The Wilmington daily Republican., 1900-03-07

entrance who escaped than were lost
The explosion occurred near the en-
trance, which was thus closed by tn
falling slate, entombing about so men
The scene Of the disaster is betweel
this place and Thurmond on the Soutl
branch Of the Chesapeake and Ohit
railway. and every assistance possibl,
was rendered by the railway compan,
and by the adjoining mining towns
Relief parties from great distances ar
rived as soon as possible. State MINI
Inspector Pinckney. with corps o.
experts and many workmen. is on thu
ground rendering all assistance pos
sible.
J.. Fred Efflnger, of Staunton, Va.
the principal owner of the mines
spared no effort in the work of rescue
and relief and his manager, Ferdin d
NOVEL;, had all the men available al
work in trying to clear away the debris
and rescue the entombed men. The
managers and bosses of all the mines
in this district came to the scene as
soon as possible and Joined in the work
Of rescue. 1t Is impossible to describe
the amount of work done by this con.
centrated army of men, but they were
greatly impeded because Of the extent
of the enormous blockade at the en-
trance to the shift. The large heavy
side tiers of the entrance were blown
out to some distance, together with
lot of heavy timbers. Even mules
were blown out some distance. The
force of such an explosion caused an
immense falling of the slate and other
debris, SO that the entrance was filled
up for a great distance and the diff
culties in digging through it caused
delay In the work Of rescue. AS many
men as could work at cne time were
digging way 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.
The first successful strike of the
rescuers was about 10 a. M, when ten
bodies were recovered. Seven of them
were already dead and the other three
were dying. As the miners were To-
Gated 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 distress were most intense. While
they were all seeking to help those who
were rescued and to get the mine re-
opened, yet these bereaved people were
for the most part in the way Of the
rescuers and had to be held back from
the entrance.
The scenes around the homes where
the dead bodies are lying have drawn
some of the immense crowd away from
the workmen at the entrance to the
mine. Those working on the rescue
relays say that the scene becomes
more terrible as they get farther into
the mine. The men become almost
faint of heart when they strike a place
filled with dead bodies.
Most Of the bodies that cannot be
identified or recognized have been ,
placed in the large blacksmith shop Of
the Red Ash Coal company, and that
place presents the appearance Of a hor-
rible morgue. Although the bodies are
beyond recognition, yet they
are surrounded by those who are in |
distress and hunting their lost friends.
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 suffoca-
lion. Air was forced into the mine
BY engines on the surface, which were
Kept working after the explosion, but
{ was found that air could be pumped
nt0 the drift for only short distance,
Is the coal, stone and earth shut off
Ill possibility of reaching the interior.
rhe pumps and all other machinery in
he mine were demolished, so that
had to be done through
temporary arrangements on the sur
ace.
The general belief is that the ex-
'losion occurred by contact with dust
when the miners entered in the morn
ng with their lights, and that it was
lot due to fire damp, as has been cur
emily reported.
Nearly all the men employed in the
nine were white. only about one-flfth
icing colored, and most OF the men
we're married and had families In the
title cottages near the tipple Of the
reat mine.
The population Of this mining village
J only 500. All are miners. and the
alamity will reach almost every little
ouse In the mining town.
The following are the only names of
be dead that are obtainable thus far: /:
J. B. Long, fire boss; Brett Long,
Tom Long, trapper: Dodo ,
ong, two boys named Long. James
anders, Charles Fouch, machine run
or; Novelle Dewes, Sam shoup, Carl \
owney, Charles Downey, Andrew J.
rett. John Claire, two Hambrick
rothers. N. G. Ramsey, Crick Stuart,
ohn Day, Berry Tucker. William Day
lying. Thomas Day, Matt Quarreies, IL
ranvilIe Homes. James Hackney, Sam
ackson, Matt Call, Bill Sledge, vallie {
dger, Joe Elliott. Berry Wright, John
TT A Oas l