Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1902-01-25

works A. long rumbling noise was
heard and this was followed by shock
that shook the whole country round
about the locality of the mine. Some
people thought that there had been an
earthquake shock. A second later deb
rs and timbers were hurled from the
mouth of the shaft and the shaft house
itself was given a terrible wrenching.
The guiding for the cages was torn away
ard the other machinery was damaged.
The cages. could not be operated for sew
eral hours after the catastrophe. The
ventilation gans Were set in motion as
soon after the accident as it was posi-
bic to get them in molten and volunteers
made their way into the mine to rescue
those injlred or mayhap dying. There
were about 100 miners III the bank at the
time of the explosion and 1t was known
that number of them must be dead,
but the real awfulness Of the disaster
was not disclosed until volunteers We're
enabled 10 go below after the repairing
tc the staging. PROSTATE forms We're
seen about the foot of the shaft, but the
rescue party could not proceed far into
the mine on account of the terribly foul
air. All of the rentilating doors that
control the passage of the air in the
mine had been blown out and these had
to be replaced and repaired before 1t was
possible to penetrate to the farther en-
tries Of the mine. The explosion oc-
Cured in the second east entry. The
west part of the mine was free from the
explosion or accident and all of the min
ers in this part escaped.
AS soon as the rescuing party could
penetrate into the mine the awful re-
suits of the explosion and it's attend
ing damps began to be realized. Body
after body was found until the num-
Der of dead listed had reached twenty.
The injured had been taken out and
cared for and this number is about
double tina. of the dead.
The news of the disaster was not
slow in spreading throut the country
and soon a great crowd began collect
ing about the shaft house. The scenes
at this hour can not be described.
There were about one hundred and
twenty five miners In the pit at the
time of the explosion and all of these
had relatives at the mining camp
about q mile distant. All these hur-
ried to the scene and the uncertainty
and the, grief and the fears of the wo-
men and the children looking for their
loved ones would have moved stone.
The good Judgment Of the manage
me of the mine was in evidence here,
hot FER, and soon the relatives were
pr il,ed upon to leave the shaft and
to- turn to their homes. In this way
th Great crowd was lessened and the
No <1tso
-~oroner Charles Foehlinger, Sheriff
Crickett County Attorney Dewitt, q
corps of physicians from Oskaloosa
and Eddyville, undertakers from Os-
kaloosa and a number of business men
from the city were on the scene of the
accident between and o'clock. II
was after o'clock before 1t was pos
sible to remove the bodies from the
mine. Sheriff Cricket directed the
of the bodies to a temporary
morgue, that had been established un
der direction of the coroner in the
company store about mile distant
from the shaft where the accident oc-
CURED, The coroner received the
bodies here and the work of identifi-
cation was commenced. The good
work of the management was shown
again when the bodies We're removed
from the mine. Blankets were sent
into the mine and the corpses were
carefully wrapped in these before they
were hoisted to the surface. where
ready hands received them and trans
ferred them to wagons or stretchers
that conveyed them to the improvised
Here the coroner and his as
sistants excluded all but the helpers
and those in authority and the work of
caring for the bodies was accomplish
ed quite rapidly. The mine clothing
was cut from the bodies as they lay in
a long row in the center of the store.
The bodies We're bathed and prepared
for the several homes about the mining
camp and later We're taken to the
places prepared to receive them The
in some cases was a diff
ficut matter on accaunt of the terrible
burning a number of the victims had
received. The head of one victim had
been almost entirely destroyed. Those
who had been in the near vicinity of
juries and those who had been more
remote were freer from burns and
bruises.
The, Lost Creek Coal Company is a
composed largely of Oska-
loosa business men, H. L. Spencer, f,
C. Lofland, o. S. Ellis and F.. E. |
Green being among the heaviest stock
holders. The company has been In
successful operation for a number of
years. The mine where the accident |
occurred is known as No. and has
been in operation about eighteen
months. 1t was always known as
good property and no thought of the
possibility of such an accident has
ever been entertained.
Many of the men killed in the ex-
plosion were old miners who had been
with the company thru long term
Of service.
The inquest of the coroner is in pro-
yress at the scene of the disaster to-
day.
cRANRoRNE's STATEMENT.