Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1900-03-10

Montgomery. w. Va, March IA
disastrous explosion occurred at the
Red Ash mine. at Fire Creek, shortly
after the miners went to work early
Tuesday morning. 1t is impossible to
estimate the full extent of the loss of
life and property
The general belief is that the eXplo-
sion occurred by contact with the dust
when the miners entered with the lights,
and that 1t was not due to fire damp,
as has been currently reported. Nearly
all the men employed in the mine were
white, only about one-fifth being COL
ored, and most of the men were married
and had families in the little cottages
near the tipple Of the great mine.
The population of this mining village
is only 500. All are miners. and the
calamity will reach almost every little
house in the mining town.
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.
It Is impossible to describe the amount
Of work done by the concentrated army
of men who came in large parties from
far and near, but they were greatly i'm
peded because of the extent Of tn.
enormous blockade at the entrance to -. q
drift. The large, heavy sides of the en-
trance were blown out to some distance,
together with lot Of other heavy tim
bers. Even mules were blown out some
distance. The force of such an ex-
l,>I. r,1 H.
slate and other debris so that the en-
trance was filled 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 tir.e
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 many as possible.
At the mouth of the mine the scene was
beyond description. The wives and
children and the neighbors Of those who
We're 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
rescued and to get the mine reopened,
yet those bereaved people We're for the
most 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 tim
bered in the different drifts. 1t was for
this reason fear that those who had not
been killed by falling debris at the time
of the explosion would be pinioned by
those connected timbers and suffer death
from suffocation. Air was forced into
the mine by engines on the surface,
which were kept working after the ex-
plosion, 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 reaching the
interior. The pumps and all other ma
chinery in the mine were demolished, so
that everything had to be done by a
temporary arrangement on the surface.
After the men got under headway in
the work of rescue they reached the first
party in less than an hour, but they met
greater difficulties after that time. It
was then that telegrams We're sent out
for physicians, nurses and caskets, but
during the greater part of the day there
was use only for the caskets. All work
was stopped in the surrounding mines
of the district
The estimates Of the number in the
mine when the explosion occurred are
based on the number who entered at Z
o'clock. The manager stated that by s
or $3.50 a. m. there would have been twice
as many men in the mine.
The most reliable estimate obtainable
puts the number Of the victims at so.
Those working on the rescue relays say
that the scene became more terrible as
they got farther into the mine. The
men become almost faint of heart when
they strike place filled with dead
bodies