The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1902-04-01
TERRIFIC EXPLOSION RESULTS
FROM IGNITING COAL DUST IN
A TENNESSEE MINE
LIST OF DEAD FooTs UP 22
Only Ten of the Bodies Have So Far
Been ACKNOWLEDGEMENT Others
Receive Fatal Or Serious
Hurts.
THOSE KILLED OR INJURED

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn, March 31.-At
4:43 o'clock this afternoon an explosion
of gas in the Nelson mine of the Layton
Coal and Iron company, at Dayton,
Tenn, ignited the dry coal dust in the
mine and caused a terrific explosion.
Twenty-Five men are known 20 be dead.
Ten bodies have been recovered. Twelve
bodies are still in the mine.
The Dead.
LARK HUNTER.
ALEX rAFFER.
JAMES FRANKLIN
JOHN HARNEY.
TOM SHAVER.
JAMES HARRIS.
T. G. TRAVIS, all white.
GEORGE GRIFFISS.
BEN GRIFFISS.
REES DEAN.
NORRIS PIERSOLL.
MORGAN SMITH.
JOHN ROBINSON.
J. E. HILL.
BRYANT SMITH.
MACK FOUST, all colored.
SIX OTHERS, names unknown.
Fatally Injured.
w. T Head, brother of James Head,
superintendent of the mine, burned in
ternally, will die.
Seriously Injured.
James Riley, white, right leg broken,
bruised about mead and face.
VIII Presnell, white badly burned.
William Scarborough, white, badly
burned.
Arthur Hughes, white.
George WaffOrd, colored.
Tom Cummings, white
Henry Gonyon, white.
Two Men Are Blamed.
Gas exists in the Nelson mine and the
men are required to use safety lamps. 1t
is the rule of the company for the miners
to place their fuses ready to be lighted
for blasts just before quitting work each
day, ami there are workmen known as
'firemen' who go through the mine after
all the miners are out and set off these
blasts The miners quit work at 4:30
o'clock this afternoon. 1t takes them
about forty-fiVe minutes to get out of the
mine. The two "f1remen today who are
supposed to have caused the explosion
are Lark Hunter and John Harvey. They
shot the blasts about 4:45 o'clock, before
all the miners could get out of the mines.
1t is supposed one of the fuses was de-
fectiVe and resulted in what is known as
a blown blast''
The flame shooting out from the blast
ignited the gas, which in turn ignited the
accumulation of dry coal dust in the
mine The explosion that followed was
horrible in its intensity. 1t shot out of
lilG luOulH VI the UilIl6 anu COEipIGlely
wrecked the shed at the mine entrance
Three men were killed while standing out
side the mine and two seriously and one
fatally injured.
Explosion There Twice Before.
This mine has been the scene of two
serious explosions in the past. In 1889
four men were killed and eight seriously
injure- by an explosion of gas. Dec. 20,
1895, an explosion of mine dust occurred
in which twenty eight lives were lost.
This was caused by a miner carrying an
open lamp contrary to regulations.
In May. 1901, an explosion of a similar
nature occurred in the ShalIiday mine
operated by the same company, in which
twentyone lives were lost.
The force of the explosion in the Nelson
mine today was terrible. Bodies were
Ietrally mangled and torn to pieces. The
company states that there were only
seventy-five men at work in the mine to-
day. Most of them were out of the mine
when the explosion occurred.
Rescuing parties are at work, but at a
late hour tonight they struck a heavy
fall of slate, which will delay them for a
day or two.