The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-12-11
CARBoNADo'S MINE DISASTER.


Men Who Were In the shaft Are All
Accounted for-TwO More Were
Rescued-Five of Those Rescued
Are Severely Burned-GOv. Rogery
VIII Make Searching Investiga-
tIOn Into the DIsaster-Dead Were
smOthered by Gas.
Tacoma, Wash. Dec. 1O.-Supt. Davies
OF the Carbonate mines estimates this
number of dead at between thirty and
thlrty-five Following is partial list of
the dead
Joe Thomas. Evan Lewis, Watt Jones,
william Richards, r. Mullen. Gustave
Knutt II. Knutt, f. johnson. Ben zed-
dler b. Seddler, b. s. Thomas, wHliam
NJ. Davis, Howell Meredith.
The first five bodies 10 be brought up
the long incline were those OF Watt Jones,
Joe Thomas. Evan Lewis, Richard Dare
and Daniel Davis. Watt Jones was the
chief starter. Daniel Davis was O son OF
the foreman Of the shaft
None of the bodies were at first recog-
nizable, because the faces of the dead men
were charred and blackened beyond reeog-
milton. 1t was only after they were con-
veyed to the morgue and the corpses were
washed that II could be told VINO they
were.
Men went down In little parties ana
searched for the living as fast as the dead
~ damp would allow progress. Inose who
were brought to the surface were mufIied
IN sacking to prevent their burns from be-
ing exposed until they could be hoisted 90
the top of the incline and carried 10 the
hospital There were not many of these,
but the search was continued until all
hope OF saving life was al an end.
How They Were killed.
All of the men killed, or nearly all,
were smothered by the gases and the damp.
although some have died more easily from
the shock of the conclusion or from be-
ing blown against the walls of the tun-
mel,
James Conway, now lying wrapped In
oil silk, says he was caught in the shock
on the main gangway He was the first
to come out of the mine His story was:
II was Just about ready when Watt
Jones called out: Let her go. Jim and
all Of sudden I thought a ton Of dy-
Mantle had burst, the force OF the shock
throwing me down and flames OF fire
seemed to surround me. / crawled out
through IL on my hands and knees as we'll
as could until reached the engine
" For Gods sake, pull out quickly I
begged, for / felt as though I was burn
ing to death and / could hardly breathe.
II did not take much urging, for the black
damp was already beginning to smother
US, and / was hauled out on the engine.
| az near as / can remember"
Dead Number Thirty-Two.
Carbonate, Wash, Dec lO-gtunned hv
the suddenness Of last night's mine horror,
the people here seem too dazed for any ex-
preston of grief OF a demonstrative ma
ture.
Thrty-two Is the number OF dead. Two
men we're rescued at 5 O'Clock this MORN
ing after being entombed In the mine all
night. They are Peter Merp, a French
man, and Michael Knish, a Pole. After
Knlsh had recovered from the effects Of
the suffocating black damp he said:
Il was working on the fourth cross-cut
when the explosion came. After that /
went to sleep, and somebody came and
woke me up and took me out of there"
That was the total measure Of his period
of consciousness. He had lain in the cool
depth over eighteen hours and had not the
least conception of this time. On the 9TH
er hand, Merp. the Frenchman, had been
blindly cropping around in the darkness
for the most part OF the night on his
hands and knees, seeking for some ave.
nue. of escape.
With the exception of these two men,
the death list remains the same. The in-
iured, I'm addition to Knish, number five.
all of whom are severely burned. and one
who has several ribs fractured by falling
timbers.
II VIII He Investigated.
Gov. Rogers will conduct a searching
examination as to the cause of the explo-
sion. He telegraphed State Mine Inspector
Owens. now at Spokane, to attend the In
quest tomorrow and examine witnesses
himself
The question OF insufficient ventilation
Of the mine, in accordance with the state
law will be thoroughly gone into II has
been found impossible to secure an im-
partial coroner's jury In the mining dis
tricts and Coroner Hoskel has gone to
Tacoma to select his Jurors.
The theory of Supt. Davies is that a
small pocket of gas was opened, became
ignited and caused the terrific explosion
OF dust, which resulted in oil the damage
and loss OF life.
The total number Of men I'm the unfort-
unate shaft was seventy-six, of whom for
ty-four are alive, having escaped or been
rescued.