Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1899-12-24
MINERS ENTOMBED.
THIRTY TO THIRTY-FIvE OF THE
UNFORTUNATE MEN.
SCARCELY A HOPE FOR ONE OF THEY.
sad Scenes at the Mouth Of IN.
shaft-Frantic Women and Chm.
dren Mourn Lost Husbands and
Fathers.

4 A
special to the Post from Brownsville. pa
says:
There IS scarcely any hope thal a-y
man In the pit Is now alive"
These were the words Of Mine Irspsao.
James Bllck, uttered by MIN 40 ID
o'clock tonight, as no stood al ODE noun
Of the Braznel mine, IN whose dep,s.
thirty men are entombed. That thcy Will
get out alive is exceedingly impgooa5a
and tonight, mothers. wives, and sisters
mourn them as dead.
Since early this morning. the imprea.
ed men have been without any air %
food. They are separated from 0gf
searchers by walls of debris, which i.
when the explosion took place, ana .a,,.
ed the road 10 liberty.
At 1870 this morning, the deatn-o.a.rg
blast was loosed. owing 20 snoraa
of cars. less than the usual num0. q
men entered the pit. Tho mine 'ht
of the Stockdale Company, ana Nes i.f
miles from Brownsville and fe4u..
from Tniontown. IL is known as m
Rrazneu mine. and lies near a saHa
OF that name on the Red stone Cnsi
Branch Of the PENNSYLVANIA railroad
At s o'clock this morning Fre-Hos
lanes Radcliffe went through lae mine
as usual. and found gas or tred damp n
two places. lie detected abou, four ilea-
es OF gas I'm the main entry .h.lt .H
yards from the shaft. and about an Qlla
quantity I'm a room In the Side ENTITY.
short distance away.
TREMENDOUS EXPLOSION
The fire boss reported the pre..a.. OF
the gas, but informed the superintendent
that 1t was an right for the men u f1-
ter. The men were lowered ilt1 t0e mrs
in the cage. descending the man saar
which Is vertical From forty ta lNr
men had entered the mine and dispersed
through 70 when tho gas was |gnuI n
some manner not yet discoverab.e a t..
mendous explosion occurred JOS lorm
must have reached every man n IHe
shaft. The cage in the main SHAFT. Na'l
was at tho bottom. was blown ir I'D rl..n.
ers. and the hosting machinery wrecked
About 100 yards from the main entrance
was main shaft. also vertical ANA hfI'A
lined. Ii was torn by The blast and ta
bricks were blown 20 the very TOP.
Altogether. there were from forty $50
20 fifty workers IN the mine. The mn
descended in The cage W the main thal.
from eight 90 ten az "a time. mom'
after the fifth load had descended tleI3
was q roar that shook the immense iran
Triple above the main shaft and rerer.o-
rated from the hllsides There was .9
need % tell what had happened.
Frantic women and frightened children
dashed out of their dwelling. just across
the railroad track. and rushed toward
81 ID
back by the smoke that poured mp from
the mine The big engines stopped ond
the fan was hushel.
a shout came from below, and Do was
known that not au were killed. but who
had drawn the few prizes Dub the lottery
Of life and death2 It Wls discovered
that the explosion bad torn away tne
brick lining of the shaft. tat'ng with DR.
about twenty feet of thc iron Steps iN'
men below We're Ord trap.
Promptly a rope ANA bucket were lower
ed and the men hauled up. The hfst SID.
Albert Meese. l3 years OLD, u"fI
lie was unconscious and was tied n me
bucket lie gasped once or twice ana h'l
dead.
FOURTEEN RESCUED
Fourteen men were rescued by ono
bucket and rope. All of them were sicA.
and some half-faintng.
At o'clock the first body OF rescuer3
descended. the cage having been temp ra-
rily repaired When they got within ton
feet OF the bottom the cage stopped.
mass of wreckage was piled up ou mo
bottom OF the sha0. With their faces
blackeued and burned. and their bodies
distorted lay seven men. The reaclria
started to clear away the debris. but Dr.
was slow. hard work. as thc force oi iN'
explosion had been titanic
Pit-Boss Thomas and three men We.t
back 100 feet To ind the source. IH.f
think they succeeded. but they bad DID
time TO investigate, as they were oI
come by the after-damp. other mom..''
OF the rescue party hastily rushed trn
ubOve-ground. whore they We're
tated. Thomas was about dead
Tonight Mine-lnspector James hi't
said. 81 would not Ike 20 Say There '
no hope for the men in the pt hNt
doubt whether "a single one remains aIf.
The men. If alive. can live f0r 1850 or
three days without food. in addition I'
what they may have taken in their f'N-
ner buckets. but the main point is nf'
they air2 The fam is running. bIt ia'
big part or the mine remains unf'Ni
lated. aud IS probably suil chohed n.'
deadly after-damp, in which no hu"
being can i've
one OF the mine officials. who spent
most the entire day working in tne I.
aaid. 1.-THE havoc wrought is almost cone
plete. and i have little hope that the m.
are alive. The mine ears are wre
beyond recognition, and piled mp on .N
other"
LIST OF THE LOST
80 complete list of the d.H. can Do
compiled tonight The man '. '''
mines have the payroll, hn. i Nt
impossible for them 90 di over .I ."'
survivors. But there i5 Nri'I
meut that from thirty 90 fl.f't-If. i
are entOmbod. About One-h1N are Am
cans. and the rest are hunsar'na '
Slavs.
The list as obtained s as fo0o
Joseph III. Wagyror single. mas HN'.
ana sister; Joseph Buischme. ."
and three children, Peter ,tAi .-
five children; Albert Meese, d, died
rescue, was trapper boy, ana SET.
cut and burned. Samuel het
father, pit boss; Henry hager
and children: James Thomas, mi.
Among tho fourteen brought 0ul W
rescuers on their first trip We're
Meers. driver badly burned on ii.
body: Harry Atwood badly burn
Soon after the extent or me
became known. undfltahei7 mtI
moned from Brownsville. q hiacA
shop was converted into more
nine boards on trestles Were SHAPED POI
receptacles for the dead All is DOB
ness for the victims o. the esq
when brought 90 the surface
There was an explosion in hr
mine last July II adlOins che tm.
mine. An which eight men were KILLED
wear the day before Christmas N
similar explosion.
Niece OF Zachary Inyior's.
INDIANAPOLIS. IND. Dcccmn.t
Application was made to-day GO q.