Los Angeles herald., 1892-01-09
DEATH In THE COAL PIT.
A TERRIBLE MINE DISASTER IN IN
DIAN TERRITORY.
Sixty Corpsss Already Recovered and More
Than 200 Men Missing-Many of the
Miners Entombed Alive-vain Efforts
to Rescue Them.

to Rescue Them.
KANSAS Cry, Jan. S.-A special from
McAllihter, Indian territory, says:
Last night there was an explosion. As
a result, over 200 men lie dead, and
about forty are fatally hurt and many
badly burned. At 5 80 p. M, mine No.
IL, owned by the Usage Coal and Min
ing company, at Krebs. exploded.
At the time $50 men were in the
shaft, most of whom were waiting
for the cage to take them out,
and the foot of the shaft was one
mass of dead bodies. Eighty-five men
came out by an old entry and forty-two
were saved by the shaft, most of whom
were more or less burned and bruised
and half of them will probably die.
This leaves 223 men yet in. the mine
and in all probability 200 are
dead. At 10 a. m. ten dead were
brought out and only one was
recognized, the remains were 80 mutt
lated. A thousand anxious wives and
mothers were eagerly watching them
come to the surface, hoping to see their
loved ones, only to turn away disapt
pointed, The explosion was caused by
firing shot when gas was in the mine.
A Times special from South McAllisi
ter, 1. T., says: 1t is still impossible I'd
estimate the number of victims of the
Krebs disaster. From facts now at
hand it is believed the killed will num-
ber fully 100, and injured 115. about
half of whom will probably die. At the
hour of the explosion there were, as
near as could be learned, about 400 men
in the mine. They were the day shift,
just preparing to ascend, when the ex-
plosion took place. Six men who had
already been hoisted in the cage stepped
on to the platform at the side of the
shaft. The cage was blown through
the roof tower, fifty feet into the air.
A tongue of the fame shot up the shaft
and above the ground fully 100 feet,
followed by terrific report, heard for
miles around, shaking the neighboring
country so violently that people five
miles distant thought it was heavy
earthquake.
The scenes about the mouth OF the
shaft Immediately following, were fear
| full in the extreme. Weeping wives,
|
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 con-
gregated. 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 pain
fully up the ladder, strips OF flesh falling
from their hands and arms as they
grasped the ladders rounds.
Hundreds of miners from Braidwood
and McAllister hurried to the scene, to
do what they could in assisting the res
cue of the entombed men and the recov-
cry 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 boulders were
balanced perilously on shelves of rock,
which breath of air might hurl down
upon the rescuers.
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
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 fallen
boulders. The rescuers can hear faint
knockings and far off shoutings. They
are digging in the direction of the
sounds and hope yetlto rescue some OF
the men alive. 2s3
The wreck about the mouth OF the
mine and at the bottom of the hoisting
shaft is so nearly complete that work is
dreadfully slow. All the bodies in the
plane have been brought to the surface,
but there are ofher bodies partly hidden
under fallen boulders and masses OF de-
bris.
The scene in Krebs today was pathetic
in the extreme. Those who did not go
to the scene of horror and are missing
relatives are nearly crazed with anxiety,
while those whose relatives returned
safe from the jaws of death are nearly
crazed withjoy.
Up to 10 O'Clock tonight forty-eight
dead bodies were recovered.
Six small boys who were attending
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 of missing is l46.
ALOHA, Ind. Ter, Jan. S.-The latest
McAlIister advices are that sixty corpses
have been recovered. Twenty-Five men
| uaro raecued alive of whom aight have