The pioneer express. [volume] (Pembina, Dakota [N.D.]) 1883-1928, 1896-02-28
IlARE SUREL' Y DEAD
no HOPE FOR THE MEp IN THE VII.
CAN MINE.
Fosr Bodies Are Thps Far Recov-,
cred, asd II = Considered Ger
tain That All Of the FIFTY or More
Men Perished-0ne Alan Left tho.
Miae sat Few Minutes before
the Explosion. n

Today when there were between fifty
md sixty men in the mine at work.
AZ the shaft mouth u holt 100 feet
square w0s blown out. Ed Welsh,
who was just at the mouth Of the tln-
mel when the explosion took place,
was blown to atoms. Timbers two feet
square were blown into the Grand
river, 400 feet away. 1t is almost GER
tain that oil the men In the mine per-
ishcd. Smoke is rushing from the
shaft In dense, black clouds. The scene
at the mine is one OF the widest con-
fusion. Wives and children Of the vic
Tins are rushing wildly to and fro,
tearing their hair and rending the air
In the deep anguish which such a.
calamity brings.
willing hands were soon at work
and five men went down as fur as
possible to ascertain the condition Of
the slope and found 1t such that it
will require much longer to regain the
imprisoned men. The gas was 50 bad
that after the party had gotten 200
feet they were compelled to recede-
The party consisted Of Supt. Herrick.
OF the Vulcan. and John Evans. VIII.
Ian lam Reese, Sam Hills and Robert
Templelnan. from the Consolidated
L
Immediately on hearing of the disas-
Ter, and sent their entire force of $50,
men to help the unfortunatesen ones. The
construction of q temporary fan house.
was commenced at once and the work
OF pumping fresh dir into the mine
will soon begin. 1t IL hardly possible
TINT amy of the miners IRE still alive.
but the fans will enable the workers
to. search for them.
There are but two shafts in addition
to the one in which the explosion took
place. In the upper Of these two. the
rescuers are in about 800 feet, and it 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 evil
dence that all are dead. In this main
tunnel men are ut work building a (li-
vision with boards and canvass.
through which air Gun be forced in on
the one side and the foul gas driven
out at the other. But this is slow work
and there is no possibility of getting
far enough in the mine to recover any
sbody before tomorrow morning. The.
cause of the explosion is not yet
known.
Newcastle, Colo. Feb. 21.-All night;
q thrOng of weeping women and chill
drcn stood about the mouth of the
Vulcan mine. while q hardy band Of
escuers We're working earnestly and
systematically In the hope of soon be-
ing able to reach the sixty or seventy
entombed miners. all OF whom, It IS
conceded. must now be dend. The men
ssncceeded dn2 entering tie shaft about.
200 feet, hut We're driven ont BY the
black damp and gas which Mas, con-
tinually belching forth. John Evans,
who went 800 feet down the main
slope, reported the timbers in good
shape. and that the mine was only
wrecked Mt the mouth Of the slope,
where the gas had an opportunity to.
expand.
Work was temporarily stopped
about noon today for the purpose or
flooding the slope and chambers Of
the mine with mir and Of driving ont.
II possible. gases that remained. All
night shifts OF men were kept en-,
ployed putting up an air fan in the
place of the two DESTROYED. 4 Stimuli
taneously crews of five to ten men
We're sent into the death tran by way
OF the a1aafn slpp4 entrance and. the.
air passages to. work their Wny to
where the bodies Of the dead men lay.
Fully twenty men were carried into
the outer mir overcome by the gases.
and the work being thus impeded.
progress was slow and the results dis
couragingly small. At noon 500 feet
of the main slope had been penetrated
and three bodies brought out. The
first body. was that Of Abel Dore. a
boy. The second was that Of Joe
Dore, brother of Abel. and the third
was that of Frank Comikitchky. a
carpenter. AS the work goes on Il.
becomes certain that the mine has not
caught fire. John French n the only
man alive who can tell anything about
the conditions existing in the mine
just prior to the explosion. He was
employed In tie main air passage
mendtng some Of the tlmbering. and
owes his life to the fact that the gases
IN the passage became so bad that his
eyes gave out and he was compelled
to quit work and seek the outside air.
Milwaukee. Selected.
Chicago. Feb. 21.-The next conyen-
tton of the Republican National lenque
Will ,e held in Milwaukee Aug. q. 20
and q. Instead of leaving the salec- 5
ton to the meeting of the executive
COMMITTEES. n h8ll0f wou IN TO- 49,