The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1891-02-04
THE MAMMOTH HORROR.
DETAILS Or. TIE slime DISASTER
NEAR 2iiTS5URG.

l-ltSlE hIIHlGS "'Nfs'S'-
il. HournIns.-L Sad Picture.
IoUNGwooD, PA, Jan. 29.-One hun
dred and seven bodies have been taken
from the l-fated mine, No l, Of Frick s
CO. at Mammoth, up to 10 o'clock This
morning. 1t is estimated that there re-
main at least seventeen more victims OF
Yesterdays explosion still in the pit, but
it is thought they will DE taken out IN
few hours. No body slept at Mammoth
last night. in every home III the little
mining hamlet there was mourning, yet
there was no demonstration. The little
one-story house, scantilv furnished, were
Illuminated with talloN candles: mother,
wife. sister or sweetheart sobbed IN
silence. They only knew that myste-
rious accident had befallen them. They
cannot see the dead and they have little
care for the living. Their grief is deep
and keen.
After the explosion yesterday thencWs
Of the awful fate of scores Of miners at
work in the Shaft spread rapidly among
the mines and miners homes. Couriers
carried the dreadful news hlther and
thither. and families were dashed from
the comforts OF home into the depths OF
grief and despair. The scenes at these
miners cottages can readily be imagined
by those who have know grief IN ltS most
formidable forms, butno artists pen can
correctly picture 1T.
Within an incredibly short time the en-
trance to the shaft was sWarmed With an
eager and anxious crowd of men, women
and chirdren, some of whom could only
with great difficulty be kept at a safe dis
tance. As the bodies OF victims, man.
cled by the terrible force ofeXplosion or
burned almost out of human semblance,
were brought from the yawnlng deaths,
the crowd of watchers pushed forward to
the pit for a glimpse OF recognition, and
the hearts of wives and sisters stood still
! for fear their loved ones were among the
dead. The more disinterested ones quail
ed before the scene. Tears cOurSed down
the bronZed and beared cheeks and were
dashed away by brawny hands that had
swung the pick for many years. The res
cuinc party proceeded with their grim
task and the crowd of watchers silently
looked on. 1t was one of those scenes
which, once witnessed, remains forever
impressed upon the memory OF the spec
tatOr.
This catastrophe, while involving more
than five times the loss OF lite occaSloned
by the Dunbar disaster, differs Ia many
respects from the latter. At Dunbar the
explosion set fire to the mine and shaft,
for day and weeks the roaring furnace
adding horror to the great fatality. in
Yesterdays occurance this was not the
case. and by the work OF the fan pure
air was forced into the mine and the
work of rescuing was permitted to begin
at once. Fifty cotlins arrived from
Pittsburg this morning, and another half
hundred will reach here to night. An
additional order for twenty-five more
was sent for this morning. The cause
of the explosion has not yet been deter
mined. The coroner is on the ground
and a thorough investigation will be
made. No arrangements have yet been
made for the funerals. The victims will
be buried by the company. Many OF
the unfortunates are Hungarians, and
will be sent to Scotdale for lnterment.
The rescuing party is working with
heroic energy and the wreck in the shaft
is being fast cleared up. An official OF
the Frick Company said this morning:
1T may never be known how or why
the explosion occurred. The accumu-
lation Of tire-danlp was PROBABLY the
cause, but it was never known to exist
in any quantity before; in fact 1t may
be said that the Mammoth mine has
been free from damp. There is a theory
that pocket of natural gas was reach
ed and that the operation Of yentllatlng
fans now prevents any accumulation
of it. 1t is not necessary that every one
in the mine be killed when an explosion
occurs. The explosive may stay IN one
| particular section and may not perme-
ate the entire mine, unless the volume
is so great as to force it to every part OF
the pit. In this case the gas was contln-
| ed to one portion and the miners who
were in other localities escaped
Never in the history Of American coal
mining has there been such an uneXpect-
ed accident with such complete aunihlll-
alton of all within its reach. The man.
moth mine has been notable always as
being pasticularlv free from gas. Hun
dreds OF safety guage lamps were pro-
vided for the miners by the company,
but they were never used, as they were
regarded as unnecessary. In their stead
the men wore the familiar little open
flame lamps on their hats. those small
coffee pot shaped affairs of tin, which
are fastened above the forehead in The
headgear of the workmen.
The boss put the night shaft to work
and found nothing to arouse his suspl-
cion. Fire Boss Smith, a man who had
worked in mines in Great Britain and
this country for thirty years, made his
usual careful inspection of all the rooms
and heading at the customary time be-
tween and in the morning, and his
reports were on file indicating every
thing safe.
superintendent Keighley says no man
living knows the cause OF the accident,
and it will never be known for certainty.
He said that three hundred feet from
the bottom of the shaft the rescuers en-
countered fall of rock in the gangway
which was caused by the explosion.
Empty cars. completely wrecked, were
piled up against it. We cut our way
through and fell down into the dip
where tile men were working, and then
we were constantly falling over dead
bodies. Not so many were killed by
the explosion, but the dreaded after
damp came on the poor fellows and they
succumbed to it. This is evident from
the fact that only small proportion OF
the dead taken out were bruised in any
way.
sevore Weather in the West.
CHICAGO. Jan. 2S-A heavy fog
op ,.l,n r this ritv and fine adjacent cOun-