The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1900-03-07
Leads ali North Carolina News Circulation

/ falling of the slate and other debris so
| that the entrance was filled up for a
| great distance and the difficulties in dig
| gjng through it caused delay in the work
| of rescue AS many men 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 rescuing as much as possible.
| BODIES FOUND AT TEN
| The first successful strike of the res
cuers was about ten Oclock a. M, when
| ten bodies were recovered. Seven of them
| were already dead and the other three
were dying. AS the miners were loca-
| ted at different places in the drift and
| the explosion caused the falling slate
to blockade the rooms in different parts
of the mine the work of rescue met with
one great obstruction after another
At the mouth of the mine the scene
was beyond description, the wives and
children, and the neighbors of those who
were known to be entombed were there
in full force and their anxiety and dis
tress were most intense. While they were
all seeking to help those who were res
cued and to get the mine re-opened, yet
| part 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 connected timbers and suffer death
from suffocation.
AIR FORCED IN
Air was forced into the mine by engines
on the surface which were kept working
after the explosion, but it was found that
air could be pumped into the drift for
only a short distance as the coal, stone
and earth shut off all possibility of reach
ing the interior. The pumps and all
other machinery in the mine were de-
moiished so that everything had to be
done through temporary arrangements
on the surface.
kilograms were sent to Montgomery,
Charleston and other places for physi-
clans, nurses and caskets, but during the
greater part of the day there was only
use for the caskets. All work was stop
ped in the surrounding mines and the
people within radius of many miles as
sembled on the grounds of the Red Ash
Company
Had the accident occurred an hour lat
er many more would have been entomb-
ed in the mines.
ESTIMATES OF MEN.
The estimates of the number in the
mines when the explosion occurred are
based on the number who entered at
o'clock. The manager stated that by
o'clock or $50 a. m. there would have
been twice as many men in the mines
The population of this mining village
is only 500. All are miners and the ca
| lamity will reach almost every little
! house in the mining town. Food was lib
orally supplied to the relays of workmen
in the recruiting party, but many of the
women who could get no word of COM
| fort refused to eat to go to their
| homes.
125 VICTIMS.
At a late hour tonight the most re-
! liable estimate obtained puts the num-
Der of the victims at 125. So far as
could be learned there were thirty seven
| dead bodies in the village tonight that
have been taken out of the mine during
| the day and there are also parts of hu-
| man bodiec or different nIaces raneIed
,n"n D'uioo a. p''0''
Tho ea,,a,':,osa nn tta o,,,,, o,,,o, of +,o doaa
obtainabie late tonight:
B. b. LONG. fire boss.
@ @BREI % %LONG, worklnah'
DODO LONG
Two boys named Long.
JAMES SANDERS.
| CHARLES FOUCII, machine runner
NOVEILE DEWES.
| SAM SHOUP.
Ca1i ChnhLnS 60uNEv NV HEi'
| ANDREW ! PRETT.
JOHN CLAIRE.
NC wv PtWSFV
| CRICK STUART
JOHN DAY.
RIM WMII,u ~ NV hE" idvinp>
| THOMAS DAY
MAT QuARRELES
IHnS. IHnEs iiiiI u1CKNgV IIGNiN''