The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1891-01-28
Sixty Taken Out Before the Wrecksge Caught
Fire. but 1t Is Thought the Others Cannot
Be Recovered aud Will Be Cremated.
Relief Measures by Labor Leaders for
the Widows and Orphans of the Dead.
Two Members Of the Famous Seventh Cavalry
Killed and q Number Injured in Q Railway
Collision-Paper-Mill Blown Up.
TERRIBLE A


One Hundred and Ten Miners Killed by an
Explosion of Fire-Damp.
YoUNGwooD. Pa, Jan 27.-Tbe darkest
page in the history of the coke regions was
turned to-day. and since Its opening there
are ITO less readers to peruss the ugly page.
Early this morning a merry shift of miners
at the MAMMOTH mine No. 1 of the Frick
Coke Company went into the darkness, glad
to be on the roll for another days wages.
as they were becoming far too few during
the late depression in the coke trade.
A few minutes after o o'clock Q faint puff
of dust rolled from the mine. dissolving
Mto thin air. while the puzzled workers
about the mouth never dreamed the un.
usual blast of dust and smoke carried with
it over one hundred souls to eternity.
There was no sound, no shock, and nothing
to show that anything was wrong but the
faint cloud of dust that first warned the
experienced workers at the mouth Of
the shaft that somewhere something was
wrong.
Then began the old tale of q mine horror.
be the victims ten. or one hundre and ten,
except that in this case it ran over the
hundred. and the scenes about the mouth
of the pit were one hundred times greater,
even the fearful Dunbar explosion being
nothing as compared to the fright atthe
Mammoth mines tonight. The curse OF all
these things is that it falls, not on the poor
ITO individual victims, but upon their fam
lilies many and. in fact most of the men
being married, with wives and children to
add sorrow to the shock 80 keenly felt
throughout this entire region to-day.
At the hour named tho cottages of the
miners. scattered over the hills. presented
the uSual scenes incident to the busy house
wives duties about the place. Many of the
cottages faced the dark-browed entrance
to the Mammoth mines and the keen eyes
of watchful wives and sweethearts scented
the danger in Q moment when the unusual
stir about the mouth of the pit showed
danger to them and theirs. Women and
girls flew to the place with shawls hastily
thrown over their heads, perhaps to hide
their white faces. which grew whittier when
it was seen that many willing men started
down the pit, but that none came NJ.
The Mammoth mine 10 located on q spur
of the Sewickly branch of the Southwest
Pennsylvania railroad, and Is one of the
largest plants in the Connellsville region.
In the fall of 1889 it was purchased from j.
w. Moore by the Frick interest. aud has
since been operated by that concern. 1t is
ten miles from q telegraph Office, and cor
respondents were forced to secure q special
engine from Mammoth to ~Youngwood.
where two special telegraph operators are
awaiting the orders. The story is easily
told.
UNEXPECTED OF GAS.
An unexpected flow of gas was struck
and the miners working inthe headings con-
nected with flats Nos. 2. 8, and 4 were all
killed. They wentto work as US
ual. The ire boss. as was his
duty. had been in the mine aud
examined the working places. He is sup
posed to go to the face of each working
and by a chalk mark indicate that he has
been there. Whether this was done or not
Is not known. as the fire boss.
VIM. Sheath. canno tell the
tale. His mangled body lies at the
improvised morgue. The only evidence
that he attended to his duties are the regu-
lar certificates of inspection which General
Superintendent Lynch received from
Sheath and others this morning. which
guaranteed the mines as SAFE. The miners
knew these certificates had been filled out
and went TO work. They never returned.
superintendent Keighty, who was mine
horror occurred, was az the mine when the
explosion took place. He immediately
called for volunteers, and, gathering a few
about him, descended the shaft. Before
Lynch. and that gentleman ordered all mine
superintendents In the region to the
scene. When the volunteers entered the
mine, q sight impossible To picture met
them. Bank-cars. mules and. more terrible
than all. men were piled in a compact mas
against the ribs, or walls of coal, and not a
living thing was in the wreckaGe. 1t was
almost as solid as the coal itself. 80 terrific
was the force of the explosion.
This obstruction was removed with diff
Guilty, and they entered q chnmber of hor-
rors. The first object they discovered after
leaving the main entry was a gun-boat. In
1t was the leg or a man. Further on they
found a human head, but nowhere In sight
was the trunk which had borne it. After a
walk of a distance surrounded by dangers
unseen, but more terrible than car be i'm
agined. they found the trunk, the ragged
neck with the blood oozing from il told the
story of the APPALLING disaster. Working
their way in. the band found the bodies
strewn along the gangway. One unfortu-
nate met death while on bis kneeG in
prayer. with his hands clasped and eyes
uplifted. His body was found tn this
position. The headless trunk did not move
the rescuers. nor were their emotions be-
trayed by the shapeless head itself. but the
sight of the corpse in the attitude of prayer
brought tears to every eye. 1t was . pa
thetic picture.
While all this was occurring the people
OF the region were concentrating at tho
scene of the great disaster. On every lip
was the question: Can we save anys"
Among the first to arrive from . distance
We're General superintendent Lynch. Chief
] Engineer Paddock, Robert and Morris RAM