The San Francisco call., 1899-12-10

mouth.
About twenty Firms and several of the
Welsh miners escaped death. The Welsh
men Immediately turned TO and went back
into the mine in the hope of being able
70 rescue those still supposed TO be alive
The force of the explosion was such that
IL knocked down John Ryan, a Finn who
was working at the eighth crosscut. 800
feet above the water level. The other
Firms escaped up through an old timber
chute running up to the slope of the hill
These were all uninjured. but most of
them left the mine at once without help
ing the rescue party.
Immediately after the explosion the
foreman. Jonah Davies. gave the alarm to
the men working on the different levels
shouting as loud as he could:
Look out for the black damp and get
out for your lives,''
The Films were quick to take advantage
OF the timber chute Altogether some
thirty men escaped by this means. many
Of them being hoisted up by ropes
Ever since the catastrophe Superintend-
ent Davies and Foreman Davis have been
nghung against the deadly gas, aided by
the brave Welshmen- At S:45 p. m.
number Of men were pulled up through
the timber chute near the summit OF Win
gate Hill from depth of several hundred
feet.
AAAtg were picked up from SIX OF the
levels near the water levels. Three more
were rescued through the inclined tram
way. All OF them were badly blackened
and burned, and they We're Immediately
taken TO the companys hospital. There
they were wrapped in cloth soaked in lin
seed oil by Drs. Justwart OF Carbonate,
Johnston Of Fairfax. Charles Taylor of
Wilkeson and Drs. Loughton and Rum
mel OF Tacoma
The ecanes NJ tho bosni.a1 oro ,g.fs,,t
Men whose clothing is almost burned
from their bodies are laid out as fast as
they arrive, their eyebrows and hair
singed and their faces black and bleed
ing. Weeping women and children sur
round the building. a crowd of voiceless
men stands in front OF the mouth of the
incline, waiting TO see which of their
friends will next be brought out alive.
Occasionally a shapeless body comes up
on the car. Rescue parties are working
both I'm the incline and at the old timber
chute on the hill.
The first i've bodies to be brought ND
the long incline were those of Watt Jones
Joe Thomas. Evan Lewis, Richard Dare
and Daniel Davies. Watt Jones was the
chief starter. Daniel Davies was a son
Of the foreman of the shift None of the
bodies were at first recognizable because
the faces Of the dead men were charred
and blackened beyond Identification. II
was only after they We're conveyed TO the
morgue and the corpses were washed
that it could be told who they were.
The work Of rescuing the living was
completed at o'clock. BY that time the
mine had been purified by the fans TO such
an extent as 10 permit free ingress and
egress.
Down in the canyon. a mile from the
town, is ;he tunnel mouth leading to No
l. Nearly two miles up the hillside Is
the shaft TO the mine, and il was here
that the work was pushed vigorously.
Men went down in little parties OF two
or more and searched for the living as
fast as the deadly damp would allow prog
ress. Those who were brought to the sur
face were muffied in sacking TO protect
their burns until they could be hoisted
TO the top Of the incline and carried TO
the hospital. There were not many Of
these, but the search was continued until
all hope Of saving life was at an end.
There we're many cases of heroism on
the part Of the workers. Men would con-
tinue until overcome by the gases. They
would be carried TO the air to revive and
then go down again. Howell Meredith es
capped TO the pit mouth after the explosion.
lie had been working with his son and
the boy did not come out with him. The
father returned TO look for the bow and
he is now among the missing. His son
was rescued alive.
Watt Jones. whose body was the first
TO be brought TO the Surface. was tho
only support Of a widowed mother. The
body was followed by four others. all I'M
recognizable in their coating of coal dust
and CRIME. At the top Of the incline was
gathered a crowd OF men, women and
children having friends or relatives
among the missing. They watched the
loaded cars with an air stoical or asked
those who accompanied the bodies for
news Of their loved ones In a rough
building belonging TO the Miners Asso-
citation the blackened corpses were
washed and identified. Acting upon the
suggestion OF the Coroner, the shreds Of
clothing torn by the force of the exnlo
sion and the personal effects were placed
In box and labeled. The limited amount
OF space in the building made IL impos-
sible TO admit friends and relatives who
wished to ascertain their identity TO a
certainty
There are undoubtedly a number of
bodies under the fallen rock and earth I'm
Inherent parts Of the mine but they cam
not be recovered for some time Timber
ing and excavating are being carried on
as rapidly as possible
All OF the men killed-or nearly all-were
smothered by the gases and damp. al
though some may have died more easily
from the shock Of the conclusion or from
being blown against the walls of the tun-
mel
The cause OF the explosion is a mystery
70 every che. Not even the miners res