The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1892-01-09
More Than a Hundred Miners
Killed by Explosion.
DISASTER IN INDIAN TERRITORY.
Four Hundred Men Overwhelmed and
Few Escape Uninjured.
Relief Parties Can Hear Tappings in
Distant Chambers Thirty-five
Bruised Bodies Brought Up-Pitiful
Wailing of Women at the Shaft.

KANSAS CRY, Jan. S.-A Times special
from South McAliister, l. t., says: 1t is
still impossible to estimate the number
of the victims of the krebs mine disaster.
From the facts now at hand it is believed
the killed will number fully 100 and the
injured 1885, about half of whom will
probably die. At the hour of the ex-
plosion there were, as near as can be
learned, about 400 men in the mine. They
were the day shift. and were just prepar-
ing to ascend when the explosion took
place. Six men, who had already been
hoisted in the cage, had just stepped on to
the platform at the shaft. The cage was
blown through the roof of the tower fifty
feet into the air.
A tongue of flame shot up the shaft and
above the ground fully 100 feet, followed
by a terrible report heard for miles
around, shaking the neighboring country
so violently that people five miles distant
thought it was an earthquake. The
scenes about the mouth of the shaft i'm
mediately following were fearful in the
extreme. Weeping wives, mothers and
sisters tlocked to the scene, their faces
blanched with dread and many hysterical
to the point of insanity. The air shaft,
the only way of escape, was the
point where the relatives congre-
gated. Many able to make their way
out were welcomed at the surface
by waiting friends. One man with a
broken leg climbed 400 feet through the
air shaft and fell unconscious as he
reached the surface. Others, terribly
burned, labored painfully up the ladder,
OF nf fol l..
and arms as they grasped the ladder
rungs. 1t is believed fully half escaped
by the air shaft. A hundred miners from
Braidwood and McAllister's fields hurried
to the scene, to do what they could to
assist the entombed.
The work of rescue was terribly hazard
Gus. The explosion had entirely changed
the topography of the mine. Many tun-
nels were closed entirely, and big, loose
boulders balanced perilously on shelves of
rock which breath of air might hurl
down upon the rescuers. The bodies un-
identified number thirty-five, and are
those of:
GEORGE LINDSAY, sR, GEORGE LINDSAY JR.
VILLAIN RUSSELL, WILLIAM s. RUSSELL,
GEORGE RUSSELL, JOHN ZEReA
SILVA ZERRA, MICHAEL JACAMo,
EDWARD BLoNDoS, JOSEPH BLoNDoN,
JOSEPH GENNESsIo, STEPHEN VERsENo,
EUGENE CAMPAssENA, BENNETT Moss
JOSEPH CAENTo, ANTONIO GENNEssIo,
THOMAS CAIN, GRAGo Rocco,
JOHN QUINN, JAMES QUINN,
MATTLocK QUINN, MICHAEL McSHANR
EDWARD kIBBLE, GEoDHE LOWRY.
OSCAR FALT, JOHN WILLIAMS
l. HUNT, ROBERT lowers,
WILLIAM MITCHELL, JOSEPH CLARK,
WILLIAM McSHANE, L. COLLINS,
JAMES TURNER
Among The fatally injured are:
GEORGE HARDINGER, GEORGE HARDINGER, JR
FRANK HATHAWAY, JOSEPH OsLAND
ENRICH CHURCH, WILLIAM CHURCH
WILLIAM WILLIAMS, CHARLES MARTIN
LoUI> iooLE, GIovANI BLEssANT
FRANCIS TEZzIR, BRANIZ HIcUMo
JOHN RossI.
Six small boys, names unknown, who
were tending fans, were killed outright
and found dead at their posts.
1t is learned that the explosion was
caused by George Lowry exploding what
is known as window shot" The latest
estimate of the number missing is 146.
Search by the rescuing party still con-
tinues. One disheartening fact connected
with the search is that so far not one live
miner has been found. The bodies so far
recovered are found burned charred and
manned almost beyond recognition. No
fire followed the explosion; at least
there are no signs of any, and
there are known to be live men
entombed in the tunnel behind
the fallen boulders. The rescuers can hear
faint knockings and far-off shouting.
They are digging in the direction whence
the sounds come and hope to rescue some
alive. The wreck about the mouth of the
mine and the bottom of the shaft is so
nearly complete that the work is progress
ing slowly. All the bodies in sight have
been brought TO the surface, but there are
others partly hidden under boulders and
masses Of debris.
The scenes i'll Krebs today were pa
thetic in the extreme. Those who did not
go to the scene of horror and had missing
relatives are nearly crazed with anxiety,
while those whose relatives had returned
safe from the jaws of death are nearly
crazed with JOY.