The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1899-12-10

a crowd Of men, women and children
having friends or relatives among the
missing They watched tie loaded cars
with an air steical and almost indlf-
fereTf. or asked those who accompan-
led the bodies if news had yet been
heard of their loved ones.
In a rough. building belonging TO the
miners association the blackened
corpses- We're washed and 1dentlned.
Some were burned and all were covered
with a thick coating of coal and CRIME.
Acting upon the suggestion of the
coroner, the shreds of clothing torn by
the force of the explosion and the per-
sonal effects of each were placed IN a
box and labeled The limited amount
of space in the building made it i'm
possible to admit friends and relatives
who wished to ascertain their identity
TO a certainty.
None Was Crushed.
None of the bodies recovered was
crushed There are undoubtedly a
number under fallen rock and earth in
different parts of the mine, but they
cannot be recovered for some time.
rimbering and excavating are being
carried on as rapidly as possible
All of the men killed or nearly all
were smothered by the gases and
more easily from the shock of the con-
cussion or from being blown against
the walls of the tunnel.
The cause of the explosion is a-mys-
terry TO everyone. Not even the miners
rescued can give the slightest possible
explanation. Only safety lamps, the
English Clancy and the Davie pat
terms are worn when at work. Should,
however, one of the men haplessly
open his lamp in an accumulation of
coal gas. the gas would suddenly ig-
mite and explode.
The only open light known was that
from the small locomotive used to haul
the cars in from and out to the cam
yon on the main level. 1t is merely
theoriziDg to say that this was the
cause although a mule driver named
James Conway, now lying wrapped in
oil silk and fairly covered with a mix
ture os boiled linseed oil and lime juice,
says he was caught in the shock on the
main gangway.
The First Man Out.
Conway was the first man to come
out of the mine. His story was:
81 was Just about ready when Watt
Jones halloed out let her go, jim and
all OF a sudden l thought a ton of
dynamite had burst, the force of the
shock threw me down and a flame
OF fire seemed to surround me. 1
crawled out through it on my hands
and knees as well as L could until 1
reached the engine.
For Gods sake, pull out quickly
begged. for l felt as though 1 was
burning to death and 1 could hardly
breathe. It did not take much urging
for the black damp was already begin
ming to smother US, and l was hauled
out on the engine as near as I can
remember
Thomas CONWAY brother of the
sufferer. was patiently tending him at
the hospital. In this institution four
unfortunateS are stretched out on the
beds. soaked with the mixture men
toned. An old miner, George c. Tay-
lor, who has had plenty of experience
OF this kind, is rendering his best ser
vices as nurse. Two of the injured
men there besides Conway, are recog-
nized as Kachiuga, Pole, and Abra-
ham Carlunt, another is 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.
Searched For His Father.
Dan Meredith, Dave Lewis, Samuel
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, re-
turned to the lowermost crosscutS ac-
companied by Dave Lewis in search
of his father, but had to abandon the
search temporarily because of his con-
dition.
William Thomas, the outside fore
man. is active in sending down and
hauling back relief parties on the tram
cars which run up and down the in
cline at intervals which seem tedious
~ long ones, but the condition of the
mine is such that the work must needs
be slow.
The old timber chute through which
the Finnlanders escaped at first, is
about two and one-half miles from
town. There are several air shafts or
chuteS leading up to the summit and
slope of Wingate hill. and these have
afforded outlets for the damp and at
the same time furnished ventilation as
the damp was driven out.
Among the incidents at the morgue,
an old man. father of Richard Dare,
tottering in. anxiously inquired for his
son. A rough but kindly disposed young
miner, busy with the care of the
corpse, being eager to save the old
man a sight before which any strong
man might quail, told him that he did
not think his son was there. The aged
father left the cheap looking one-story
building sobbing, but still hoping. He
was spared vision of a shapeless mass
of charred flesh and rags.
Village In Mourning.
"A black cloud hangs over Carbonate
tonight" was the observation of one
soot-covered miner, and it has been SO,
for overhead is a gloomy. cloudy sky.
All day the rain has been drizzling
down, and the town is in a mass of
mud. In this rain and through this
mud the silent professions bearing upon
stretchers the corpses and the injured
have been slowly treading their way
TO the morgue and hospital, handling
with tender solicitude their gruesome
burdens.
The latest estimate Superintendent
Davies made of the number of dead is
between thirty and thirty-five. This is
thought to be conservative. Superin- /
tendent Davies is cool and collected,
but Foreman Jonah Davis has to go
about his painful duties with the
knowledge that his promising young
son is among the dead.
James Conway, who lies in the hos
pital, has a wife and two small chill
dren. Robert Dare. dead, was married
only q few melths ago. His father is
here visiting from Pennsylvania. Four
of the mules in the mine were knocked
down and killed, says ore of the Firms,