St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1896-01-28
HALF A HUNDRED PERISH IN A
MINE EXPLOSION IN
WALES.
FIRE ADDS TO THE HORROR,
AND THE WORK OF RESCUE PAR
TIES IS SURROUNDED WITH
UTMOST PERIL.
LIST OF DEAD GROWS HouRL,
Terrible Despair of Wives and Chill
dren of the Unfortunate VIC
tins.


dents of the town and vicinity of
Tylorstown, which is situated near
here, were terrified by terrific rever-
beration today which shook the whole
town and caused people to rush out
of doors wondering whether they were
being overwhelmed by an earthquake.
1t was ascertained in short time that
the conclusion was caused by an ex-
plosion in neighboring colliery. with
disasterous consequences to life and
property. The latest report places the
number Of dead az "a, though 1t is
feared that the further explorat ton of
the wrecked mine will develop the
bodies of more. Reports of the num-
Der of killed have been conflicting. and
there is doubt as to the number of
men in the mine at the time of the
catastrophe. The first reports gave the
number of miners in the shaft at "a. but
some Of them escaped to the surface.
bringing the body ofsone comrade with
them.
The mining population of the locality
knew all too quickly what the muffied.
thunderous rumble of the explosion
meant, and rushed to the mouth of
the pit, only to have their worst fears
confirmed. The shaft was found to
be entirely shattered, and it was evil
dent that there was little hope that
any of those in the pit could have sur
vived the explosion. The despair of the
women who fiocked about the mouth of
the pit was little more terrible than
the horrible anxiety of those that hoped
to find that those who were missing
from their sides had, by some chance,
not entered the mine.
The pit was found to have caught
fire and the hindrance that this caused
to the work Of the rescue parties added
to the excitement and tension of feel
ing. 1t was only through Drawing the
utmost peril that the living were able
to prosecute r. 81
THEIR QUEST FOR THE DEAD.
The number of dead removed grew
from twelve to fifteen, and then TWEEN
ty, and the list of those known to have
been in the fated shaft kept constantly
growing, and with it the number of be-
reaved families waiting at the sur
face. The work of exploration is going
steadily forward, but under great diff
Guilty, the numerous caye-ins obstruct-
ing the advance and making it impos
slbIe TO reach remote portions of the
II in, while the defective ventilation
drives back those who are advancing
on their sad errand. The last 20 come
out brought with them five bodies
None have been found alive, and it
is not now hoped that any will be-
1t was reported at midnight that
more bodies had been, brought to the
surface Of the wrecked mine, and some
of those who were in the mine have
been rescued alive, and are able to tell
something Of the occurrence. 1t is i'm
possible to ascertain the exact number
Of the victims, as the number Of men
in the mine at the time of the explo-
sion IS not known. But those who
have been engaged in the work Of ex
ploration and the few survivors who
have been rescued tell terrible stories
of the scenes they witnessed and the
dead bodies they found or stumbled
over, strewn in all directions as they
fell, overcome by fire damp or hurled
by the force of the explosion. One of
the survivors, fireman who was in
the mine itself when the explosion
came, started to work his way in the
direction of the entrance, with painful
and almost hopeless labor, making fire.
quent pauSes. In one spot he was
obliged to stop and wait for four hours
on account of the after-damp. At the
end Of that time he ventured to adj
vance a few steps further when he
mad to desist again and wait another
two hours in hopeless darkness.
lndefatigibly all through the night. en-
couraged by the saving Of a few to
hope that still others still remain alive
in the mines. whose lives may be pos
sibly saved.