Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1891-01-29
THE NINE DISASTER.
eossowFUL SCENES ABOUT THE
MOUTH OF THE SHAFT.
-. Than Hundred Bodies OF Victims
Reoo,orcd-wives, Mothers. Sisters
and swoethearts Bersft
,pr ,.lnsrnph 70 N. pispsich.l

iBy telegraph 70 the Depsicn.l
,..,,,owoop. Pa. January 2s.--One hun
.rd seven bodies have been taken
tho ill-fated Mine No. 1, OF Frick q
=, Mammoth up TO 10 O'Clock this morn
- t,isostimated that the remains of at
- -. soy,ntcen more victims Of yesterday IS
I,,,.,on are stll in the pit, but it is
~, all will 10 ont in few hours. No
- don't at Mammoth last night. lnevery
LIN the little mining hamlet there was
,.,,ps. Yet there was no demonstra-
Little one-story houses, scantily fur
t.iI "A we're illuminated with tallow can
Mother. wife, sister, or sweetheart
rSS.j IN silence They only know that a
ty..,-,nns accident has befallen them.
80 .sonot see the dead. They have lit
y. l.,2 c,yr for the living, Their grief Is deep
and keen. ..
,ac, the EXPLOSION yesterday the news
-. sv.ful fate of the scores OF miners at
O - IN the shaft spread rapidly among
,r;nes and miners homes. Couriers
l". 81 the dreadful news hither and
E'...t., and families dashed from the COM
- home into the depths Of grief and
t.,, The scenes at these miners cot
sls .,sin can readily be imagined by those
't, faye known grief IN its more formida-
N, frms but no artists pen can correctly
s-.,rre Il. Within an incredibly short
me the entrance 20 the shaft swarmed
~ Az cayer, anxious crowd Of men,
.-,cr and children, some of whom could
VIZ Win great difficulty be kept at q safe
distance. ., .,.r,..
4. .bc1ics of victims, manglcd by the ter
81 force q the explosion, or burned
...r,.t out of human semblance, were
t,.,rb, from the yawning depths the
,,.U1 Of watchers pushed forward to the
~, f,r "A glimpse Of recognition; the hearts
" wives and sisters stood still IN fear that
"a ones were among the dead. The
~ s,s Interested ones quailed before the
90 Tcars coursed down bronzed and
i.-4ed cheeks and were dashed away by
my hands that had swung the pick
S,r.pv wears. The rescuing party pro
...5sI with their grim task. and the
..'rl af watchers silently looked on. II
.'.s.os u those scenes which. once wit
,'.s.J remains forever impressed upon
he memory Of the spectator.
yo1 LIKE TIE DUNBAR HORROR.
This catastrophe, while involving more
..sr t.vo times the loss of life occasiOned
iy fte Dunbar disaster, differs in many
,..,.r,s from the latter. At Dunbar the
.,,ra.,ou set FIRE 10 the mine and the shaft
a. laws and weeks was roaring furnace
,l5ir- horrors to the great fatality. In
-...,--day's occurrence this was not the
...e and hv the perfect working of the
..r nrre slr was forced into the mine and
isa work OF rescuing was permitted TO be-
IN Al once. Fifty coffins arrived from
FrsIurch this morning and another half
lgrdrel will reach here tonight. An adj
ftouhl order for twenty-five moro was
ont tbs morning. The cause OF the ex-
,ulau has not yet been determined. The
-ayer Is on the ground and thorough
,r,es.,cation will be made. No arrange
,.s,ts have vet been made for funerals.
me victims will be buried by the COM
r,gr. Many Of the unfoTtunates are Hun
rsrans and Will be sent to Scottdale TOR
!L.,rLtnt.
TH- )RY OF THE EXPLOSION.
The rcscuing party is working with he
,r,r energy, and the wreck IN the shaft ls
ia.ur fast cleared up. An official of the
Tnrk Company said this morning: 1T
nav never be known how or why the OK
2. son occurred. An accumulation of fire
damp was probably the cause, but 1t was
,sy.r known to exist in any quantity be-
fire. IN fact il may be said that the MAN.
month nine has been free from damp.
There Is a theory that pocket OF natural
"a, vas reached and that the operation Of
,.e yeutillating fans now prevents any &C
t1rulBtIuu Of IL. II is not necessary that
,yerv one In the mine be killed when an
,rlosIcu occurs. The explosive may stay
o. one particular section and may not per-
lsa,e the entire mine unless Its volume ls
.I -.ea, as TO force il to every part OF the
H. In this case the gas was confined to
C-- portion and the miners who were IN
v.ler localities escaped"
NIyER SUCH COMPLETE DESTRUCTION.
Never in the history of American coal
inning has there been such an unexpected
s.1dcut with such complete annihllatlon
al within its reach. The Mammoth
r.n- has been notable always as being par
,-glar.y free from gas. Hundreds Of
N.ety gaugc-lamps were provided for the
miners by the company, but they were
tryyr used, as they were regarded as un-
necessary. In their stead the men wore
'ta familiar little open-hame lamps on
iaelr hats-lhose small cOffee-pOt shaped
alA,r- of tin which are fastened above the
forehead IN the beadgear Of the workmcn,
Il ~ with lcadeu images Of the saints 10
guard them in the mine.
Tue boss put the night shift to work and
found nothing to arouse his suspicion;
lI,-BlSs Smith, "a man who had worked
U mines in Great Britain and this country
20 thirty years, made his usual careful in
'.s0uou OF all the rooms and headings at
%, customary time-between 2 and 3 IN
te moruIng-Gnd his reports are on hle
Indicating everything safe.
IT WAS THE DREAD AFTER-DAmP.
Superintendent Keighley says no man
ayl, knows the cause of the accident,
al. .i viii never be known certainly. He
SD 1J feet from the bottom OF the shaft
i.sre-cuers encountered a fall of rock in
4c,ug-wav which was caused by the ex-
pH'i1n. Empty cars completely wrecked
We're piled up against II. I'VE cut our
way through and fell down into the dip
where the men were working and then we
We constantly falling over dead bodies.
not So many were killed by the explosion,
tlttae dreaded after-damp came on the
ponr fellows and they succumbed to It.
ltls ls evident from the fact that only a
snail proportion Of the dead taken out
Wee bruised IN any way.