The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1899-12-24

mass OF wreckage was piled up to the
bottom Of the shaft With their faces
blackened and burned and their bodies
distorted, lay seven men. The rescuers
started to clear away the debris. but II
was slow, hard work. as the force Of the
explosion had been titanic.
Pitt Boss Thomas and three men went
back one hundred feet to find the source.
They think they succeeded. but they had
no time to investigate, as they were over
come by the after-damp. Other members
Of the rescue party hastily rushed them
above ground, where they were resusci-
tated. Thomas was about dead.
LITTLE HOPE.
Tonight Mine Inspector James Bllck
said II would not like 10 say there Is
no hope for the men i'm the pit, but L
doubt whether a single one remains aiiNe.
The men. If alive, can live for two or three
days without food in addition TO what
they may have taken in their dinner
buckets but the main point Is II they
have air. The fan j. running, but the Dig
part of the mine remains unventllated'
and Is probably siill checked with deaaiy
after-damp, in which no human being can
live"
one of the mine officials. who spent al
most the entire day working in the pit
said.
The havoc wrought is almost complete
and | have little hope that the men are
alive. The mine cars are wrecked beyond
recognition and piled up on each other.
Owing TO "A shortage Of cars, less thah
the usual number Of men entered the PIT.
lac mine is that of the Stockdale Com
pany and lies four miles from BrownYaie
and fourteen from Uniontown. III Is
known rs the Brazenel mine, and lies
near a station of that name on the Ren
Stone branch of the Pennsylvania rail-
road.
At ; o'clock this morning Fire Boss
James Radcliffe went through the mine
as usual. and found gas or iire-damp IN
two places He detected about four
inches of gas in the main entry. abou,
one hundred yards from the shaft. ana
about an equal quantity in room In the
side entry. a short distance away
The fire boss reported the presence or
the gas. but informed the superintendent
that it was all rlg,.. for the men to enter.
A PARTIAL LIST.
No complete list of the dead can be
compiled tonight. The managers of the
mines have the payroll, but II has been
impossible for them TO discover all the
survivors. But there is a general agree
ment that from thirty TO thirty-ive men
a
cans and the balance are Hungarians and
Slavs. The list as obtained IS:
Joseph II. Wagyror. single, has mother
and sister.
Joseph Butschme. forty, wife and three
children.
Peter Oris, thirty-sx. has five children.
Albert Meese, fourteen. died after res
cue: was trapper boy and badly cut and
burned.
Samuel Meese. his father pit boss.
Henry Hager. hfty. wife and children.
James Thomas. married
Among the fourteen brought out by the
rescuers on the first trip We're Joseph
Meers driver, badly burned on face and
body and Harry Atwood badly burned.
Soon after the extent of the accident be-
came known undertakers We're summoned
from Brownsville.
a blacksmith shop was converted into a
morgue. Here pine boards on trestles
We're shaped into receptacles for the dead.
al is in readiness for the victims of the
mines when brought 10 the surface.
There was an explosion in Brazenell
mine last July. II adjoins the Umpire
mine. IN which eight men were killed last
year the day before Christmas, by simi-
lar explosion.