The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1900-05-05


arrive in Salt Lake last night, Their
was a sorrow-stricken little knot o
anxious men and women collected upoI
the platform Of the depot. Despite tn,
fact that the connecting train left SEQ
field twenty minutes before the min,
horror occurred, the anxious watcher.
hoped against hope that there per
chance might be some one upon the
train who could bring tidings of theil
loved ones. Upon the arrival of the
train forty-five minutes overdue, the
hope was shattered, a roundup OF
the passengers failing to produce any
one from the scene.
Then as it was announced that a spe-
cial had left Cotton bearing the wound
ed, and would arrive at 1890 a. M. the
crowd melted away to besiege the Of
! fees and Paymaster E. L. Carpenter
ard the newspapers uptown for fur
/ Their particulars. with the oft-repeated
query, Have no lists of killed come
in YETI"
Among the numerous callers at The
Herald was one pathetic case in par
tiCular in the person of r. p. Williams
of 81 South Fifth West, who. having
just heard the news at s p. M, drove
up to the office in a light cart which
conveyed his wife and three little
mites of children. Williams said that
he had two brothers and a like num-
Der of brothers-in-law employed in No
4 mine. AT 1890 Williams and his
family were upon the depot platform
awaiting with that silent knot of people
for the advent of the special with its
gruesome load.
Owing to the failure of the electric
lights in the vicinity of the depot, the
place was practically in total dark
ness, lighted up with the occasional
lantern of the switchmen and the
lamps of the St. Marks ambulance and
the patrol wagon, which had been sum
moned to transport the living victims
of the disaster to the hospital
As soon as the whistle Of the special
was heard the crowd of some hundred
people surged down to the track, and
before the engine with it's two cars
had come to a standstill. the train was
boarded by as many as could grasp
the hand rails.
Despite the firm attitude of the po-
lice officers who were present. several
men had entered the car before the
doors could be locked against them,
while women stood wringing their
hands upon the platform, asking in
fearful voices whether Tom or Will
was among the injured.
Inside the car an appalling sight was
in evidence. There stretched upon has
tily prepared pallets lay four coal dust
begrimed forms, attired in their rough
shoes and clothing, which they wore
at the time they were stricken down by
the fatal blast. over in the northeast
corner lay William Boyter, jr., with
his head and face save for hole cut
through which to breathe, swathed in
oandages and oiled silk. He was badly
burned and suffering from bruises all
over his body.
Next to him lay Harry Taylor in
nearly as bad condition. Across the !
aisle lay father and son in the persons
If Alex and John L. Wilson The for
ner at the time of the explosion was |
standing thirty feet distant from the |
mouth of the shaft. The elder seemed
o be the only man who was conscious
If his surroundings although suffer- !
ng from a broken leg, severe contusions
md possible internal injuries.
John L. Wilson, the young man. was
he most seriously injured of the quar-
cite, having borne the full brunt of the
at the mouth of the tunnel.
nd being blown 200 feet down the can
on, with the result that the back of
us skull was crushed like an eggshell.
o much so that Drs. A. ]. Holnquist of
Helper and Bascom, who ACCOMPANIED
he injured men to town from the scene
the catastrophe, entertained grave
oubts as to his recovery.
Owing to the limited ambulance ser
ice at the command of the doctors but
wo men were taken to the hospital in
ne ambulance and the patrol wagon,
nder the direction of DR.. Bascom,
lille his colleague remained in the car
ne space of seventy minutes until the
etuTn of the convevances.
My God" said Rob Beatie, the man
ger of the Winter Quarters mercan-
lie establishment, as he stepped off
he special Il cannot bear even to
link about it. 1t is an awful thing.
nd affects everybody at Scofield. Not
My are fathers taken away, but whole .
antilles, for the boys, as soon as thew
re old enough to work, earn a living
l the mine. | can't say just how il !.
I heard the roar distinctly
own at the store, and knew at once
hat had taken place. When l left !
cofleld they had just started to take
ut the dead, and it was an awful
ght." 9
Mr.. Beatie, after a pause, proceeded
J, give his opinion as to the cause of .
lie accident. He said: LAS far as '
an make out, it was caused by an ey- {
osion of coal dust, which had become
,nited by blast If it had been con G
cen so bad, but it extended to No. l I
18th the result that both ends of the !
lnnels .caved in. entombing all those l
no were inside" 4
When asked to give an estimate of n
lie number of men who were shut I'm Il
that awful death trap, he said that b
was not prepared to do so, but that
2 would not be at all surprised if the q
eath roll exceeded 200 c
In the course of a conversation with s
l.. Carpenter, who met the special n
the depot. he stated that the acct
INT was the last thing looked for. as n
e mine had never been considered in S
dangerous condition. n
The object of Beatie's visit to Salt
axe was to purchase some ITS suits
+ the bodies of the dead men. Mr..
eaue' who has at one stroke lost nu- g
erous friends and relatives in tho avt-
j catastrophe, was too much over
rought with the trying experiences of
e day and the trip up to Salt Lake Il