The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1902-05-24
One Explosion Followed by Another,
Which Wrecked the Interior of
COlIiery and Passage Ways.
ALL THE MEN PROBABLY DEAD
RESCUE WORK DIFFICULT OWING TO
PRESENCE OF FIRE DAMP.
Pitiful Scenes in the Little Town,
Where Many Homes Have Been
Saddened by the Calamity.

VANCOUVER, B. c., May 23.-One of the
most terrible mine disasters in the history
of British Columbia occurred last night
in the Crows Nest Coal Company's mines
at Fernie, B. c. over one hundred men
are either dead or imprisoned in the mine.
and little hope is entertained of rescuing
any who may yet be alive. Fernie is three
hundred miles up country, and the limited
telegraph facilities have not enabled COM
plete details of the disaster to be sent out.
A special tonight from Fernie says that
the explosion took place last night at $780,
The management has list of 13S men who
are known TO have been in the mine, and
there probably are others OF these only
twenty-four are known to be safe. 1t is
feared that few, if any. of the remaining
100 are now alive.
What caused the explosion has not yet
been definitely ascertained. Many of the
miners were ignorant foreigners, and one
of the mine shafts was always more or
less gaseous. 1t is reported in Fernie this
evening that the explosion resulted from
the by a careless italian of an open
or naked lamp. Another theory is that
a miner struck a match, exploding the
gas, which was almost always present in
No. shaft. The true cause of the disaster
probably will not be positively ascertained,
for 1t is doubtful if any man who knows
will ever reach the outer air alive or be
able to tell the tale. The explosion took
place In No. shaft Of the mine being re-
peated in a few seconds in No. 8. with
which 1t was connected wrecking the mine
and pasageways.
The two shafts in which the explosion
occurred are situated on Coal creek. about
six miles from Fernie. No. has always
been considered the more dangerous, being
dry dusty and gaseous. Recently the dam
gerous conditions which had hitherto pre-
vailed in No. tunnel had been greatly
modified and improved. New fans were in
stalled, furnishing an excess of air, with
40 per cent. reserve. From all available
sources assistance is being rushed to the
scene of the calamity, but there is little
nope for the rescue of any of the en-
tombed men. Already the work of liberia
ton has been begun with such means as
are at local command, and eight bodies
have been taken from the mine. The pres
ence Of coal damp makes the work of res
cue very dangerous, and is seriously him
dering the efforts of the workers.
These are the outlines of a most heart
rending calamity, the only disaster which
has occurred in British Columbia exceed
ing it in magnitude being the death of 157
men in Wellington mine eighteen years
ago. The scene in the neighborhood of
the mouth of the tunnel is distressing in
the extreme, and all the more so as it is
utterly impossible at this time to hold out
any hope TO the women whose cries are for
entombed husbands and fathers and
brothers. In No. tunnel, in which the
first explosion occurred, from 100 TO 120 men
and boys are usually employed, and in No.
tunnel, to which the explosion extended,
about eighty men generally work.
In both mines there are many foreigners
and the difficulty of disciplining these men
and impressing upon them the danger of
the use of unprotected lights has always
been very great. The main road of No 2
tunnel is nine by five and one-half feet in
area and would be sufficient for reasonable
ventilation, were ii not that there was a
motor working on the road which almost
stopped the current of the intake. When
the men were at work the liberation of gas
heavily charged the atmosphere and made
IL dangerous to employ lights which were
not absolutely protected.
The eighteen bodies already recovered
were those of men who had been engaged
mouth of the tunnel. and the fact that they
were overcome would seem to indicate that
there is little hope for those further in the
mine.