Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-01-28
S0RROVFUL SCENES AT THE SHAFT.
A Miners Experience With the
Fire Damp.
FATAL FEELING OF SECURITY
THE MAMMOTH NINE VICTIMS.
Over . Hundred Bodies Had Been Tnker
Out This Morning.

suo reAuains VI ~ least seventeen more Nlcums
Of yesterdays explosion are still in the pit, but
it is thought that all will be out in few hours
Nobody slept at Mammoth last night: in every
home in the little mining hamlet there was
mourning, yet there was no demonstration.
The little one-story houses scantily furnished.
were illuminated with tallow candle. A
mother, wife, sister or sweetheart sobbed in
accident has befallen them. They cannot see
the dead. They have little care for the living
Their grief is deep and keen.
SPREADING THE NEWS
After the explosion yesterday the news Of the
awful fate of the scores of miners at work in the
shaft spread rapidly among the mines and the
miners homes. Couriers carried the news
hither and thither ana 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 known grief in its more formidable forms,
but no artist pen can correctly picture il.
Within an incredibly short time the entrance
to the shaft swarmed with an eager, anxious
crowd of men, women and children. some of
whom could only with great diffculty be kept
at a safe distance. As the bodies OF the victims,
mangled by the terrible force of the explosion.
or burned almost out Of human semblance were
brought from the yawning depths the crowd
of watchers pushed forward to the pit for
glimpse Of recognition. hearts Of wives and
sisters stood still in the fear that loved ones
were among the dead.
THE HARDEST HEART TOUCHED.
The more disinterested ones quailed before
the scene. Tears coursed down bronzed and
bearded cheeks and were dashed away by
many years. The rescuing 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 i'm
pressed upon the memory Of the spectator.
This catastrophe, while involving more than
five times the loss Of life occasioned by the
Dunbar disaster. differs in many respects from
the latter. At Dunbar the explosion set fire to
the mine, and the shaft for days and weeks was
roaring furnace, adding horrors to the great
not the case and by the perfect working Of the
fan pure air was forced into the mine and the
wo-k OF rescuing was permitted to begin at
once.
FIFTY ooPFrSs ARRIVE.
Fifty cofins arrived from Pittsburg this
morning and another half hundred viii 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.
No arrangements have yet been made for the
funerals. The victims will be buried by the
company. Many of the unfortunates are Hum
garians and wall be sent TO Scotdale for inter-
ment.
ROLL CALL OF THE woRKMEy.
There is in progress q roll call Of all the men
and later in the day the exact number Of miss
ing will be known. The rescuing party is work
ing with heroic energy and the wreck in the
shaft is being fast cleared up. An official Of the
@ Friek Company said this morning; 1t may
explosion occurred. The accumulation
of IRE damp was probably the
cause, but it was never known to
exist in any quantity before. In fact ii may be
said that the Mammoth mine has been free
natural gas was reached and that the operation
of the ventilating fans now prevents any accu-
mutation of it. II is not necessary that every
one in a mine be killed when an explo-
sion occurs. The explosive may stay
in one particular section and may not permeate
the entire mine unless the volume is 90 great
as to force it to every part of the pit. In this
case the gas was confined to one portion and
the miners who were in other localities escaped.
FEATURES OF THE DISASTER.
The disaster has some remarkable features.
1t was as deadly, as sweeping and as complete az
the sinking Of a ship in midocean. Its history
is to be told by those who do not know il, for
there is no tongue Of all those that wagged in
the openings of that part Of the mine where the
disaster occurred to describe its details.
1t comes to you like some whirlwind, with
blue tints of rainbow, and when it bursts into
fla me it passes over your body like a great log
God does not often let q man live to tell what
has happened to him. II it catches you upright
you are like a leaf in q tornado and it rends the
ribs Of slate in the openings like the ribs Of .
straw rick.
That was what miner who has been in the
coal mines thirty five years says of the latter
damp, the ''black death" of the darkness and
the silent, echoing passageways where men
delve.
Never in the history of American coal min
ing has there been such an unexpected acci-
dent with such . complete annihilation of all
within its reach. The Mammoth mine has
been notable always as being particularly free
from gas. Hundreds of safety-gauge lamps
we're provided for the miners by the company,
but they were never used, ss they were re-
garded as unnecessary. In their stead the
men wore the familiar little open-hame
lamps on their hats, those small coffee
pot-shaped affairs Of tin, which are fastened
above the forehead In the headgear of the
workmen just as the peasants OF Europe wear
their lesden images Of the saints 10 guard
them in the toll. Deadly saints were these that
the poor fellows at Mammoth appealed TO and
today not man would dream Of entering the
mine with one Of them upon him.
THE MINE INSPECTED.
The mine boss put the night shift 10 work
and found nothing TO arouse his suspicion.
Fire Boss Smith, man who had worked in
mines In Great Britain and this country for
thirty years, made bis usual careful inspection
Of all the rooms and headings ct the customary
time, between and in the morning. His
duty was 70 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.