The record-union., 1892-01-09
Special to the REConD-Ux1oS.

special to the RECoRD-UEIoN.
KANSAS CITY, Jan. S.-A special from
McAllister, 1. T., says: Last night there
was an explosion in the Usage mine, and
as result large number OF men now lie
dead. and many others fatally hurt and
badly injured. st $40 P. NJ. mine No. IL,
owned by the Usage Coal and Mining
Company, az hrebS, exploded. The ac-
cident occurred yesterday afternoon, just
before the day shift was off and expected
out OF the mine for supper. The first in
tiination was a puff of smoke which was
seen to escape from the mouth Of the sim
gle shaft to the mine. Immediately fol-
lowing this was heard a terrible report,
followed by heavy rumbling. The men
at the top of the shaft at once sounded the
alarm and made preparations to send
down rescuing party, but found the
mouth of the shaft completely filled tip
with debris. Efforts were at once made
to clear this away.
1t is impossible to estimate the number
of victims. From facts now at hand it is
believed the killed will number fully 100,
the injured lis, about half of whom will
probably die. At the hour of the explo-
sion there were, as near as can be
were the day shift just preparing to as
cend when the explosion took place.
Six men who had already been hoisted in
the cage stepped on to the platform at the
side shaft. The cage was blown through
the roof tower fifty feet into the air. A
tongue of flame shot up the shaft and
above the ground fully 100 feet, followed
by terrific report, heard for miles
around, shaking the neighboring coun-
try 50 violently that people tive miles
distant thought it was heavy earth
quake.
The scenes about the mouth of the shaft
Immediately following were fearful in the
extreme. Weeping wives, mothers and
sisters tlocked to the scene. Their faces
blanched with dread, and many We're
hysterical to q point of insanity. The
air-shaft, the only way Of escape, was the
point where the relatives congregated.
Many that were able to make their way
out were welcomed at the surface by
waiting friends. One man with broken
leg climed 400 feet through the air-shaft,
and fell unconscious as he reached the
surface. Others, terribly burned, labored
painfully up the ladder, strips of flesh
falling from their hands and arms as they
grasped the ladders rounds.
a hundred miners from the BraidwoOd
and McAllister fields hurried to the
scene to do what they could in assisting
to rescue the entombed men and the re-
covery of the dead The work of rescue
was terribly hazardous. The explosion
had entirely changed the topography of
the mine. Many tunnels were closed
entirely and big loose powders balanced
perilously on the shelves of rock, which
a breath of air might hurl down upon the
reScuerS.
Those identified number twenty-three.
They are: George Lindsay, ST., George
/ n IT..
S. Russell, George Russell, John Terra,
Silva Terra, Michael Jacomo, Edward
Blondon, Joseph Blondon, Joseph Cen
esSio, stephen VerZeno, Eugene Cam
passi, Bennett Moss, Joseph Caonto, An
tonic Gennessa, Thomas Cain, Grago
Rocco, John Quinn, James Quinn, Mat
lock Quinn, Michael McShane, Edward
hlbbIe. There are seventeen unidenti-
fed bodies and pieces of bodies.
The search by the rescuing party still
continues. One disheartening fact con
nected with the search is that so far not
one live miner has been found. The
bodies so far recovered were found to be
burned, charred and manned almost be-
yond 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
powders. The rescuers can hear faint
knocklngS and far-off Shoutings. They
are digging in the direction whence the
sounds come, and hope yet to rescue
some men alive. The wreck about the
mouth Of the mine and at the bottom of
the hosting shaft is so nearly complete
that the work is dreadfully slow. All the
bodies in plain sight have been brought
to the surface, but there are others
partly hidden under the fallen powders
and masses of debris.
The cause of the explosion is still I'M
determined. The probability is that some
miner fired blast without orders, which
ignited either accumulated gas or coal
dust.
Tho scene in Krebs to-day is pathetic in
the extreme. Those who did not go to
the scene of horror, and have missing
relatives, are nearly crazed with anxiety.
while those whose relatives returned safe
from the jaws of death are nearly crazed
with joy.
The latest advices are that sixty corpses
have been recovered. Twenty-Five were
rescued alive. of whom eight have since
died. The whole number entombed is
now OlacpG at DIG