The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1901-11-25
WEST MINE VICTIMS
BODIES OF THE EIGHT OFFICIALS
RECOVERED.
HAD BEEN MISSING so HOURS.
FELL BEFORE THE DEADLY
WHITE NINE DAMP.

Three Appeared to Have Died Pain
Iesslys Two Had Arms CIasped
Around Each Other-Mine Rats
Had Mutilated BOdies-snow Cow
cred the Bodies as They Were
Brought Back to POcahontas-The
Baby Mine Fire stilI Rages and Its
Extinction a Difficult Problem.
Bluefield w. Va, Nov. 24.-The
dead bodies of the lost party of eight
we'll known mining men, who entered
West mine of the Pocahontas Galleries
Company on Friday morning last, 1T
II o'clock. were recovered at 1245
o'clock to-day. At o'clock this morn
ing a rescuing party numbering forty
persons went in the main entrance,
bratticing the mine as they etered, in
order to improve the circulation of the
air. They had reached a distance Of
$500 feet from the entrance when they
encountered such quantities of white
damp that it was impossible to pro-
ceed further. Retracing their steps
they decided to make another attempt
from the Tug river entrance, some six
They went in this entrance about 1OSO
o'clock and. after going a distance Of
some 600 feet, found the dead bodies
of A. S. Hurst, chief inspector: Bob
oldham, sub-inspector, and Frazier q.
Bell, mining engineer, all huddled to-
gether. From their positions they
must have met death suddenly, and
xxyffh ~ 1F win
face down, with no signs of a struggle.
Hurst had made a pillow of his coat
on which his head rested. The bodies
of the other five members of the party,
superintendent of Mines Walter OMal-
ley Joseph Cardwell, superintendent
of the Shamokin Coal and Coke Com
pany; r. st. Clair, second assistant
inspector; State Mine Inspector Preece
and Maurice St. Clair, sub-inspector,
were found several hundred feet back
in the mine, the three bodies lying
some little distance apart. Bob St.
Clair and Joseph Cardwell were lying
with arms clasped around each other.
cold in death. The bodies Of 0'Malley.
Maurice st. Clair and Preece
were discolored and bruised about the
being very plain they made desperate
effort at retracing their steps to better
air but already had advanced too far
into the deadly damp to escape alive.
Three Might Have Escaped.
It is said by members of the rescuing
party that Hurst, Bell and Oldham
would have hardly lost their lives but
for the fact that they lost their way,
entering the chamber $50 feet to the
left or near one of the passages from
the Baby mine in which the white
damp had accumulated in great guam
tity. The bodies were brought down
from the mines in four wagons, bedded
with straw and covered from the snow
which has been coming down all day,
reaching the Pocahontas wholesale gro
Gerry house. situated just in the rear
of the union station, about 5 p. m,
where they will be prepared for burial.
and having been attacked by mine rats,
present II gruesome spectacle.
The fire is still burning in the Baby
mine, and the mine officials seem at a
loss to understand how it can be fin
ally extinguished. The only way, it is
believed, is by flooding. This will be an
enormous undertaking as the mine is a
drift mine. Mine experts claim there is
a great danger of explosions by flood
ing the mine, as when water comes in
contact with the fire the generation OF
gas will be SO great as to possibly blow
away the whole side of the mountain.