The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1891-01-29

oo-'" "oob, Ia, Jan. co. SpeclaIf
One hundred and seven bodies have
been taken from the Inflated mine No.
of Prick & Co., at Mammoth, up to
ten o'clock this morning.
Nobody slept at Mammoth last night
In every homo in the little mining ham
let there was mourning, yet there was
no demonstration. The little one-story
houses, scantly furnished, were illumi-
mated with tallow candles, and mother,
wife, sister or sweetheart, sobbed in ST.
lence.
Within an incredibly short time the
entrance to the shaft swarmed with an
eager, anxious crowd of men, women and
children who had heard the sad tidings;
some OF them could, with great DIM
Guilty, be kept at safe distance. AS
the bodies Of victims mangled by the
terrible forco Of the explosion or burned
almost out OF human semblance were
brought from the yawning depths. tho
crowd OF watchers pushed forward to
the pit for glimpse Of recognition.
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 impressed upon the
memory of the spectator. This catas-
ttrophe,. while involving more than five
times the loss of life occasiored by the
Dunbar disaster, differs in many re-
spccts from the latter. At Dunbar tho
explosion set fire to the mine and tho
shaft for days and weeks was q roaring
furnace, adding horrors to the great
fatality. In yesterdays occurrence
this was not the case, and by the perfect
working of tho fan, pure air was forced
into the mine, and the work of rescuing
was permitted to begin at once.
Fifty collins arrived from Pittsburg
this morning and another half 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 thorough investiga-
! ton will be made. No arrangements
have yet boon made for the funerals of
the victims They will BIO buried by
the company. Many of the unfortunates
are Hungarians and will be sent to
Scottdale for interment.
The rcscuing party is working with
heroic energy and the wreck in the
shaft is being fast cleared up. An Of
fetal of tho Prick Company said this
| morning: at may never be known
how or why the explosion occurred
An accumulation of f1re-damp was
propably the cause, but it was never
known to exist in any quantity before
in fact, it may be said that the Mann
moth mine has been free from damp.
There is theory that pocket of
natural gas was reached and that tho
operation of the ventilating fans now
prevents any accumulation of it. 1t is
not necessary that every one in tho
mine be killed. When an explosion oc-
currs the explosive may stay in one
particular section and may not permeate
tho entire mine unless the volume is so
great rs to force it to every part OK the
pit In this case the gas was confined
to one portion and the miners who were
in other localities escaped"
Never in tho history of American
coal mining has there been such an I'M
expected accident with such complete
humiliation Of all within it's reach.
The Mammoth mine has been notable
always as being particularly free from
gas. Hundreds of saefty gauge lamps
were provided for miners by the COM
pany, but they were never used as they
were regarded as unnecessary. In their
stead tho men wore familiar little open
flame lamps on their hats. These arc O.
small coffee pot shaped affairs of tin,
which are fixed above forehead in tho
headgear of the workmcn, with the
leaden images of the saints to guard
Thorn in tho mine.
Tho boss put tho night shift to work
and found nothing to arouse his sus-
picion. Fire BOSS Smith man who
had worked in the mines in Great
britain and this country for for 80 years,
made his usual careful inspection of all
tho rooms and headings at tho customary
time, between 3 and in the morning,
and his reports were on file indicating
everything safe. Superintendent Keigh-
ley says no man living knows the cause
of the accident and it will never be-
known for certainty.
He said that 800 feet from the bottom
of the shaft the rescuing party encoun
tered fall of rock in 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 the
men were working, and then we were
constantly falling over dead bodies
No so many were killed by the ex-
plosion, but the dreaded after-damp
came on the poor fellows and they sue
cumbed to it. This is evident from tho
fact that only small proportion of tho
dead taken out were bruised in any wav.
To Prepare u supper for the Knights.
The Ladies' Union Benevolent Society
met yesterday afternoon and considered
favorably a proposition to prepare big
supper for the Knights of Py.hias in
their annual meeting of the Grand
Lodge OF Virginia in this city noxt