Pike County press. (Milford, Pa.) 1895-1925, 1896-02-21
PERIsHED in A MINE.
FRleHrFUL RESULTS or A GAS tx
PLosloN IN COLORADO.


Half = Hundred workmep Buried = All
Lose Their 1ives-nesoners Unable 70
Reach Them In ri,ne 70 save the En-
tombed Miners
NEWCASTLE, Colo, Feb 1s.-An expio-
.lon which occurred az the Vulcan mine
was the most disastrous ever known In
the history Of this camp and dozens of
homes in the little city are desolate.
All business Is practically suspended,
and avery one Il dazed at the awfulness OF
the sudden disaster No wafhlhe was
given the peaceful villagers until sud
den report as from 100 cannon resounded
throughout the valley.
a throng OF people was soon at the scene
Of the disaster, a distance Of nearly two
miles from Newcastle. A glance WINS
enough 20 dissiphte any hope Tor the lives
Of the entombed men. The force OF the
explosion had caused q cavein, and the
tunnel and air courses were filled with
the fallen rock earth and timhers.
Both fanhouses were wrecked. and the
slope and Vicinity were so full of debris
and the gas was so bad that II was hard
and dangerous work to begin the rescue
Nevertheless, willing hands were soon at
work. and Eve men went down as far as
possible to ascertain the condition Of the
slope and found IL such that Il will re-
quire much work to regain the laborers
The gas was so bad that after the party
had gotten 300 feet they were compelled
TO recede. The party consisted of Super
intendent Herriok Of the Vulcan and John
Evans, William Reese, Sam Hills and
Robert Templeman from the Consolidated
mine.
nha l..k ,,a,,,.sl ,,,i,,o ,h,,t ,7o,-,,, f,,,,,.
diately on hearing OF the disaster and sent
their entire force of I50 men to help the
unfortunate ones.
FA Rescuers at work.
The oonstruotion OF temporary fan
house was commenced at once, and tine
work Of pumping fresh air into the mine
will soon begin. It Is hardly possible
that any Of the miners are still alive, but
the starting Of the fans viii be made as
soon as possible, In the hope that If any
have survived they may be. kept alive till
help reaches them. The only man who
got out Of the mines at the time of the ex-
plosion was Edward WEIGH, who was near
the mouth OF the tunnel, and blown out,
his skull fractured. arm broken, face bad
" cut and burned and all the hair burned
from his head. He was breathing when
found, but expired shortly after without
showing consciousness. Two young miners
Tom Connolly and James Petrie-met
with narrow escapes. Their eyes becoln-
ing sore they quit work In the mines and
had just emerged from the tunnel when
the explosion occurred.
AS soon as the news of the explosion
reached Newcastle, Superintendent Blount
closed the mines Of the Colorado Fuel and
Iron company and taking all his miners
Lea ri .lf
actively at work aiding in the attempts
at rescue. There are two shafts In sddi-
tion to the one In which the explosion
took place In the upper of these two
the rescuers are In about 800 feet and 1t is
through this that air can be forced into
some Of the rooms but none Of those in
the mine have come out, and 1t is feared
that this Is conclusive evidence that all
are dead. In this main tunnel men are
at work building a division with boards
and canvas, through which air can be
forced In on the one side and the foul gas
driven out from the other But this is
slow work, and there is little probability
of getting into the mine In time to rescue
any Of the miners alive.
Half Hundred Victims.
There were between 80 and so men In
the mine when the explosion occurred,
and 1t Is almost certain that all have per-
ished.
The cause of the explosion is not yet
known. The ,coalfields in which the Vul
can mine is located have been troubled
with subterranean gases for many years.
In many places over a distance of so to
100 miles, smoke has issued from crevices
In the rockn since the. country was first
known to white men, and in later years
more than one valuable coal mine has
been destroyed by fire breaking into the
workings. A little over a year ago the
mines Of the Vulcan company had 60 be
flooded ON this account, and the old work
ings have never been reopened, and the
drift where the accident occurred was
new one. It is thought that the disaster
may have been caused by the breaking in
TO an immense pocket Of gas generated by
these everlasting fires.
On Feb. 8 State Coal Mine Inspector
Griffith inspected the mine and pronounced
1t in splendid condition, and the work is
said TO have been done ct ali times In the
most careful manner