The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1902-07-15

fight the deadly gases every step of the
way. Canvas screens are being used to
wall all the side entrances and rooms so
as to force a direct current of pure air
ahead of the rescuers. Engineer A. G.
Prossen, who, with Mr.. Moore. entered
the mine at the main opening, came to
the surface at Mill Creek and immediate
iy set about securing men and material
to aid in the rescue. 1t will be absolutely
impossible to state the loss of life until
the rescuers reach the scene of the dis
aster, which may be several hours. pos
sibly midnight. Harry Rodgers, the
mine foreman his assistant, William
Blanch: Fire Bosses John Whitney, John
Thomas and John Retallick were not in
the Klondike when the explosion took
place, but started down a short time
later. 1t IS feared all have persisted.
Griffith Powell and Thomas Foster, two
other fire bosses. carried Mr.. Whitney
two hundred yards in the hope of saw
ing his life, when they were compelled
to drop their burden and save them
selves. Mr.. Whitney was unconscious
while being carried by his friends. The
ffteen-year-old son of Harry Rodgers,
| when he heard that his father had been
| overcome with after-damp, started down
toward the Klondike to help rescue him
if possible, and he had no sooner en-
tered the drift when the deadly gas al
| most ovcrcame the lad and he had to
be carried back. His tongue protruded
it's whole length from his mouth and
men had to force his Jaws apart with
q stick to prevent lockiaw. Young
Rodgers, who is employed in the mine,
was among those who escaped through
the Mill Creek shaft.
Several miners lave reached the sur
face who were working near the scene
Of the explosion. They say that they
| passed through a portion of the klondike
district and saw the bodies of at least
fift- men.
The men who came out were foreigners
and were in such an excited condition
that it was impossible to get a connected
story from them. The mine has been
open for about fifty years and is pro-
ducing three thousand tons per day. 1t
is the property of the Cambria Steel
Company, general offices in the Arcade
building, Philadelphia.
The families of the entombed miners
are assembled in large numbers at the
mine opening, but they cannot secure
any definite Information and must endure
a suspense of many hours.
At 11:20 the first four victims were
brought to the surface from the Klondike
section. They were William Robertson,
who was unconscious when found; John
Retallic, alive ard in pretty good shape,
and two unknown Slavs. both alive but
unconscious.
DR.. john B. Lowman, of this city. who
came up with the men, said he passed
twenty-five dead bodies. some of them
in sitting pastures.
The armory Of Company H, - regi-
1nent, \. g., was turned into a charnel
house.
After q conference tonight it was an
nounced that the dead miners would be
brought to the armory tomorrow. Planks
have been laid on chairs in the armory |
and the removal of bodies Will begin at
an carly hour in the morning.
The ambulances of all the undertake :!
ers in the city are at Mill Creek in |
readiness to begin the transfer of bodies.
At midnight President Powell Stack |
house was seen at the mouth of the
mine and gave out the following state
ment:
The disaster is an awful one and came
on US entirely unexpected. The mine
had been inspected only three days ago
and was pronounced in satisfactory con-
dition. In the thirty years that the
mine has been in operation no serious
accidents has occurred The cause is yet
Indefinite, but it is probable it was
caused by gas escaping from the fifth
heading which was closed and was not
being worked because it contained gas,
into the sixth heading.
The number of casualties is now placed :
at 125. No list of the names of the dead
miners can be given, for the majority
of them were foreigners and were
known only by check and not by name. ;
The only way their names will ever be =,
known if the bodies are not recovered in
time for Identification. will be by their ;
families to u.s."
The mine in which the dreadful thing +,
occurred is one of the largest coal mines
in the United States, according to the
statement of officials tonight. From the
entrance in the hill across the river from
the Point to the one at Mill Creek is a
distance of three and three-Quarter
miles The Klondike section in which
the explosion occurred, is about two
miles from the Mill Creek entrance. The
mine is divided into a larger number of
headings, levels and sections. The sec
lions run off to the left and right of the !
headings and are known as rights and
lefts by the miners. The men who es-
capped this afternoon have spent years
workin in it. Otherwise they could
never nave reached the surface. Lights
were out and there was no way for them
to find their way to the top had they not
known the mine perfectly. The few sur
vivors who have escaped from the depths
of the mine describe the condition as
frightful. Outside Of the "Kiondike"
the mines are safe and uninjured. With
in the fatal limits of the mine the havoc
wrought by the explosion is such as to
beggar description. Solid walls of mason
ry three feet through were torn down
as though barriers of paper. The roofs
of the mine We're demolished and not a
door remains standing.
AT two o'clock this morning :
Mayor Penday states that the first body
of the dead miners Would
be brought from the mine at 8 O'Clock. |