The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1899-12-24
Others Supposed to Have Been Burned
or Suffocated by Smoke or the
Dread After Damp.
MANY PATHETIC SEEM
SORROWFUL CHRISTMAS FOR A LIT
TIE MINING HAMLET.
Explosion Was Caused by a Naked
Light, Which Was Used in Spite
of Repeated Warnings.

scarcely any hope that any man In the
pit is alive"
These were the words Of Mine Inspector
James Blick, uttered by him at 10 o'clock
tonight as he stood at the mouth of Braz-
| nell mine in whose depths thirty men are
entombed. That they will get out alive is
| exceedingly improbable, and tonight
mothers, wives and sisters mourn them as
dead. Since early this morning the i'm
prisoned men have been without any air or
food. They are separated from eager
searchers by walls Of debris, which fell
when an explosion took place and blocked
the road to liberty.
AT 7:3o this morning a death-dealing blast
was loosed. Owing to a shortage of cars,
less than the usual number of men en-
tered the pit The mine is that OF the
Stockdale Coal Company, and lies four
miles from Brownsville and fourteen from
Uniontown. 1t is known as the Braznell
mine and lies near a station of that name
on the Redstone Creek branch Of the
Pennsylvania Railroad. AT o'clock this
morning Fire Boss Jas. Radcliffe went
through the mine as usual and found gas
or fire damp in two places. He detected
about four inches of gas in the main entry
about 100 yards from the main shaft and
about an equal quantity in room on a
side entry a short distance away. The fire
boss reported the presence of gas, but in
formed the Superintendent that 1t was all
right for the men to enter. The men were
lowered into the mine In the cage descend
ing the main shaft which is vertical
From forty to fifty men had entered the
mine and dispersed through it when the
gas was ignited I'm some manner not yet
discoyerable A tremendous explosion oc-
Cured. It's force must have reached every
man in the mine The cage in the main
shaft, which was at the bottom, was blown
into splinters, and the hoisting machinery
was wrecked. About 100 yards from the
main entrance was an air shoft, also yerti-
cal and brick lined. 1t was torn by the
blast and the bricks were blown to the
very top.
A ROAR THAT TOLD OF DEATH.
Altogether there were from forty-fve to
fifty workers in the mine. The men de-
scended in the cage Of the main shaft
from eight to ten at time. A moment
after the fifth load had descended there
was a roar thai shook the immense iron
tipple above tne main shaft and reverber-
ated from the hillsides. There was no
need to tell what had happened. Frantic
women and frightened children dashed out
of their dwellings just across the railroad
track and rushed toward the mouth of the
shaft. They were driven back by the
smoke that poured up from the mine. A
minute later everything was quiet. The
~, CO and ha fa c
hushed. There was no possibility of aid
Ing the imprisoned men through the main
shaft and a rush was made for the venti-
lating shaft $50 feet away. This 112 feet
deep, bricked inside to strengthen it and
had iron steps from top to bottom. A
shout came from below and it was known
that not all were killed, but who had
drawn the few prizes in the lottery of life
and death? The anxious ones at the top
waited a few moments for the men to ap-
pear; they did not come, and investiga-
ton was made. 1t was discovered that the
explosion had torn away the brick lining
Of the shaft, taking with it about twenty
feet of the iron steps. The men below were
In a trap. Promptly rope and bucket
was lowered an the men hauled up. The
first was Albert Messe, thirteen years old.
He was unconscious and was tied in the
bucket Tenderly he was lifted out and
remedies applied, but without avail. He
gasped once or twice and was dead, VIC
tim Of after damp. That told the whole
story Of disaster. Fire damp had exploded
in the mine.
FOURTEEN RESCUED ALIVE.
Fourteen men were rescued by the
bucket and rope. All of them were sick
ard some half-fainting. They were given
and went to their homes, sew
eraI having to be carried. No more men
appearing at the foot Of the air shaft, at
tention was turned to the main shaft,
from which the afterdamp was pouring
out in a thick volume. The fan was Grip
pied and the cages would not work. The
first thing to do was to start the fan. This
was accomplished by 10:30 a. m. and the
afterdamp began to force its way out of
the ventilating shaft. The brattices in the
mine which guide the air through the
workings had been wrecked by the explo-
sion and much Of the force of the fan was
lost.
Gradually the air around the main shaft
became purer and at 3 o'clock the first
body Of rescuers descended. the cages hav-
ing been temporarily repaired. When they
got within ten feet of the bottom the cage
stopped. mass Of wreckage was piled
up at the bottom OF the shaft. With their
faces blackened and burned and their
bodies distorted laid seven men. The res
cuers started to clear away the debris.
but 1t was slow. hard work. as the force
Of the explosion had been Titanic. Pit
Boss william Thomas and three men went
back one hundred feet to find the source.