The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1892-03-16


The shock of the explosion detached huge
masses of rock and EARTH and the galleries
are so blocked with the debris that 1t IS
impossible to approach nearer than 100
Yards to the place where the great body
of the miners were working. Beside the
dirt and rock, the carcasses of forty horses
block the approach to the lower gallery
and these will have to be cut up and re-
moved before the rescuers can proceed
anv further in the direction OF the gallery
where the bodies are known to be. The
gendarmes have great difficulty in pre-
serving even the sembance OF order in the
vicinity of the pit mouth. The crowd OF
relatives of the miners are so distracted
with grief that the orders of the gend-
armes fall upon deaf ears, and the latter
are compelled to use gentle force to COM
pei obedience.
a Tempo orary MorGue.
The police stationed at the Office of the
mining company which has been trans
formed into a temporary morgue were not
so gentle in their dealings with the crowd.
Many of the mourning relatives made an
attempt to enter the office and were forci-
bly repulsed. Some OF the more deter
mined in the crowd insisted upon being
admitted, and the result was that several
scufiles occurred between them and the
police. Finally as it was feared that seri-
GUS trouble might follow if the police per
sisted in refusing admittance to the build
ing. the doors were barricaded to prevent
ingress. The bodies that have been re-
covered were covered with thick, black
dust which in some instances had been
blown deep in the skin. As they were
taken into the office they were placed upon
straw that had been spread on the floor
and the faces were then cleaned as far as
possible to ellow of Identification. Many
OF the faces, however, were entirely un-
recognizable.
Women Meet Death.
The fact that some, if not all, of the
women employed in the mine have met
their death by the explosion viii afford an
almost unanswerable argument for those
who oppose female labor in underground
employment. Among the bodies recov-
cred is that OF q fourteen-year-old girl.
That she suffered indescribab!e agony IS
shown by the young face, which Is so
horribly distorted that it can not be recOg-
uIzed. The blackened features are
swollen almost beyond all semblance to
humanity. 1t has been ascertained that
-fU PERSONS were MOIklllk III lHG A4Elu6 eAS
the time of the explosion.
Fifteen Hundred Feet Under Ground.
Most of them were at work in the two
galleries where the greatest damage was
done. One of these galleries is $50 and
the other $50 yards below the surface.
Mining experts acquainted with the
Anderleus workings say that every per-
son who was working in the lower gallery
must be dead and few are expected to be
rescued alive from the upper gallery,
which is filled with deadly gases. Alto
gether thirty-three bodies have been
recovered.
The fire in the mine grows tercer and
fiercer and since this morning the heat
has been so intense that it has been I'M
possible for the rescuing party TO remain
in the pit. They have been compelled
for the present 70 abandon all efforts to
reach the galleries. After it was found
that the fire was gaining in strength a
consultation was held between the mine
owners and engineers and it was decided
that as there was not the slightest doubt
that everybody in the mine was dead, the
only course left open for them to follow
was to flood the mine if they hoped to
recover the bodies.
To Flood the Mine.
Preparations were being made to carry
out the plan for before any water could be
pumped in, the cries of fire" were heard
on all sides and at 5, flames ascended to
the pits mouth and sparks were scattered
in every direction. A few minutes later
an immense column of flame shot through
the ventilating shaft, piercing the thick
clouds OF smoke that were overhanglng
the shaft. The sight was grandly magnif-
icent as the mass OF fire shot upward, but
it meant the certain death of every per-
son in the mine. This fact was fully recog-
nized by the Onlookers and the wailing
and shrieks of those near the pits mouth
increased in violence as the lurid flame
tore their last faint hope from them. For
a great distance around the country was
illuminated to almost the brightness OF
day by the vast column of fire pouring
out OF the mine. Higher and higher
SCARED the flame and the heat was SO in
tense that the crowd was driven back
some distance from the mouth of the ven
tilator shaft Swayed by the wind the
flame in graceful curves would bend
toward the earth and then again with a
mighty roar would ascend in a perfectly
straight line. The engine and other
buildings near by began to show the ef-
fects of the heat.
Fire Adds Horror.
The glass in the windows broke, the
wood work began to ware and then in an
instant they were wrapped in a sheet of
flame. The 6remen had been working
heroicallY to prevent the spread of the
fire, but their efforts we're entirely fruit
less. In the meantime water had been
commenced to be thrown into the burning
pit. Before it had descended any distance
it was converted into steam and escaped
with a tremendous roaring noise, which
added to the horror of the situation. The
scene has seldom if ever been equaled in
the mining disasters of Belgium. The
destruction of the buildings on the surface
proceeded without opposition and by
o'clock only the walls were standing All
the heavy machinery at the mouth of the
pit was destroyed and fell caashing down
the shaft. This acted as a damper against
the flames ascending the shaft to the
surface and thereafter little fire could be
seen. But it could be heard roaring and
seething through the galleries far below
the surface.
Burned by Scores.
The total of the death roll is 2l5. Of
this number it is estimated that 10 were
burned alive. The calamity has crushed
the entire Charleroi district Nothing is