Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1894-08-31

Thirty.Seven Lives Lost-A Fire
which the Coroner's Jury says
was Started by Some Incendiary
Names of the Victims.
! Last Saturday Coroner's jury in
vestigated Fridays awful mine horror
at Franklin. They assembled in the
morning, viewed the CHASTITY scene
presented inside the little Masonic
hall, wherein lay 81 dead bodies; then
went to the village school house lit
tie distance away, heard the testimony
of many witnesses and then, after q
deliberation lasting two hours and a
half, returned verdict which con.
tanned some unexpected words. The
jury found that the 81 men had been
suffocated and that the fire in the
mine was caused by incendiarism.
One witness limited in his testimony
that human fire fiends might have
been responsible Tor the fire which re-
suited in the death of 81 human
beings, but there was no evidence be-
fore the jury that known fire fiends
were responsible.
The jury was given its fill of details
OF the previous days disaster. The
story Of j. l.. Snyder was convincing
to those who heard it that John E.
Johns, the gas inspector, who went
from the north sixth level to render
aid to the endangered party and if
possible to save his little son Peggy"
John, the mule driver, from dying with
the others, opened the door to the
north tunnel. There is no question
but that Johns purpose was to aid the
men, but instead he sealed his own
fate, also that of little Peggy" and
left a current Of foul and sutfocating
smoke and black damp into the sixth
level gangway. There it lay in wait
for the men who. after fighting the
flames in chute 60, made for the bot
tom OF the slope.
Mine Inspector Edwards told Tele-
graph reporter Saturday afternoon
that the men could not be accused of
negligence in remaining at the fire.
They were practical miners, he said,
and they had right to feel safe and
would have been safe had the fan
been in operation and the door to the
rock tunnel remained closed. That
the stopping of the fan was a mistake
no one questions and at the coroner's
inquest it was not proven that any Of
fetal had given an order to stop it.
From the evidence it appeared that
there was excitement about the mouth
of the air shaft when it was learned
that the mine was on FIRE. Several
persons seemed to have been in charge
OF the fan. An effort had been made
by them to ascertain something about
the fire. Finally an Italian boy who
worked below came up and said: " The
entire north eixth level is on fire and
you are to stop the fam" The order
was obeyed and IL minutes elapsed
before it started up again. In that
time Johns, it is supposed, opened the
door of the rock tunnel and terrible
death followed.
The death roll is as follows: Frank
Willis, colored, married: Ed. Maxwell,
colored, single: R. w. Jones, colored,
single: John Frsntalli, Italian, single;
Joe Dawson, English, single; H. R.
Roberts, colored, single; John Irwin,
colored, single; Joe Cassell, Italian,
single; James Gibson, colored, single;
Edward johnson, Swede, single; Andy
Engdahl, Swede. single; John T. Pugh,
Welsh, married; John Q. Anderson,
Swede, married; William Secor, Amer
lean, married; Andy Greer, colored,
single; Joe Bessie, Italian, single; Ike
Clements, colored, married; Pete Par
ry. Italian, single; Robert McCoskey,
Pole, single; Evan ID. Jones, Welsh,
single; Peter Hay, Scotch, married;
Louis Farr, Italian, single; Joe Stand.
ridge, American, single; Phil De Mori,
Italian. married; John E. Jones.
Welsh, married; John Morris, Welsh,
married; John Hall, English, single;
Chris bunker, American, single;
Charley Stevens, colored, single; Jacob
Oleson, Swede, married; Frank Lar
son, Swede, single; Evan Hughes,
Welsh, married; Rocco Tetti, italian,
single; d. d. Jones, Welsh, married
Evan Jones, Welsh, single; A. J.
Jones. colored, married; w. P. Jones,
colored single.