The age-herald., 1901-11-25
Bodies of Nine Men Are Re- covered from the
 Baby Mine
DEATH CAME Qy|TE SUDDEN
Bodies Present a Grewsome Sight, Having Been Attacked by Mine Rats-Difficult Question How
 to Extlnguish Fire.

Bluefield, ". Va, November A-The dead bodies of the lost party of eight well-known mining men who entered West mine of the Pocahontas Galleries Company on Friday morning last at Il o'clock were recovered at 12:45 o'clock today.
 At 2 o'clock this morning rescuing party numbering forty persons entered at the main entrance, bratticing the mine as they went in order to improve the cir culation of the air. They had reached distance of $500 feeet from the entrance when they encountered such quantities of white damp that 1t was impossible to proceed further. Retracing their steps they decided to make another attempt from the Tug river entrance, some six miles across the Flat Top mountain.
 They went in this entrance about 10:3O o'clock, and after going a distance of 600 feet found the dead bodies of A. s. Hurst, chief inspector; Bob Oldham, sub-inspec- tor, and Frazier G. Bell, mining engineer, all huddled together. From their posi- tions they must have met death suddenly and without pain. All of them were ly- ing face down, with no sign of a strug- gle. Hurst had made pillow of his coat, on which his head rested
 Location of Bodies.
 The bodies of the other five members of the party-superintendent of Mines Walter O'Ma1ey, Joseph Cardwell, Super intendent of the Shamokin Coal and Coke Company; R. F. St. Clair, second assis- tant inspector; State Mine Inspector Price and Maurise St. Clair, sub-inspec- tor, were found several hundred feet back in the mine, three of the 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 O'Maley, Maurice St. Clair and Price were discol- ored and bruised about the face, showing signs of a struggle, it being very plain to see they made a desperate attempt at retracing their steps to better air, but already had advanced too far into the deadly damp to escape alive.
 It is said by members of the rescuing party that Hurst, Bell and Oldham would hardly have lost their lives but for the fact that they lost their way entering a chamber 15O feeet to the left, or near | one of the passages from the Baby mine which the deadly white damp had &C., | cumulated in great quantity.
 Present Grewsome Sight.
 The bodies were brought down from the mines in four wagons, bedded with straw and covered from ,ne snow which has been coming down all day, reaching the Pocahontas wholesale grocery house at p. m., where they will be prepared for burial. The bodies are very much swollen and having been attacked by mine rats, present a gruesome spectacle. The fire Is still burning in Baby mine l and the mine officials seem at a loss to understand how it will be finally extin- guished. The only way 1t is believed Is by flooding. This will be an enormous undertaking as the mine is a drift mine Mine experts claim there is great dan- ger of explosions by flooding the mine, as when water comes in contact with the | fire the generation of gas vill be so great as to possibly blow away the whole side | of the mountain