The evening herald. [volume] (Shenandoah, Pa.) 1891-1966, 1899-12-11

ed or BIackcned beyond RecoEni-
tion-Nenriy Al the victims smoth-
cred by the Gases and the Damp.
Coronado. Wash, Dec lion Sat
urday there was q terrific explosion in
the mine of the Carbon Hill Coal com
pany. The explosion occurred just as
the men were preparing TO leave the
shaft at noon Seventy-siX men were I'm
the mine at the time Several hours
elasped before efforts could be made
to enter the mine The surviving rela-
tives at once hocked around the shaft,
creating a terrible scene with their
loud lamentations. It was all that ID.
T. Davies superintendent Of the mine.
could do to keep the friends of the
doomed miners and their wives from
plunging mauly into the tunnel S
mouth. The total number killed is 30,
all the others having been taken out
alive.
The first five bodies to be brought up
the long incline were those of Watt
Jones, Joe Thomas, Evan Lewis, Rich
ard Dare and Daniel Davis. Watt
Jones was the chief starter Daniel
Davis was a son of the foreman of the
shaft None of the bodies were at first
recognizable, because the faces of the
dead men We're Charred and blackened
beyond recognition. 1t was only after
they were conveyed to the morgue and
the corpses were washed that it could
be told who they were.
Men went down in little parties and
searched for the living as fast as the
deadly damp would allow progress.
Those who were brought TO the surface
were mufiled i'm sacl~ng 70 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.
All of the men killed, or nearly all.
were smothered by the gases and the
damp, although some died more easily
from the shock of the concussion or
from being blown against the walls
of the tunnel.
James Conway, now lying wrapped
in oil silk, says he was caught in the
shock on the main gangway. He was
the first man to come out of the mine
His story was:
81 was just about ready when Watt
Jones called out: Let her go, jim .
and all of a sudden | thought a ton of
dynamite had burst, the force of the
shock throwing me down and a flame
| of fire seemed to surround me.
| crawled out through it on my hands
and knees as well as l could until
| reached the engine.
For Gods sake pull out quickly !
begged, for | felt as though | was
burning to death, and l could hardly
breathe. II did not take much urging,
| for the black damp was already begin
ming to smother us, and I was hauled
out on the engine, as near as | can
| remember"
The last two men taken out alive
were rescued at 8 o'clock yesterday
morning. They are Peter Merp a
| Frenchman, and Michael Knish, a
| Pole. After Knish had recovered from
the effects of the suffocating black
| damp he said:
81 was working on the fourth cross
cut when the explosion came. After
| that | went to sleep and somebody
came and woke me up and took me
out of there"
That was the total measure of his
| period of consciousness. lie had lain
| in the cool depth over is hours and
had not the least conception of this
| length of time.
On the other hand Merp, the French
| man, had been blindly cropping around
| in the darkness for the most part of
/ the night on his hands and knees,
seeking for some aven of escape.
| Governor Rogers will conduct a
searching examination as to the cause
of the explosion. The question of in
sufficient ventilation of the mine in
accordance with the state law will be
| thoroughly gone into. II has been
| found impossible to secure an impair
tial cOroner's jury in the mining dis
tTicts and Coroner HOskel has gone to
| Tacoma to select his jurors.