The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1899-12-24

! and was dead, a victim of after damp.
That told the whole story of the dis
aster Fire damp had exploded in the
mine.
Fourteen men were rescued by the
bucket and rope. All of them were sick
and some half fainting. They were
given restorativeS and went to their
homes, several having to be carried. No
more men appearing at the foot of the
air shaft, attention was turned to the
main shaft, from which the after damp
was pouring out in a thick volume. The
fan was crippled and the cages would
not work.
the fan. This was accomplished by
1880 a. m, and the after damp began
to force its way out of the ventilat-
ing shaft. The brattices in the mine
which guided the air through the work.
ings had been wrecked by the explo-
sion and much of the force of the fan
! was lost.
Go to the Rescue.
Gradually the air around the main
shaft became purer, and at O'Clock
the first body of rescuers descended the
cages having been temporarily re-
paired When they got within ten feet
of the bottom the cage stopped. A mass
of wreckage was piled up at the bot
tom of the shaft. With their faces
blackened and burned and their bodies
distorted. laid seven men.
The rescuerS started to clear away the
debris. but it was slow. hard work. as
the force of the explosion had been
gigantic. Pit Boss William Thomas and
three ment went back 100 feet to find
the source. They theink they succeeded
but they had no time to investigate, as
they were overcome by the after damp.
Other members of the rescre party
Cd harr n Qheax-c
where they were given brandy and cof-
fee Thomas was about dead, and to-
night is indeed suffering severely.
When the first party was worn out
and nearly poisoned, another took it's
place. and the work was kept up with
out moments cessation. The res
cuers found the carcasseS of five mules
that had been killed outright.
Take Out the Bodies.
AT 10 o'clock tonight the work of res
cue had progressed so far that Super
intendent Blower expected to have
some bodies out by midnight Mine In
spector Henry Louttit is working away
in the wrecked mine at the head OF
gangs of picked men. who are strain
ing every nerve to save the survivors,
if there are any. Mine Inspector James
Blick, who reached the scene tonight,
said:
Il would not like to say there is no
hope for the men in the pit, but 1
doubt whether. single one remains
alive. The fan is running, but the big
part of the mine remains unventilated
and is probably still cfloked with dead
ly after damp. in which no human
being can live. If the men have not
been able to contrive to save themselves
from the afterdamp, / fear they are
dead
One of the mine officials who spent
the entire day working in the pit, said:
'The havoc wrought is almost COM
plete and / have little hope that the
men are alive. The mine cars are
wrecked beyond recognition and piled
on each other. Stone and wooden brat
tices. as the doors controlling air cur
rents are called, were blown down like
so much paper. We have the passages
from the main shaft to the air shaft
cleared, but beyond that We cannot go.
and we cannot get the air into the mine
any further at present, although work.
ing hard and making slow progress. AS
the air is not in the mine beyond this
point, see practically no hope for the
entombed men,"
Scenes at the Mine.
AS the night grew blacker the scene
at the shaft became more sorrowful-
The rain came down in pittiless tor
rents and each moment the air was
more chill Back of the fateful pit rose
a solid mass Of mountainous darkness
In front, but far across the railroad
tracks. were the fiickering lights OF the
homes of the miners. At one side of the
mouth of the shaft some huge lumps