Fisherman & farmer. [volume] (Edenton, N.C.) 1887-19??, 1891-03-13
FRIGHTFUL DISASTER.
Over One Hundred Miners Per-
ish in a Nova Scotia Colliery.
A Mysterious Explosion Causes
an Appalling Catastrophe.

The first great disaster in the history OF
the Cumberland coal fields of Nova Scotia
occurred on recent afternoon, when an ex-
ploslon took place in the east slope of the
Spring Hill mines, Resulting in large loss OF
life Twenty-six bodies were recovered i'm
mediately and ten men were brought up
alive, but terribly mutilated. They are not
likely to recover.
ter in Canada 1t is placed at lit men and
boys.
The explosion was confined to Nos. 6 and
balances, where it did its most deadly
work. The balances are in the west side OF
40. l slope, extending from the 1900 foot
slope. The pits are connected for pur-
poses Of ventilation and it is owing to this
that so many were killed in No 2 The
bodies taken out of that pit were not mu-
tllated In any way and bear evidence of
having been suffocated by after damp.
Death from this cause is painless.
At No. slope there were some CHASTITY
sights The first exploring party found two
bodies so badly mutilated that they could
only be taken to the surface in bags. One
body was cut IN two across the abdomen, one
arm was missing, the face was q mass Of
blackened, burnt flesh, and the only thing to
denote that it was a human body was a tuft
of hair on the back Of the head
Volunteers courageoUsly took off their
coats and bravely undertook the dangerous
work Of rescue. Malcolm Blue did splendid
work in bringing out the injured. The Rev
i. Wright, pastor of the Presbyterian Church.
went down to succor the relieving party and
refreshed them with hot coffee. Three of
the searching party were brought out I'M
conscious from the effects of the after damp
They were Thomas Brown, Thomas Porter
and James Harvey. Assistant McInness
ventured too far and had to be assisted out
When 1t was found, about six O'clock that
1T would endanger more lives to proceed
further the men were withdrawn and the
work OF rescue abandoned.
w hen the searching party entered the Dit
Immediately after the explosion their pro-
gress was greatly retarded by the fall of the
roof and other distractions on the levels
Two horses pinned in by timber were killed
to put an end to their misery. About six
horses were killed outright A mule was
found on one of the slants with both hind legs
blown off. A gang Of men saved>twelve Of
the horses in the pit.
The most terrible scenes were witnessed at
the pits mouth as the bodies were brought
up. The air was rent with the heart break
ing shrieks of the wives and mothers of the
victims
The cause of the disaster is still a mystery
A large carpenter shop is used as a morgue.
The corpses are taken there, cleaned, and
then laid out for identification by relatives
and friends In several instances the charred
remains have been almost unrocognizable
and the only clew to Identification has been
a vestige Of clothing or some marks on the
body. 4
The Spring Hill mine is owned by Eng
lish and Montreal capitalists. 1t employed
one thousand men and had an output of half
a million tons year.
One hundred and twelve bodies have so far
been recovered. The sights met with by
the rescuers are something appalling.
Men were found with hands clasped or
INTERVIEWED in each others arms.
Some corpses were found stand
ing erect, the men having apparently grasped
any object which was within reach when the
terrible after damp overlook them. The
only ones who could tell how the explosion
occurred are dead.