The evening herald. [volume] (Shenandoah, Pa.) 1891-1966, 1896-01-28
MANY MINERS ARE KILLED.
Py an Explosion of Gas in Mine Near
Cardiff, Wales.
DEATH LIST NUMBERS FIFTY FOUR
Survivors Of the Disaster Tell Terrible
Stories of the Scenes witnessed Rescue
Parties at Work, with Little Hope of
Saving Any of the Workers.

CARDIFF, Wales, Jan. 2s-Yc lterday the
residents of the town and vicinity of Ty-
lorstown, which is situated near here
were terrified by terrific reverberation
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 a
short time that the conclusion was caused
by an explosion in neighboring colliery
with disastrous consequences to life and
property. The latest report places the
number of dead at fifty-four, though it is
feared that the further exploration of the
wrecked mine will develop the bodies of
more. Reports OF the number of killed
have been conflicting, and there is doubt
rs to the actual number of men in the
mine ut the time of the catastrophe. The
first reports gave the number of miners in
the shaft at flfty-four, but some of them
escaped to the surface, bringing the body
Of one comrade with them.
The mining population of the locality
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 evident that there was little hope that
any of those in the pit could have sur
vived the explosion. The despair of the
women who hocked 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 ex-
element and tension of feeling. 1t was
only through Drawing the utmost peril
that the living were able to prosecute their
quest for the dead.
The number of the dead removed grew
from twelve to fifteen and then twenty,
and the list of those known to have been
in the fated shaft kept constantly growing
and with it the number of bereaved fam
lilies waiting at the surface.
The work of exploration is going steadily
forward, but under great difficulty, the
numerous caveins obstructing the advance
and making it impossible to reach remote
portions of the mine, while the defective
ventilation often drives back those who
are advancing on their sad GRAND. The
last to come out brought with them five
bodies. None have been found alive, and
it is not now hoped that any will be.
Those who have been engaged in the
work of exploration 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 over
come 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 di-
rection of the entrance, with painful and
almost hopeless labor, making frequent
pauses. In one spot he was obliged to
stop and wait four hours on account of
the after damp. At the end of that time
he ventured to advance few steps fur
ther when he had to desist again and wait
another two hours in hopeless darkness.
Another fireman, who made his way
out Of the death pit by long journey, re
lates that he passed numerous men on the
way who were unconscious and helpless
and badly burned He could do nothing
for them and was obliged to leave them to
their fate.
The rescuers continued their work in
defatigably all through the night en-
couraged by the saving of few and the
hope that still others remain alive in the
mine whose lives may possibly be saved