Omaha daily bee., 1902-07-11
IN A NINE
Explosion in Workings of Cambria Steel
Company in JOhnstOwn District,
HUNDREDS MAY HAVE MET AWFUL DEATH ,
Impossible to Get Definite Estimate on the
Total Lops Of Life,
MINERS COME OUT AT DISTANT OPENING
Fearful Story is Told of the Disaster BY
Some Who Escape.
REScUlNG PARTY NOW HARD At WORK
NDREDS MAY HAVE MET AWFUL DEATH ,
LINERS COME OUT AT DISTANT OPENING
REScUlNG PARTY NOW HARD At WORK
All OF Mines of the District Close Down
and All Possible Assistance is
Mt Hand, but After Damp
stays the Work.

JOHNSTOWN. Pa, July 11.-At o'clock
this morhing Mayor Hendry stated that
the first of the bodies OF the dead miners
would be brought from the mine at
o'clock He stated that General Manager
Price told him that the number OF bodies
in sight at l O'Clock was sixty-tive.
JoHNsTowN, Pa, July 1O.-Two hundred
miners entombed by an explosion In mine
whose main shaft opens within the limits
of this city was news to check with terror
the pedestrians on the streets here today.
At first the rumor said that all In the
Rolling Mill" mine OF the Cambria Steel
company were dead or in danger. But later
reports showed that the lower figure was
correct and that 400 were safe.
The mine is one Of the largest In the coun-
try and today 500 men we're at work there.
When the news of the disaster reached here
1t spread like wildire and in less than a
quarter Of hour the Point, an open space
at the junction Of the Conemaugh and Stony
creek was crowded with weeping women and
children.
During the afternoon II became known
that many men had escaped and that drift
No. g. known as the Klondfke, was prac-
tically the only one effected, but here 200
men were at work, and still the women
watched and waited for the end From l 80
in the afternoon until p. m. the work Of
the searching parties WIS in vain, but then
the first faint ray Of hope came when the
bodies Of a man and a boy were brought
out into the daylight unconscious, but alive.
Then at 11:2O tonight four more men, un-
conscious, were brought to the surface, but
a doctor who came with the men reported
tUan doad tha
President Powell stackhouse. in a state.
ment issued at midnight, said the dead
would number 1875 men.
1t was nearly an hour after the ex-
plosion before any general knowledge OF
what had happened got abroad. Men who
came from the mines, escaping with their
lives, told the terrible news and soon 1t
spread like wildhre all over the city.
In scores Of homes there was the most
pathetic scenes. Mothers, wives, daugh-
ters, sons and relatives were frantic with
grief and hundreds rlshel-to the scene,
At the opening across the river from
the point, the Cambria Iron company's po-
lice, with several assistants, stood guard,
permitting no one to enter the mine, from
which noxious gases were coming.
1t was nearly 4 o'clock when all hope
of sending rescue parties from the West
mont opening was abandoned.
Driven Back by Damp.
Two men who had escaped from the
mine, Richard Bennett and John Meyers,
went back two miles to see what assist
ance could be rendered, but the frghtful
damp drove them back and they fell pros
trate when they finally, after a desperate
struggle, reached the outside. Two doc
tors gave them assistance and after work.
ing with them half an hour restored them.
Their story of the situation in the mine
made 1t clear that the rescue work could
not proceed from the Westmont opening.
and then hasty preparations were made to
begin that sad mission at the Mil creek
entrance. Soon after news OF the explo-
sion reached the Cambria oficials, Mining
Engineer Moore and one of his assist tants.
A. G. Prosser, made an attempt to enter
the mine They were followed by Mine
Superintendent Robinson, but the deadly
gases stopped their progress and they
were compelled to return to the surface.
Mine Foreman Rodgers, his assistant.
William Blanch, and Fire Bosses John
Whitney, John Retallick and John Thomas,
were overcome by the gases and it is
feared they perished in a heroic effort to
rescue the miners. A son Of Harry
Rodgers then tried to reach his father,
but he was quickly overcome by the deadly
gases and was carried out unconscious.
William stibich spent several hours 1t
the Mill creek opening. He said he be-
lieved as many as 450 men were in the
mine. In his opinion, from all he could
CLEAN. that not moro than 100 men had
come out.
Statement of OmciAls.
The mining oficlals Of the Cambria COM
many stated the explosion was one Of hre-
damp. The few survivors who have escaped
from the depths OF the mine describe the
condition to be frightful in their nature.
outside Of the Klondike the miners are
safe and uninjured. Within the fatal limits
of the mine the effects OF the explosion beg
gar description. Solid walls thirty feet
through were torn down as II they were
barriers Of paper. The roof was torn down
and not door remains standing. The most
heroic efforts toward rescue seem hopeless.
The stories OF the men who escaped ara
miraculous.
| Tom Foster foreman of the "Klondike, T"
was the hrst to emerge from the mine.
shortly after Powell Grifhth. fre boss.
came up. Foster was in his once when the
| explosion came. His first thought was for
| the safety OF the men under his charge.
| With the help of Foreman Roberts an ef-
fort was made to replace few Of the shat
tered doors. All the while the hre-damp
was closing around them. Through galleries
into headings. warning and helping, the
two men went. Roberts fell, but Foster
staggered on. whittier, he hardly knew. In
the midst OF the danger he met Powell
Grifith, a freboss He had faced what
seemed certain death in an effort to save
his men. Forward they went dragging a
comrade into a possible place OF safety
here, giving & word OF warning there until
human endurance could stand the strain nc
longer. Exhausted they staggered into q
heading where the nre-damp had not
reached. They rested there for a moment
and plunged forward. where they did not
know. until finally they wandered into a
water level and through It reached q place
OF safety.
stories of Survivors.
Said Tom Foster
How / escaped I do not know. II seems
like a terrible nightmare. Hundreds OF
times l gave up hope. but from sheer In