Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1891-02-05
THE DEADLY DAMP.


Awful Explosion IN . Pennsylvania
Coal Mine.
o. Sunocated-Only One Escaped From
the Deadly Pit-Harroving
Scenes
YoUNGwooD, Pa, Jan. 2s-The dark
est page in the history of the coke
regions was written yesterday, ITO
names Of dead miners being enrolled
on it. The mine is on fire and fifty
bodies will never be recovered.
Early in the morning a merry shift
of miners at Mammoth mine No. L, of
the Frick Coke Company, went down
into the shaft, glad to be on the roll for
another days wages, as. they were be-
coming far too few during the late de-
preston in the coke trade.
A few minutes after o'clock faint
puff of dust rolled from the mine, but
it carried with it over 100 souls into
eternity. There was no sound, no
shock and nothing to show that any
thing was wrong but the faint cloud Of
dust.
Soon the worst began to be feared
and hasty investigation showed that
the puff of dust meant fearful disas-
aster, even the Dunbar explosion be-
ing nothing as compared to the disaster
at the Mammoth mines.
At the hour named the cottages of
the miners, scattered over the hills, pre-
sented the usual scenes incident to the
hrs Int: oh h.
place. Many of the cottages faced the
entrance to the mine, and when the un-
usual stir about the mouth of the pit
was noticed women and girls flew to the
place with shawls hastily thrown over
their heads, and with white faces,
which grew whittier when it was seen
that many willing men started down
the pit but that none came up.
The story of the disaster is easily
told. An unexpected flow Of gas was
struck and the miners working in the
headings connected with floats Nos. 2,
3 and were all killed.
Superintendent Keighly, who was
mine inspector in the Dunbar district
when the horror occurred, was at the
mine when the explosion took place.
He Immediately called for volunteers,
and gathering a few about him de-
scended the shaft.
When the volunteers entered the
mines sight impossible to picture met
them. Bank cars, mules and men We're
piled in a compact mass against the
ribs or walls Of coal, and not living
thing was in the wreckage. The mass
was almost as solid as the coal itself so
terrific was the force of the explosion.
This obstruction was removed with diff.
fculty.
Then the rescuers entered a chamber
of horrors. The first object they dis
covered after leaving the main entry
was a gum boot In it was the lamp Of
a miner. Next they found a human
head, but nowhere in sight was the
trunk which had borne it. After a
walk of some distance they found the
trunk, the ragged neck with the oozing
blood from it telling the story of the
appalling explosion
Working their way on, the band
found the bodies strewn along the gang.
way. One unfortunate met death while
on his knees in prayer, with his hands
clasped and his eyes uplifted. The
headless trunk did not move the res
cuers, nor were their emotions betrayed
by the shapeless head itself, but the
sight of the corpse in the attitude OF
prayer brought tears to every eye. II
was pathetic picture.
Dead bodies were brought up every
few minutes and the crowd at the shaft
mouth simply fell back to allow the
men carrying the stretchers room to
pass. Every corpse was covered and
no one even ventured to inquire whose
body it was, for they knew every one
Il
the explosion was dead.
One hundred and ten men were en-
ployed in that part of the mine in which
the explosion occurred. Not more than
fifty men were killed by the explosion.
The others were overcome by the fire
damp and while some of the bodies are
horribly torn, burned and mutilated,
others were found with their teeth
clenched on the iron rail of the pit
road, others with faces plunged into the
water and not a few upon their knees
as if engaged in prayer.
Up to midnight sixty bodies had been
recovered. Every five minutes a corpse
would be brought to the surface and il
would pass through the line Of watchers
without comment. save the expression,
Another one" A notable feature OF
the crowd at the shaft was the absence
of women. They had returned to their
little whitewaShed homes, for they
knew all hope was gone.
The only man who escaped from the
fatal mine was Mine Boss Eaton
Ex-Mine Inspector Keighly, the SUI
perintendent of the fatal shaft, is near
~ distracted 1t is a singular fact that
misfortune seems to have followed him.
His experience in the Hill Farm disaster
resulted in his rendering his resigna-
ton as mine inspector.
Worlds Fair Earth Turned.
CHICAGO, Jan. 2S-The first stake
was driven and the first spadeful OF
earth turned on the lake front opposite
Harrison street in connection with the
Worlds Fair yesterday morning. The
digging was begun for the laying of the