Crawford avalanche. (Grayling, Mich.) 1879-19??, 1892-01-14


sistant Manager Krebs places the dead
at 100 and the injured at 200. OF these
at least 100 will die, as they are burned
so that the flesh is dropping from their
bones.
At 6 o'clock In the afternoon there
were, as near as can be learned, about
400 men in the mine, says the latest re-
port. They were the day shift and were
just preparing to ascend when the ex-
plosion took place. Six men who had
already been hoisted in the cage had
just stepped on the platform at the side
of the shaft. The cage was blown
through the roof OF the tower and fifty
feet into the air. Flames shot up the
shaft and above the ground fully 100
feet, which were followed by terrific
report which was heard for miles around
and shook all the neighboring country
so violently that people in the surround
ing mining towns four and five miles
distant thought an earthquake was
shaking the ground.
The men already above ground were
prOstrated by the force of the explosion,
but did not receive serious injuries. The
scenes about the mouth OF the shaft inn
mediately following were fearful in the
extreme. Weeping women hocked to
the scene from the village at the sound
of the explosion, many of them hyster-
ical to the point of insanity. The air.
shaft, the only way of escape for the
entombed miners, was the point where
the relatives of the miners cGpgregated.
Many of the miners were aUN to make
their way out of the tomb, and they
were welcomed at the surface by their
f.f Ia T.
quickly taken to places of shelter and
were tenderly cared for. One man with
broken leg climbed all the distance of
400 feet through the air-shaft and fell
unconscious as he reached the surface.
Others who were terribly burned labOred
painfully up the ladder, strips of flesh
falling from their hands and arms as
they grasped the ladders rounds.
The news of the disaster spread quick
ly through the villages surrounding
Krebs. Every physician at once volun-
teered his services and hastened to
Krebs ready to do his duty of mercy.
Hundreds of miners from the Braidwood
and McAlester fields hurried to the
scene to do what they could in assisting
in the rescue of the entombed men and
the recovery of the dead.
The work or rescue, which was begun
at once, was hazardous, but the hope
that some OF the unfortunate men might
be rescued alive spurred the rescuers on
to many deeds Of bravery and possibly
self-sacrifice. The explosion had en-
tirely changed the topography of the
mine. Many tunnels were closed en-
tirely, and big loose powders were bal
anced perilously on shelves of rock adj
joining the air-shaft and the main shaft,
which breath would almost hurl down
upon the rescuers. Notwithstanding
these dangers, the rescuers kept bravely
on at their work The rescuers worked
at both the air and the main shafts, and
bodies were rescued by both routes.
The mines have long been regarded as
dangerous, as there are few escapes and
the ground is very gassy. The exact
cause of the fearful catastrophe is not
known as yet, but 1t is believed by those
who escaped to have been caused by a
premature explosion, which took place
before the usual safety precautions could
be taken. When the shock occurred
many of the men We're on their way to
the outlet TO go home. rhopc who were
in the neighborhood OF the main shaft
were hurled heavenward through the
opening, going sixty feet above the sur
ioNC vi bhC Odi bhs AyO NANhtSotb ~ bhG
external appearance of the explosion de-
scribe it as one of the most frightful ex-
hibitions imaginable. 1t was nearly
dark, suddenly there was a puff of smoke
through the tower; there then came a
roar and the superstructure all gave
away and after it came the belching
flames blackened in spots with human
bodies. Then fire spouted for an
hour then died away, leaving the
iron windlass and steel hoisting
apparatus intact. In half an hour the
cage was lowered, GssS at one of the
levels young man got on, nearer dead
than alive. He tried to bring his father
with him, but the sire pushed his son on
the platform with the little strength
that he had left, and as the iron car
shot upward the old man fell back and
expired.
During the night the cage was run to
the lower lesels, but no attempt could
then be made to explore the mine. At
every landing dead and dying are taken
out Many bodies are so burned that
they are not recognizable by any one.
The search by the rescuing party still
continues. There is one dlsheartening
fact connected with the search up to the
present time, and that is that not one
live miner has been found. All the bod
les so far recovered have been found to
be burned, charred, and manned in al
most every case beyond recognition. In
fully half the cases Identification has
been possible only from either the
clothes or the contents of the pockets.
In some cases limbs had been severed
from the bodies by the force of the ex-
plosion, and in others the bodies had
been burned to a crisp and charred al
most beyond resemblance to human
form. There are two encouraging facts
which urge the rescuers on to the work.
No fire followed the explosion, at least
there have been no signs OF any, and
there are known to be live men entomb-
ed In the tunnel behind fallen bowlders
The rescuers can hear faint knockings
and far-off shoutings. They are digging
In the direction whence the sounds come
and hope yet to rescue some of the men
alive.
One hundred Of the wounded are be-
ing cared for In the improvised hospital
in the blacksmith shop. Special trains
from Kansas and Texas have brought
large bodies of nurses aud surgeons sent
here by order of the General Manager
of the mines, Maj. r. M. Mcdowell, OF
st. Louis, who is now on his way here.
Nearly all of the wounded will die.