The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1895-12-21

the bodies are recovered. AT the crit
mouth hundreds OF women I'd cErcren
soon gathered, and the picture tf griet
and despair is heartrendi w.
Mothers wringing their hands, weepins
daughters and little sweethelfts. anu
gray-headed grandrarents-lli In the
greatest distress. for they nave oeen to,u
that there Is no hope l, IS a spse'arYh,s rhs
mine is ventilated BY air shafts or pas
sages. 40 the caving OF the. wall IN the
entry cut off the draft. ana dtath Vas
certain to those who breathed the poison
ed air
The latest details at o'clock say that
a way has been broken through the uepris
in the passage OF entry 10 and the oiacN-
ened corpses OF the dead miners were
carried out one by one to the OUTSIDE,
where the work OF identification began;
Two bodies recovered are those OF
negroes. which have not been recogni1su, ''s,,,
William Raddy colored LAD. s wss one one
long been extinct i'm all the poor rem,
nants OF humanity stretched AT tne
mouth of the tunnel. Latest recorus
say that the gas was hrst ignlted III
No 81 by Tom Hawkins. gas inspector,
on his usual morning round OF the mines:
The flames were rapidly communicated
to entry No. 10 by means OF side pas
sages.
All the men at work in entry No. . es-
capped except Hawkins.
In No. To- which forms an angle IN
the banks and connects the outside word
at the foot OF the lower slope the deadly
gas drifted and congested, doing It's work
so well that not one OF the men at work
in the rooms I'm this cross passage Is
alive TO tell the story.
oscar Hawkins. one OF the first men
to get out Of No. Q, Will also die. making
the twenty ninth life sacrificed.
Leech and Westfield. two negroes, were
found just outside the entry having fall
en- dead just as they were beyond II.
The fire was finally suhdued late tc-
night by means of the powerful currents
Of fresh air forced in from the outside OF
the mine by the fans which have been
putting the life-current IN ever since the
flames were discovered. Thirty mules
We're numbered i'm the list OF casualties.
out OF one hundred and twenty-five
men I'm the mine at the time not one man
but felt the effect of the conclusion nor
suffered by the bad air. Elder Morgan.
boy fourteen years of age. son OF DR..
w. l.. Morgan, ex-postmaster of Day
ton was among the dead.
one OF the strange facts I'm connection
with the catastrophe is that none of the
bodies were even singed by fire. although
the flames ragged through the entry, but
this IL doubtless explained by the close
ness OF the air from the outside I'm entry
TO- where all the fatalities occurred. For
many nOufS a1tcf the lESt diaIm WIS
raised no one was able TO approach the
head OF the slope. along which the chok-
ing after-damp crept. filling every crevice
and foot Of space and clinging TO the
walls, the floor. and roof. and every at
tempt TO reach the passage whore the
bodies lay was unavailing until the Fans
had driven back the gas into the unoccu-
pied rooms and worked-out entries, whore
II will linger till drawn out by the strong
draft currents from without.
Superintendent Vincent Ferguson was
in Chicago when the accident occurred.
and the men were directed i'm the work
OF rescue by George Gibson. the civil
engineer, together with ]. NJ. Head. mine
boss. who were among the first 10 enter
the tunnel, but were overcome by the af-
ter-damp.
The civil engineer expressed the opinion
that the explosion was caused by some
one passing the danger line or else by the
bursting Of a gas feeder. for the works
had been thoroughly inspected by the in
spector. 'fsiS$
The first theory advanced Is probably
the correct one, inasmuch as the inspec-
tor did not himself escape the destruction
which he had set going. The dead MIN
ers were all residents of Dayton and Nor
gantown. except Tow Hawkins, who lived
i'm lockwood. and most OF them were
mer of families
This Is the second fire that has visited
the mines of the Dayton Coal and Iron
Company.
Their employees have never been on
strike, and the dead men embraced many
OF the towns best citizens.