Daily new dominion. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 1897-1906, 1900-03-07
WALL OF DEATH
Blocks Entrance to Red Ash Mine,
West Virginia.
DEAD AND DYING BEHIND.
At Least Ten Bodies We're Taken Dat BY
Rescuers.
PROBABLY 40 YET ESToMBED

PROBABLY 40 YET ENT0MBED.
| Altogether the Victims May Number so
Had tile Explosion Occurred an Hour
Later, More Men Would Have Been in
the Mine and the Number of Victims
Greater--Thirty-s of Those Dead
or stiIl In the Mine some Were Too
Mutllafed for Identifcation-Th Cen
| erai Belief Is That the Explosion WAS
! Caused by Dust Being Ignites From
Lamps-sad Scenes at the Mine Mouth.
FIRE CREEK. w. Va. March THE
first reports of the explosion at Red Ash
mine were greatly exaggerated The
latest reports since are that there Were
only 30 miners entombed instead of l25
| Only ten bodies have been taken cut so
far instead of 81, as previously reported,
but it is believed that all of the 10 that
are still in the mine will never be found
alive. The explosion happened as the
men were going into the mine III groups,
/ and IN couples III some instances, and
they were strung along in this manner
for over a mile, so that the work Of res
cue viii require long time There Were
more men near the entrance who es-
capped than were lost.
The Red Ash mine is large drift,
and the explosion occurred near the en-
trance, which was thus closed by the
falling slate, entombing large number
of miners.
The scene of the disaster is between
this place and Thurmond, on the south
branch of the Chesapeake and Ohio rail
way, and every assistance possible was
rendered by the railway company and
| by the adjoining mining towns. Relief
parties from great distances arrived as
soon as possible. State Mine Inspector
Pinckney, with a corps Of experts and
many workmen, has been on the ground.
rendering all assistance possible and de-
voting his attention more toward relief
than to an official investigation as to the
cause of the disaster
J. Fred Effinger, of Staunton, Va.
the principal owner of the mines, spared
no effort in the work of rescue and re-
lief, and his manager, Ferdinand How
| ell, had all the men available at work in
trying to clear away the debris and res.
cue the entombed men. The managers
and bosses of all the mines in this dis
trict came to the seenera soon as posi-
bic and joined III the work of rescue. 1t
is impossible to describe the amount of
work done by this oneentrated army of
men, but they were greatly impeded be-
/ - ~. e h..
blockade at the entrance to the drift.
The large heavy side tires of the en-
trance We're blown out to some distance,
together with lot of heavy timbers.
Even mules Were blown out some dis,
| lance.
The force of such an explosion caused
an immediate falling of the slate and
other debris, so that the entrance was
filed up for a great distance and the
difficulties in digging through it caused
delay in the work of rescue. As many
men as could work at one time were
digging away with all their might and
were relieved in short relays by other
men so as to expedite the work of res
cuing as many as possible
At the first successful strike of the
workers 10 bodies We're recovered
Seven of them were already dead and
the other three We're dying. AS the
miners Were located at different places
in the drift, and the explosion caused
the falling slate to blockade the rooms
i'll different parts of the mine, the work
of rescue mes with one great obstruc-
ton after another. AT the mouth of the
mine the scene was beyond description,
the wives and children and the ,nagh.
bOrs of those who Were known to be en-.
tombed We're there in full force, and
their anxiety and distress Were most i'll.
tense. While they We're all seeking to
help those who were rescued and to get
the mine reopened, yet these bereaved
people We're for the most patt in the way
of the reScuers and had to be held back
from the entrance.
The mine is one of the largest in West
Virginia and was very heavily timbered
in the different drifts. 1t was for this
reason feared that those who had not
been killed by falling debris at the time
of the explosion would be pinioned by
these connecting timbers and suffer
death from suffocation. Air was forced
into the mine by engines on the surface.
which were kept working after the OK
plosion, but it was found that air could
be pumped into the drift for only short
distance, as the coal, stone and earth
shut off all possibility Of reaching the
interior. The pumps and all other ma
chinery in the mine We're demolished, SO
that everything had to be done through
temporary arrangements ON the surface.
After the men got under Roadway In
the work of rescue, they reached the first
party in less than an hour, bnt they
met greater difficulties after that time.
1t was then that kilograms We're sent to
Montgomery, Charleston and other
places for physicians, nurses and cas-
kets, but during the greater part of the
day there was use only for the baskets
The estimates on the number III the
mines when the explosion occurred are
based on the number who entered at a
O'Clock. The manager stated that by s
O'Clock or $50 a. III. there would have
been twice as many men i'll the mines
The population Of this mining village
is only SEQ. All are miners, and the
calamity will reach almost every little
=,