The World. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1891-1896, 1892-03-14
DISASTER
Later particulars Add to the HorrOw
Of the Situation.
OVER TWO HUNDRED ARE DEAD,

Aud ii Is Asserted Thar the Com
pleted Death List viii Number
Fully Three Hundred-A iA.Ycar.
old Girl Mine Worker-Al Hope
Abandoned.
BRUSSELS, March IA. The fire caused
by the explosion in the Anderlues colliery
is still burning in the lower gallery,
where the accident occurred. The shock
of the explosion detached hugh masses
Of rock and earth, and the galleries are
so blocked with the debris that it is i'm
possible to approach nearer than one
hundred yards to the spot where the
great body of miners were working.
The gendarines have great difficulty
in preserving even the semblance Of Or
der in the vicinity of the pit mouth.
The crowd of relatives of the miners are
So Distracted with grief that the orders
Of the geIflarmes fall upon deaf ears,
and the latter are compelled to use gen.
tie force to compel obedience.
Mining experts acquainted with the
Anderlues workings say that every per.
son who was working in the lower gal
lery must be dead, and few are expected
to be rescued alive from the upper gal
lery, which is filled with deadly gases.
Altogether thirty three bodies have been
recovered. The total Of the death roll
| so far is els. OF this number 1t Is esti-
mated that TO were burned alive. 1t Is
asserted by those who profess to know,
however, that fully 800 lives will be
sacrificed.
Women Mine Victims.
The fact that some, if not all, of the
women employed in the mine have met
their death by the explosion will afford
an almost unanswerable argument for
those who oppose female labor In under
ground employments. Among the bod
/ les recovered Is that of q 14-year-old
girl. That she suffered indescribable
agony is shown by the young face, which
/ Is SO horribly distorted that it cannot
be recognized. The blackened features
are swollen almost beyond all seInblaace
TO humanity.
After it was found that the fire was
gaining in strength consultation was
/ held between the mine owners and the
4 engineers, and it was decided tnat ii
there was not the slightest doubt that
everybody in the mine was dead the only
course left open for them 30 follow il
they hoped to recover the bodies was x
food the mine. Before any water coult
be pumped in cries of FIRE. were
heard ON all sides. and flames ascended
i 10 the pits mouth and sparks wert
scattered in every direction. A rev
minutes later an immense column u
flame shot through the ventilating shaft
81
were oyerhanging the shaft
Hope Abandoned.
The sight was grandly magnificent II
the mass of fire shot upward, but i
meant certain death for every person II
the mine. This fact was fully recog
nized by the onloolxers, and the wailing
and shrieks of those near the pits mouth
increased in violence as the lurid hani,
tore their last faint hope from them.
Il The engine house and the other build
ings near by began toshow the effects 81
the heat. The glass IN, the window,
broke, the woodwork began to warp
and then in an instant they wers
wrapped in sheet of flame.
i The scene has seldom If ever beer
equaled in the mining disasters of Bel
GUM. The destruction of the building
ON the surface proceeded without oppo
sition until only the walls were stand
ing.
j All the heavy machinery at the mouth
of the pit was destroyed, and fell crash
ing down the shaft. This acted as q
damper against the flames ascending the
shaft to the surface, and therefore little
fire could be seen, but it could be heard
roaring and Iseething through the gal.
Ileries far below the surface,