Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1899-12-11
Terrific Explosion Of Fire Damp in
Washington Mine.
SEVENTY-SIX MEN CAUGHT.


Carbonate. Wash, Dec. 9.-An cx-
plosion Of IRE damp occurred In tun-
mel No u the Carbon mn oompany's
mines here at ii;i5 o'clock this morn
Ing. In which number Of lives. csti-
mated at thirty TO thirty.nve. were
lost. and n number OF others badly In
jurcd. When the disaster occurred
about eighty men were at work. and
they were preparing to leave the shift
at the noon hour. At O'Clock tonight
tho work OF rvscuing the living had
been completed. and eighteen dead
bodies had been recovered \ number
OF Others are believed TO b. buried un-
der the fallen debris In different parts
VI the mine. OF the rescued number
are seriously burned.
As soon as the rumbling noise which
forctold the disaster had ceased. there
was u rush u the Inhabitants made In
the direction OF the mouth u the tun-
npl Women. the wives OF the men
supposed 10 be In the shift. ran to and
fru screaming and wringing their
hands with anguish. crying children
cllngins to their skirts.
IL was all that L r. Davies. the SUI
lNAANANAANAA VI INV lNlNfs ANull IN 10
Keep the friends OF the doomed miners
ana their wives from pluuging mudly
Into the tunnels mouth.
The coal miners here hrc those Of tho
Carbon Hlll Coal company. but they
really belong 10 the southern Pacinc
bltuminous variety. productive of a
large proportion uf gas. and has been
much used In gas manufacture.
| Carbonate, wash. Dec iO.-stunncd
| BY tho audiences OF the mine horror.
the people here seem too dazcd foi any
expression OF grief OF dcnonstratiyc
| nature.
Thirty-two IL the number Of dead.
A. By miracle, two men were rescued
/ at o'clock this morning. after suffer-
/ ihg an awful night cutombed IN the
dark oavcrnous chamber OF horrora.
| Almost hooking the dolcful situation.
| one OF those men, Peter MerpN. proud
| ~ slapped himself on the breast ~ he
was cmcrging from the mouth Of the
main tunnel eJacnlaiing' Peters all
| right how'r my doHsg"
In painful contrast TO him was the
other fortunate, named Michael knTh
| q Pole. So Hlckencd had he been with
the bad air, laden with It's black damp.
that he could hardly ind his voice. and
were born OF dellrlum.
Later In the day kniah said; II was
working on the fourth crosscut when IL
came. After that ] went 10 sleep, aud
somebody came and woke me up and
took me out Of there"
That was the tell.talc measure Of his
period Of consciousness. al he knew
was that an explosion had happened
aud then he fcll asleep until rescued.
He had lain IN the coal depths oyer
eighteen hours. and not the least com
| ccption OF this length OF time. on tho
. UNhHr hand lNssf4H Aas I.. a
been blindly cropping around IN the
darkness for the most Of tho night ON
hls hands ana knees. seeking for some
avenue OF escape. Save these two men.
the death list remains the same.
The injured, In addition to Kulsh,
numl n I'VE. They are Andrew kichln-
ko, Michael j. kichlnko. Huugarinna.
Abraham kalunh, a Finn. and James
Conway the iirat man 10 leave tn.
mine OF Foreman Davis's shift. all ol
whom arr severely burned, and Candl-
| do Purplini, an ltalinn, who has sew
crnl ribs fractured by falling timbers
Gov. Rogers VIII conduct searching
examination az TO the cause ~ the oN-
ploslon. he has telcgraphcd state
Milne Inspector owens, now at Spo-
Kane TO attend the Inquest tomorrow
and examine witnesses himself The
question OF insufficient ventilation Of the
mine In accordance with the state law
VIII be thoroughly gone into.
II has been found impossible to fc-
cure an Impartial coroncr'H Jury In the
mining district. ana Coroner Hoska
has gone TO Tacoma and will select his
| jurors there.
The theory OF Superintendent Davies
In that small pocket OF gna was
opened and became ignited. The con-
cuHaion OF gns explosion caused the
terrific explosion OF dust which caused
all Of the damage and loss OF life.
The total number OF men In the UNI
fortunate shift was Sevcnty-slN. Of
whom forty-four are alive. all Of them
having escaped or been rescued.
a revised death list follows. Leonard
Johnson, Henry Soinl. Matt Rehlcn
ana Victor Ruhnakl formerly given
as John HllD, an Films. Michael XII
chino. John Mellon and Andrew Gccey,
Poles. John II. Jones. David y
Thomas, Howell Meredith Sr.. Mntkln
Jones, Evan NJ, Lewis, Daniel 4. Da-
Wis and Lees Jones. an welsh; william
Wilson. Joseph Ice and Richard Dare
Americans, and Ben Zolnler Jr, Ger
man.
Contract miners; August Hainayi
and Emil llainnyt Belginns. Paul Cur
tlss. Adam Pavoll, John Folta aud
Steven kraunoga, Poles. Hen Zcidlcr
sr,, Germany. Matt Nuland and jacob
Lnnde Films.
Seattle. wash. Dec. iO.-wnshlngton
minors, through the local union, have
taken ate.s 10 render families u the
| victims, and those injured In the Car,
bonndo explosion. financial aid. All la
Dor unions In western Washington Will
contribute TO the fund.