The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1899-12-10

sion or from being blown against the
walls of the tunnel.
Cause a Mystery.
The cause of the explosion is a mys-
terry to every one. Not even the min
ers rescued can give the slightest pos
sible explanation Only safety lamps,
the English Clancy and the Davie pat
tern, are worn when at work. Should,
however, one of the men haplessly
opened his lamp in an accumulation OF
coal gas, the gas would suddenly ignite
and explode. The only open light
known was that from the small loco
motive used to haul the cars in from
and out to the canyon on the main
level. 1t is merely theorizing to say
that this was the cause, although a
mule driver, named James Conway,
now lying in oil silk and fairly covered
with a 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 is:
Il was just about ready when Watt
Jones halloed out, Let her go, Jim,'
and all of a sudden thought ton of
dynamite had burst. The force of the
shock threw me down and a flame of
fire seemed to surround me. l crawled
out through it on my hands and knees
as Well as I could until l reached the
engine. For God sake, pull out quick
ly,' begged, for I felt as though 1 was
burning to death and l could hardly
breathe. Tt did not take much urging
for the black damp was already begin
ming to smother us and l was hauled
out on the spgine as near as l can re-
member. ~
Thomas Conway, brother Of the suf-
ferer, was patiently tending him at the
hospital.
In this institution four ,unfortunates
are stretched out on the beds, soaked
with the mixture mentioned An old
miner, George @. Taylor, who has had
plenty OF experience of this kind. is ten
dering his best services as nurse. Two
of the injured men there besides Con-
way are recognized as. Kachiuga.
Pole, and Abraham Carunt; another is
Hungarian who cannot speak Eng
glish. His face is covered with just a
hole left for him to breathe through.
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 IoWermost crosscut, ac
companied by Dave Lewis, in search Of
his father, but had to abandon the
search temporarily because of his condi-
ton. 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 tediously
long ones, but the condition of the mine
is such that the work must needs Is
slow. The old timber chute through
which the Finlanders 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 af-
forded outlets for the damp and at the,
same time furnish I'd ventilation as the
damp was driven out. Among the ir-
cidents at the merg.ue was that of an
old man, the father Of Richard Dare,
who tottered in, anxiously inquiring for
his son. a rough, but kindly disposed,
young miner, busy with the care Of the
corpses, being eager to save the old
man 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 a vision of a shapeless
mass of charred flesh and rags.
"A black cloud hangs over Carbonate
tonight" was the somber observation
of one soot-covered miner, and it has
been so, for overhead is gloomy, cloud
obscured sky. All day the rain has been
idrizZling 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 in
jured have been slowly treading their
way to the morgue and hospital, hand
ling with tender solicitude their grue-
some burdens.
The last estimate Superintendent Da-
vies made OF the number of the dead is
between 30 and So. This is thought to
be conservative. Superintendent Davies
is cool and collected, but Foreman Jones
has to go about his painful duties with
| the knowledge that his promising young
son has gone to the speechless bourne.
James Conway, who lies in the hospi-
tai, has wife and two small children.
Richard Dare, dead, was married only
a few months. His father is here Wis
iting from Pennsylvania. Four of the
mules in the mine were knocked down
and killed. says one of the Firms through
an interpreter. In 1890 an explosion at
this same mine cost two lives and John
Hartman and some others were severely
burned.
Coroner Hoska places the number of
dead at 33. From the best sources the
latest information obtainable adds
Michael Kechenko, aged 25 single, and
Joe Lee, aged "a, single, to the death
List.
Following is the list positively identi-
fed at the morgue:
DAVID F. THOMAS, 55 years old;
leaves widow and several children.
DAN DAVIS, son of Foreman Davis,
IS; single.
WATT JONES, 80; leaves mother.
EVAN LEWIS. "a: single.
MICHAEL KECHENKO, 25; single.
JOSEPH LEE. "a; single
RICHARD DARE, 55; leaves widow.
Han THREF HlISRANDS