The Hocking sentinel. [volume] (Logan, Ohio) 1871-1906, 1902-07-17
MANY BURIED ALIVE.
HORRIBLE CATASTROPHE IN a
PENNSYLVANIA MINE.
More than I25 Miners Thought to
Have Died Awful Deaths from tx
pIosion of Fire Damp-The Survivors
Tell Tales of Frightfui Conditions.

BY an exolusIoa il the Rolling Mill
mine of til. Cambria Steel Company III
12:2O o'clock Thursday afternoon an ul-
! ascertained number Of miners nave lost
their lives. Ii is estimated the list ci
dead will reach fro,n l2J to 2Oo.
Ii was rp:nored at first that 800 had
| perished. but later reports show that 4oJ
I out Of the 6,n endangered men are safe.
This appalling disaster is only less
! frichtful than the awful calamity Of May
81. 1883. The whole city of JOhnstowD
Is i'll mourning. After damp prevented
rescue parties from making rapid head
| way.
The mining officials of the Cambria
| company say the explosion WAS caused
by tlre damp.
An American miner who escaDed tells
of seeing young Hungarian recently
hunting for fire damp with his lamp along
the cracks in the mine wall.
Statement by Mine President.
President Powell Stackhouse was seen
Mt the mouth of the mine and gave out
tie following statement:
The disaster is an unusual one aac
came on us entirely unexpectedly. The
mine had been inspected only three days
ago and was pronounced in satisfactory
condition. The cause is yet in letnite.
but believe it was caused by gas escap
ing from the fifth heading. which was
closed and WAS not being worked because
it contained gas, into the sixth heading.
Disaster in the "Klondike."
The catastrophe occurred in the section
of the mine known among the miners az
the 'Klondike." 1t is the sixth section
west of the south main heading and is .
mile and a half from the main entrance
of the mine.
There are two openings to the mine
one, the Westmont. near the stone bridge
OF the Pennsylvania Railroad, the other
at Mill creek, four miles away. All the
mines in the vicinity We're closed as soon
as news of the disaster got out. and their
miners were at the scene OF the explo
sion ready 10 help in the rescue work
The scenes AT both openings of the mine
We're narrowing and indescribable.
Two miners who came out of the mine
at the Mill creek opening estimate about
800 of the 600 Men at work in thc Cam
bria drift got out at that opening.
Survivors Report Frightful Cond itions
The few survivors who have escaped
from the depths of the mine describe the
condition as frightful in their nature. Out
SIDE of the "Klondike' the mines ar,
safe and uninjured. Within the fata
limits of the mine the havoc wrought b,
the explosion is such as beggar descrip
tion. Solid walls of masonry three feet
%hvo Il. ha
riers OF paper. The roofs of the mini
were demolished and not a door semain,
standing.
The men who escaped are familiar will
the mine. They have spent years work
ing in it. Otherwise they could never
have reached the surface. Lights wer,
out and there was no way for them (,
find their way to the top had they no
known the mine perfectly.
John Hewlett at the time of the scci
dent was at second right. room sixteen
two miles back in the mines. The ex
plosion, he said. was at right six. abou
100 yards from where he was working
There were six of lis together. and al
soon as we heard the explosion We pullet
up stakes and got out as quick as posi-
BILE. Richard Bennett was one of III,
men with me. After Bennett got ou
he went back again. After the explosion
We could not zee our hands beforee1n
until We reached the main heading. L
appeared to be a smoky. stinky substance
whether gas or damp could not tell. l.
was terrible whatever il was
Two young men who We're AZ work il
the ''Klondike" when the explosion oc
Cured. escaped 10y way Of IN old and un
used air shaft. They We're dizzy ant
sick with the awful damp when the,
We're found. and after their recovery the,
told a horrible story of how they hat
crawled over the dead bodies of theii
comrades. They could not say how man,
are dead. but from their tale it is almos'
certain that there are no living men il
the mine at the present time. Tom Eos
ter. n mine boss. and Powell Griffith.
fire boss. also escaped. and they tell tn,
same horrible tale Of the catastrophe.