Oxford eagle. (Oxford, Lafayette Co., Miss.) 1876-current, 1891-02-05
THE MAMMOTH HORROR.
It Proves TO Have Been Worse
than First Reported.


tnis morning. The Mammoth shaft
was considered free from all danger.
and l know the utmost precautions
were taken to avoid danger arising from
gas or fire damp. The shaft was
splendidly ventilated. and / can not
imagine how any gas could generate in
the mine. The only theory I can ad-
vance in explanation Of the explosion
which resulted in 80 many deaths. Is
that some Of the rooms in the shaft.
not having been worked for some time.
became charged with the treacherous
tire-damp, which must have been
slowly. but steadily increasing in vol
ume and which gradually forced its way
into the main entry yesterday MORN
ing"
Exactly 100 men entered the mine
yesterday morning. OF this numberonly
nine came out alive.
Interviews were had with former
owners of the Mammoth mines and
others whose business interests and du-
ties require them - keep posted on the
conditions of every mine in the ConneIls-
vile coke region Their statements
agree in that there n absolutely no wav
to Account for the accident At no time
has there ever been suspicion Of gas
IN the Mammoth mine. and al this
plant. ss well as at all others owned
by the friek Company. no expense has
been spared ~ make their mines A.
safe As experience and science can
make them
This horror has cast n giooru over the
entire coke region. and the little village
OF Mammoth is crowded with the SYM
pathetic and curious from the surround
ing country. All night and during the
morning the workmen have masi.. their
appearance with appalling regularity
at the shaft mouth bearing between
them the musilated remains of one or
more of the victims A building about
forty yariS distant was used as
morgue. Here the dead were washed
and dressed. and a card bearing a num-
ber tied Ia the clothing. They were
laid in rows on n table to await isientifi-
cation BY ten o'clock the table was
fully occupied. the floors of an adioin-
ing house were occupied. and the fioor
of 4 barn was cleared for the reception
Of the victims Jet to Be brought from
the mine.
At I.so P. m an alarm wss sounded
and every person IN the village rush~<i
10 the shsft The Excitement was in
tense over the report that the mine was
again on fire and that the rss.-uing party
had also PerishesL The men in the
shaft also heard the alarm. and drop
ping the bo<iies they were carving.
rushed to the cage and were hoissed 10
the surface When Il was discovered
that the danger was past. the men
heroieally returned 10 the work of get
ting the remains of their comrades on.
cf the pit.
The work of cleaning the bo,fies and
preparing them for Identification was a
horrible task On one board lay the
body of a boy scarcely sixteen years old.
while alongside lay full-grown man.
both horribly burned about the body.
head and face From some the tops of
the heads had been blown off. others
faces were 50 disfigured that il was i'm
possible To tell who they were One
man was identified by n portion of his
foot being shot of while serving in the
Confederate army A young man. ap-
parently eighteen years old. had a hole
from the top of his head clear
through to his chin Some had
all the bones on one side of
their bodies broken. evidently having
been hurled by the force of the ex-
plosion against the side of the mine.
One had his leg drawn up, and it was
impossible to straighten il. and. in fact.
the bodies were found in all positions
and conditions. Those who were taken |
from the mine first were close to the |
cage. ON what was termed the level. |
and were all smothered. while those
taken out later. and from what is |
termed the Nip" were horribly burned |
and MANNED Now and then friends |
would come forward and identity a |
body, when It would be quickly encased |
in coffin and properly marked One
woman came and gazed into the faces |
of the bodies on the table. and finally |
stopped. and. with u heart-rending wall. |
began shaking the face and body of |
n tne-looking Young man who was her |
husband she patted his face and |
s1noothed his hair, all the time talking |
rapidly In her own language, and the |
tears streaming down on his face. II
was n weird scene, all the dead lying /
there a crowd surrounding them. and |
all under the fiickering light of an oil |
lamp An old man came along and |
said That's my boy. My poor boy |
Let me take him home 10 his mother?'' |
and he helped to place him tenderiy in |
a coffin.
Towards morning the work of remov-
ing the bodies became much more diff |
cult ON account of escaping gas. and |
every few minutes the physicians would |
be called upon to prescribe for some of /
the men in the mine who were overcome |
by the gas.
Manager Lynch said that he expected |
10 have all the bodies out by noon.
When daylight came it disclosed the /
bodies lying on the back porch of the /
morgue awaiting Identification, and the /
yard covered with coffins and rough /
boxes holding the remains of those who 4
had not been taken charge of by friends |
1t also disclosed the barn hoor covered /
with bodies as well as the adjoining
house.
At eleven o'clock the rescuing party
had taken out ninety-seven bodies and /
had discovered thirteen more in a
section of the mine which had not been |
before visited.
The wives of the victims went from
body 10 body, and as soon as thew
would discover their loved one. would /,
burst into tears; and early in the day
the grounds in the vicinity os the
norg7se rSsOundcd with their cries.
The mothers would lift their children