The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1892-03-12
DEATH IN THE MINE.
Terrible Explosions Of Fire Damp
in Belgium.
A HUNDRED LIVES SACRIFICED.

And the List of Victims May Mum.
her q Hundred and Finy-The Er-
plosions Occurred Five Hundred
Feet Below the Surface-The Work
Retarded by Collapse of the Shaft.
BRUSSELS, March 12.-Dispatches from
Chsrleroi tell of fearful mining dis
aster near that place. While the men
were at work in the Anderluis colliery
there was series of terrific explosions
Of fire damp. The horror of the i'm
prisoned mems condition Is added to by
the caving in of the mine shaft, render
ing attempts at rescue extremely hazar-
dous. The place at which the explos-
ions occurred is in the second gallery, 500
yards below the surface, and work at
this depth is difficult and dangerous.
Volunteers have been let down three
| times in cage. When half way down
on the first trip the further caving of
the shaft frightened them and they re-
turned. Five of the ten men refused to
60 down again, as the mine was flooding
rapidly, they said, and the loosened
sides of the shaft threatened to fall in
and bury them.
Five Brave Volunteers.
The other five made the second trip
and reached the mouth of the second
gallery. They found a few men who
were nearest the shaft when the first
explosion occurred. These miners had
run for their lives, but had been caught
at the entrance by falling timbers. All
had broken bones, and three were 80
| firmly lodged in the wreck that the
| rescuing party dared not wait to extri-
| cate them. Five Of the wounded were
| brought up on the second trip, and two
others and five dead We're brought up
| on the third. The rescued men say that
twenty-five of the miners still impris-
oned are women. There are about two
hundred i'll all still to be accounted for.
1t is thought that those nearest the first
cave in the gallery may be rescued
alive. Those furthest from the en-
trance of the gallery have probably
| been suifocated before this, and if not,
will die before they can be reached.
The Work of Rescue Retarded.
The work has been set back twice by
the caving of great blocks of soil and
stone from the sides of the wrecked
shaft, and since the third trip no volun-
teers for the work of rescue could be
found. The superintendent OF the mine
has twice gone down 200 feet, but has
returned saying that the chances would
be four to one against him if he went
lower. The dead will number at least
100, and probably 100. About so of the
| 300 men in the gallery at the time of the
first explosion got out by the second
shaft.
Frantic Wives and Children.
About 400 members of the families of
the missing miners caInped in the fields
around the shaft all night. The excite
ment among the crowd of women and
| children continues to grow in intensity,
| and the grief of those who have hus-
bands or fathers in the mine is pitiable
Some of the women are quite frantic,
and it has been found necessary to get
their friends to remove them from the
scene of the accident. People from the
| surrounding country are pouring into
the town. Many Of them have friends
or relatives among the miners, and they
are adding to the great excitement pre-
vailing everywhere in the vicinity of
| the pit's mouth.
LaIe last night the fourth rescue
| party descended In the NINE They
cleared away the debris at the entrance
of the gallery and found twenty five
4 dead bodies, five of them women. Most
of the bodies We're terribly mutilated.
Others showed bat few fractures of the
limbs; death had been caused apparently
| 1,Vyu