The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1895-02-28


GruesOme Details.
Cerrillos. N. M. Feb 27-Tne White
Ash coal mine. situated some three
miles from CerTillo5 and operated by
the Santa Fe railway company. was
the scene this morning of a frightfu1
disaster, whereby more than a score
Of miners. each one Of whom was ths
sole support of some dependent family.
lost their lives. Fourteen other miners
were terribly injured. and perhaps
half Of these will die as the result OF
their burns and bruises.
1t is now believed that every man
has been accounted for. TWenty-thred
is the number of the dead recovered
Every entry in the mines has been ex@
plored and no more dead bodies have
been found. Some Of the rescued men
were at deaths door. but Skifffut
medical attention saved their lives
The accident was caused by the ex,
plosion of Sulphurated hydrogen enc
countered in an abandoned drift, fol-
lowed by the generation of fire dampa
TOO much praise cannot be given the
gallant and unselfsh people Of Cerrii-
los and the heroic miners who made
every possible effort to save their fell
lows,
The name of the driver who was
killed at the mouth of the tunnel is
John Book, a boy.
The list of the identified dead so fan
is:
J. R Donohue, pit boss.
Johnnie Book, trapper boy.
Sam Hardest, miner.
- .Elling5WOTth.
Roy Phillips.
William Jones.
Sam Jones.
William 7. MCCdty,
! Tom Whiteley
John SWeeny.
John Eathorne,
Tom Holiday.
Jules Descrant, father
Henry Descrant, SON.
Louis Descrant, son.
Angelo BuffatO.
Picard Dero.
Emil Honnet-
George Spaite.
August LepIat-
| D. SumitiS.
Henry Harden.
| No one is to blame: it was simply
one of those accidents that occur, that
/ ts all
| Owing to the smoke. dust and noxs
| ious vapor that filed every approach
| to the workings, two hours elapsed
| before any progress could be made to-
I ward effecting a rescue, and the efforts
were cruelty rewarded. for up to 4
! o'clock, but one miner had been
reached. His dead body was found
I 49,
! the rescuers succeeded IN reaching the
| left fourth level and the dead bodies
| of several men were brought out. The
| scenes about the mine we're heart
| rendfng in the extreme. Frantic wives.
many of them carrying babies in their
| arms, having children cllnging to their
( skirts, stood at the entrance Of the
( mine for hours, amid tears and pray
ers, watching and waiting. while huns
! dreds Of men yainly struggled to gain
an entrance further into the mine So
| dense was the smoke at one time dur
( ing the afternoon that many thought
| the mine had taken fire. and the COM
/ duct of the wives and mothers when
/ this was announced as a probability.
was pitiful in the extreme. Up TO D
| O'Clock, the gas continued to pour
forth from the single open%
| ing in the mine such vol
]
/ of the reseuerg very difficult. but an
| hour later the nervous YaPors clearsd
( away and the work IF recovering tnd
I dead bodies began to prove more sue
! cessful. Twenty-Five men are stlll IN
the lower workings of the mine and IL
! is not thought possible that they are
alive.
The work Of rescue goes on bravely-
Many heroic scenes have been Wit
/ messed during the afternoon and to-
night gruesome spectacle is pre-
sented.
Many camp fires dot the scene and
the anguish of the women and Chil-
\ dren towering about them, hoping for
I the best. and urging them on in their
4 endeaYorS to reach the entombed,
I while others are clinging to their dead
or miniStering TO those rescued alive
\ presents a. picture OF human anguish
!, seldom witnessed. 1t is thought inc
I explosion was caused by the miners
breaking through into some old dban
doned workings, thus HberatinS the
I gas that had accumulated therein.
The mine was worked through a single
incline shaft extending 1900 feet IN az
an incline of 80 degrees and seems to
have been defective as respects Ventl-
latiOn. The mouth Of the shaft is the
sole means of egress- Nobody seems
to know Just how many men went into
the mine this morning, Ordinarily lsO
men are employed, but this being Ash
Wednesday, it is said scarcely half the
usual quota Of men we're at work To-
day Representative Laeden, lately
employed there, says tonight that he ia
confident that not less than 50 men
must have been in the mine at the
time of the explosion.
4 special to the Rocky Mountain
News from CerrilOs says.
Up to 10 p. m. twenty-five bodies
QKQn mr. HnpVihlU 0TTVnQ0
and mutilated and difficult Of identif-
cation One OF the rescued, John
StupeS, says that ne heard the e1-
plosion, and himself and five COM
rades started for the main slope. but
could not get out and retreated back
into the mine to a pool of water. Whera
they immersed themselves and by
agItating the water managed to create
: air enough to live upon for the four
J long hours OF their confinement. but
when the rescuing party reached then,
they we're in the last stages OF as
11T7vxiatiO1l.