The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1902-07-11
TERRIBLE LOSS OF LIFE IN
JOHNST0WN MINE DISASTER
Rsscuer8 Driven Back by Deadly Gases---Dead Are
Said to Be Mostly Foreigners
g Of the Victims Unable to Find Their Way to Suface-Boys
Heroic Effort to Rescue His Father

I HTst tnoughL was for the safety of the
men under his charge. With the help
| or Foreman Roberts. an effort was
/ made 20 replace a few of the shat
tered doors. All the while the fire
damp was closing around them From
the galleries into headings warning
and shouting the two men went Rob-
erts fell, but Foster staggered on. In
the midst OF the danger he met Powell
Griffith, a fire boss. He had faced
I what seemed certain death in an effort
TO save his men.
Forward they went, dragging a COM
rade into a possible place of safety
mere giving a word of warning there
until human endurance could stand
the strain no longer.
Exhausted they staggered into a
| heading, where the firedamp had not
entered. There they rested a minute
and then plunged forward. until final
~ they wandered into water level
and through it reached a place of
safety.
Said Tom Foster:
How I escaped I do not know. 1t
seems Ike a terrible nightmare. Hun
dreds of times / gave up hope but
from sheer instinct stumbled forward
until finally l reached a place of
safety"
Dead Mostly Foreigners.
At midnight President Powell Stack
house gave out the following state
ment:
The disaster is an unusual one and
came on US entirely unexpectedly. The
mine had been inspected only three
days ago and was pronounced in salts
factory condition. In the thirty days
that the mine has been in operation
no serious accident has occurred. The
cause is yet indefinite, but I believe
IT was caused. by gas escaping from
the fifth heading. which was closed
and was rot being worked because il
containing gas in the sixth heading.
The number of casualties is now
placed at 125. No list of the names of
the dead can be given, for the major
ity of them were foreigners and We're
known only by check and not by
name The only other way names will
ever be known, if at all, viii be by
their families sending their names
TO u.s.
The mine in which the explosion oc-
CURED Is one of the largest coal mines
in the United states, according 10 the
statement of officials tonight. From
the entrance in the hill across the
river from the point to the one at Mill
Creek is distance of three and three
quarter miles.
The KIopdike section, in which the
explosion occurred, is about two miles
from the Mill Creek entrance. The
mine is divided into a large number of
headings, levels and sections. The
sections ran off to the left and right
of the headings and are known as
rights and lefts by the miners.
The men who escaped this afternoon
are familiar with the mine. They spent
years working in it. Otherwise they
could never have 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 per-
fectly. 4
Work of Rescue Begun.
It was nearly u o'clock before the
first four live men and one corpse were
brought up and laid on mattresses,
rugs and comforts on the ground. One
of the living was William Robertson.
They We're not left long out doors, as
it was too cold, but were carried into
the boiler house nearby and the doc
tors went to work on them, giving
them restoratives and administering
oxygen.
There was a great crowd around the
shaft, most of whom had been waiting
for the appearance of the rescue par
ties from six to ten hours, and some
even longer. The mine officials had
stretched thick ropes in a semi-circle
around the boiler house, the ropes be-
ers.
At 1915 o'clock this morning Gen
eral Manager Moore, who with Super
intendent Robinson had penetrated to
A considerable distance in the Klon-
dixie. had reached a telephone station
and notified the men at the main en-
trance that he had recovered fifty
three bodies up to that time and he
had only been in the right rooms.
From the brief report it was under
stood that Mr.. Moore had gone as far
as he could without endangering his
life from fire damp. and had decided
To go TO the Mill Greek entry from
there without further search.
Further news came a few moments
later that Mine superintendent Robin
son. who had gone into the mine with
General Manager Moore, had been
overcome with fire damp and was un-
able 10 continue He had been carried
to the Mill Creek entry
AS near as can be learned. less than
twelve Americans were killed. The
rest were Hungarians and Slavs.
Harry Rogers, the foreman of the
mine. is undoubtedly dead.
That many of the men who were
thought last night to be stu in the
mine will be able to survive until
reached by the rescuing party. is not
thought probable. Immediately sue
ceeding the explosion the air all over
the big mine became so foul that even
with the huge pumps working 70 their
full capacity and the air they supplied
turned into the proper channels to
reach the imprisoned men. none of the
mine officials would hold out any hope
for the lives of those thought to be
still in the mine.