Waterbury Democrat., 1902-07-11
TAKING OUT DEAD
Nearly 100 Bodies Recovered
 Early This Morning.
DEAD PILED IN CONFUSION

ceiye Bodies of the 200 That Are Es- ti1nated to be Dead-The JohnstoWn Disaster Brings Desolation and Gr1ef to Many Households-Some of Those Who Attempted the Work of Rescue Also Met Their Death.
 Johnstown, Pa, July 11.-Eighty- seven bodies had been recovered rom the Cambria mine up to o'clock this morning, while the heroic work of res cue has not penetrated nearly to the seat of the disaster. Bodies now lie piled in confusion aboard cars ready to be brought into the city. A tenn porary morgue has been improvised in the Johnstown armory of Co H, Fifth regiment, N. G. P, where all will be brought as soon as they are taken from the mine.
 Latest estimates of the number or dead fix it at or about POO. The WorK of preparing the armory for the recep-. ton of the dead bodies was started during the night and all is now in readiness. All the Johnstown under takers have been pressed into service. The explosion horribly mangled the ~ictims. Heads are missing from many of the bodies, while all are burned and blackened almost beyond recognition.
 Grief stricken crowds finger about the mine entries. Sleep has visited none of them. No attempt at identi- fcation was made at the mine. That will have to be postponed until the bodies are put in presentable shape at the morgue-
 That many of the men who were thought last night to be still in the Cambria mine will be able to survive until reached by the rescuing party is not thought probable. Immediate ly succeeding the explosion the air all over the big mine became so foul that, even with the huge pumps working to their full capacity and the air they supplied turned into the proper chan nels 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.
 Up until o'clock this morning only four men had been taken to hospitals. They were at the Memorial, hospital controlled by the Cambria Steel and Iron company, but open to all victims of the accident The injured men are: John Rotalick. fire boss. unconscious and badly burned, but expected to re- cover.
 Henry Rodgers. mine boss, badly burned and unconscious from noXious gases inhaled.
 Valentine Schalla. known by check M3s5. unconscious, but expected to re- cover
 William Robinson. unconscious from gas, expected to recover.
 These four men were made as com fortable as possible and every care given them by the regular house phy- sicians and other doctors who gener- ously volunteered their services.
 Just as day broke through the pal of fog, the grim details of the awfu, disaster dawned with renewed force on the thousands waiting for authentic news as to the extent of the explosion Forty-seven dead bodies. all contorteG and many blackened and burned, lit stretched on rough slabs at the i'm provised morgue in the armory build ing. Forty more are in cars in tn, mine ready to be borne out as fast a. room can be made for them. Last es inmates of the number of dead redtc the fatal scope of tEe calamity Blu these,i while fixing it at around 100. ar not conclusive. General Superintendent Robinson would not say at this tim whether there were 100 Sor 300 dead He says there is no way of telling unti full investigation of the mipe is made When that will be. he says he canno %41T n. A. sExs L l. encountered in clearing the heading o after damp.
 It was 5:55 o'clock when the frs trainload of victims were brought [ the mouth of the main entry. Fort nine cars were used in bringing or forty-Six dead bodies. and four Twin injured Tie discovery of the dea, bodies were made by a searching part, about 10 o'clock last night. They wer lying in the main heading two miles il from the main pit mouth. No attemp was made to remove them until cer tainty was established that no nor living remained in the mine The frs official statement of the disaster wa given the Associated Press reporter b General Mine Superintendent Robfnso at T o'clock this morning. He said:
 "As to. the direct cause of the ez p1osion I cannot exactly say w know there was an explosion of fir damp in the sixth right heading of section of the mine commonly know as the KIondike. So far as I can fin out now there were not more than thre or four deaths from the explosion ftsel The balance were caused by the afte damp.
 "Our mine officials. the mine for, man. Henry Rodgers. Fire Boss Jeh Retallic Machine Boss William Rol anson, who is my brother. and Sla whose name 1 do not know, were baC eating lunch when the explosion O cured, They immediately went dow to the point of the explosion to put | the slopings in order to carry air in i proper channel again. These had bee blown down by the force of the e paosion.
 s%They, with tfle exception of the a sistant foreman and one of the ii bosses. were overcome by the aft damp. They were found by resucir party and the chances are that all W recover wifi the exception of n brother
 "As to the rescue work. directed to commence just as soon after u explosion as possible We started
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