made.
roii-call of the men is III progress, and
hgthls action the number of the missing
vii be known. The rescuing party is
working with energy, and the wreck in
'ae shaft is being fast cleared up. Officials
lhe frick company said this morning:
hmay never be known how or why the explo-
heh occurred. An accumulation of fredamp
We PROBABLY the cause, but il was never known
exist IN any quantity before. In TACT, il may
aa mat the Mammoth mine had been free
n nun hfedamp. There is a theory that a pocket
vNM natural gas was reached and that the operation
.as Fenrlating fans now prevents any ae-
smaiaton OF It, 1t is not necessarily true
= a. ~, esers one IN mine viii be killed when an
sAFsoslon occurs The explosive gas may stay
As alt particular section and may not permeate
Nv enufe mine unless the volume Is so great as
1a@aoice II to every part OF the pit In this case
sas was confined 20 one portion and the
n(IR .eS who were in other localities escaped.
never, except at Nanaimo, in the his
's Oh American coal mines. has there
- such an unexpected incident with
10THa complete humiliation within its
~ aeh. The Mammoth mine has been no
sale always as being particularly free
en gas Hundreds of safety gauze lamps
- provided for the miners by the COM
tsay but they were never used as they
regarded as unnecessary. In their
4 Tue men were familiar with the little
10 ga name lamps in their hats The boss
Lsnn@ sae night shift TO work, and found
III IN sang to arouse his suspicious.
N Aammoth coke works is at the northeast
epfnef Of the Connellsvile region, which
ssls 10Y about fifty miles from northeast 10
s"sss 'hfough southwestern Pennsylvania,
- Hom one To three miles wide The Mann
- aoFks were built about five years ago by
4.Aoofe q Co, one Of the few large firms in
gson which refused To join the coal syndi-
- MI Moore was recently murdered in
L. Quarrel at Greensburg by his son, A
" TWO ago he sold the works to the II. c.
~eoAe Company. which has been buying up
- OF It's competitors. Andrew Carnegie
arsest stot kholder in the Frick Company.
u Aammo'h plant is one Of the largest in the
va ana employs 500 to COO men.
L. Other Fatal Explosions.
\0yky ts'oN, Tex, Jan. 2s.-The boiler of
III Henry's Sawmill exploded today
vii Henry aud Dan Tuoke, and
V soundins John Austin, a colored
asAso, Jan. 9S.-An explosion of am
s~aa N The Western Refrigerator Com
~ warehouse on kinZic street at a
4.sSsaf tonight started a IRE which did
aanage to buildings and contents.
- hawley On employee, was badly
~, and Edward Hendricks. and