Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1895-12-21
MINERS ENT0MBED.
,,r,->I>E LIVES LOST NEAR
p>NrO\, TENNESSEE.
r,pIosion OF Ftrc-Damp-No
Hone OF Escape Tor the Imprisoned
ucn-Hcar'rcnding Scenes Il" the


-~,NoOGA. TENN. December
-..,tv-nine miners lost their lives
Ola, in the Nelson mine, Entry To- near
49,, Tenn. by an explosion Of fire.
Tho explosion was succeeded by
-.iec crash. which indicated that
~,of Of the passage through which
'.. MON had entered. had fallen in. No
..,, of escape was left. and there in
-,.s,bnitv that any of the men will
be- found.
..,, mine is the property Of the Dayton
..... and Iron Company, is three miles
,..., The town Of Dayton. and is reached
D, spur track.
The men. both white and coiored, in
....nc several boys. entered the mine
.. -, 10 work at o'clock this morning.
t.., nothing OF the awful catastrophe was
t~,en an II o'clock. when the drivers
,.,, Entry 10 found their way blocked by
solid wall Of coal and slate.
The Nelson mine has been worked for
Twelve years or more, and the entry
where the unfortunate miners are en-
tombei ran back more than two miles
rom the mouth Of the mine. The mine
is a. the kind common in southern coal
frds known as drifts or level-veined
mines. ana is worked in the direction of
,fe vein straight into the face of the
mountain. but before the entry is reached
aug slope extends to a level several
hundred yards below, at an angle of
about twenty degrees
70 -cuing parties have been working
lard an day. trying 10 reach the miners.
hst % Is probable that they will be seve-
isi DAYS forcing an opening through the
van of fallen roofing. which must be
made safe as they proceed. The foul
tr quickly cXhausts the workmen. who
lre relieved by fresh hands. The work
rl continue day and night till the bodies
are recovered
A. the drift-mouth hundreds Of women
and children soon gathered. and the pic
cure Of grief and despair is heartrending.
Mothers wringing their hands. weeping
-alghters. and little children, sweet
hearts. and gray-headed grandparents are
el in the greatest distress. for they have
been told that there is no hope. Ii is a
spectacle from which one turns sick at
heart.
rire is ventilated by air-shafts or
passages. so that the caving Of the wall
i1 che entry cut off the draft, and death
was certain 10 those who breathed the
POISONED air.
BLACKENED CORPSES REACHED.
The latest details. at O'clock are to
NE effect that way has been broken
trough the debris in the passage OF
Entry 10. and the blackened corpses OF
-e dead miners were carried out one by
one 20 the outside, where the work of
ratification began.
The number Of victims, first reported at
B. has reached O.
Two bodies recovered are those Of
negroes. which have not been recognized.
William Raddy. a colored lad, was one
-, the last 10 be brought out Life had
9ng been extinct in all the poor rem
lants Of humanity stretched at the mouth
w the tunnel
The latest reports say that the gas was
srst ignited 10 No. O. by Tom Hawkins.
sas Inspector. on his usual morning round
% the mines. The flames were rapidly
-ommunicated 10 entry No. 10 by means
70 sde-passages.
All the men at work in Entry escaped
Except Hawkins
IN No 10 entry the deadly gas drifted
and congssted doing its work so well
hat not one OF the men at work in the
-ooms IN this cross-passage is alive 10
ell the story.
oscar Hawkins. one Of the first men
90 get out Of No. O. will also die, making
he twentv-ninth life sacrificed.
Leech and Westfed, two negroes, were
'ound Just outside the entry. having faller
lead just as they got beyond IL.