Omaha daily bee., 1899-12-10
Many Cases of Hcroisn.


was at an end.
Many Cases of HcrOism.
Many cases of herosm on the part of the
workers were brought to light. Men would
continue until overcome by the gases. They
would be carried to the air to revive and &C
down again. In one case a miner named
Meredith escaped to the pitmouth after the
explosion. He had been working with his
son and the boy did not. come out with him
The father returned to look for the boy and
he is now among the missing. His son
was rescued alive. In rough building be-
longing to the miners association the black
enea corpses were washed and identified
Acting upon the suggestion of the coroner
the shreds of clothing torn by the force oi
the explosion and the personal effects OF
each were placed in a box and labeled, The
limited amount of space in the building
made it impossible to admit friends and
relatives who wanted to ascertain their
identity to a certainty. None of the bodies
recovered were crushed.
There was undoubtedly number under
tho fallen rock and earth in different parts
OF the mine, but they Will not be recovered
for some time. Timberlng and eXcavating
are being carried on as rapidly as possible.
All of the men killed, or nearly all, were
,smothered by the gases and damp, although
some may have died more easily from the
shock Of the conCussion, or from being
blown against the walls of the tunnel. The
cause Of the explosion Is a mystery to every
one Not even the miners rescued can give
the slightest possible explanation. Only
safety lamps of the Dayie patterns are worn
when at work. Should, however, one of the
men hapessly open his lamp in an accumu-
lation Of the coal gas, the gas would sud
denly ignite and explode. The only open
light known was that from the small loco
motive used to haul the cars in and out to
the canyon on the main level. 1t Is merely
theorzing to say that this was the cause,
although a mule driver, named James Con-
way, now lying wrapped in oil silk and fairly
covered with mixture of boiled linseed oil
and lime juice, says he was caught in the
shock on the main gangway,
Conway was the first man to come out of
the mine His story was;
Il was Just about ready when Watt Jones
called out: Let her go, jim, and all of a
sudden | thought a ton of dynamite had
burst, the force Of the shock throwing me
down and a flame OF fire seemed to surround
me. | crawled out through it on my hands
and knees as well as could until / reached
the engine.
" For Gods sake pull out quickly l
begged for | felt as though / was burning to
death and l could hardly breathe. 1t did
not take much urging, for the black damp
was already beginning to smother us and
was hauled out on the engine as near as |
can remember"
Thomas Conway a brother of the suf-
ferer, was patiently tending him at the hos
pital In this institution four unfortunates
are stretched out on the beds, soaked with
the mixture mentioned.
An old miner George c. Taylor, who has
had plenty of experience OF this kind, is
rendering his best service as nurse. Two
of the injured men there besides Conway
are recognized as Kachluga, Pole, and
Abraham Garlunt and another Hungarian.
who cannot speak English. 1t would not
matter If he could. as his face is covered.
with just a hole left for him to breathe
through, Dan Meredith, Dave Lewis, Sam
uel Langwen and Daniel Hockyard were
hauled out OF the mine more or less burned
or partly suffocated. Meredith as soon as
he heard his father, Howell Meredith, had
gone down after him. returned to the lower
most crosscut, accompanied by Dave Lewis,
In search OF his father, but had to abandon
the search temporarily because OF his condi-
ton.
Howell Meredith was working considerably