The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1902-07-11

PEELED 10 drop their burden and save them
| selves. Mr.. Whitney was unconscious whi'c
being carried. The 15-year-cld son OF H.
Rodgers. when he heard that his father
had been overcome with afterdamp. start.
cd down toward the Klondike TO help res
enc him IL possible and he had no sooner
| entered the drift when the deadly gas al
most overcome him, and he had 60 he
| carried back. His tongue protruded It's
| whole length from his mouth and men had
| 10 force his jaws apart with stick to
prevent lockjaw. Young Rodgers. who is
employed in the mine, was among those
who escaped through the Mill Creek
| shaft
Several miners have reached the surface
| who were working near the scene Of the
explosion. They say they passed through
a portion OF the Klondlke district and saw
the bodies Of at least lfty men. The men
who came out were foreigners and were
in such an excited state that It was I'M
| possible to get a connected story from
| Them. The mine has been open for about
nifty years and was producing 1900 tons
! per day. 1t is the property of the Cam
bna steel company, with general offices in
Philadelphia.
| hlsoNN II W plNh 6Ipt Ell
At 10 o'clock tonight afterdamp put
! stop to the work of the rcscuing parties
I and the probabilities are that the miners
will not be reached before tomorrow morn
Ing. The mining officials of the Cambria
company state the explosion was one of FIRE
damp. The catastrophe occurred In the
section of the mine known among the
miners as "Klondike.' The section is about
| q, ,,tIa t,,tf
Of the rolling mill mine,
The few survivors who have escaped
from the depths Of the mine, describe the
condition as frightfu. outside Of the klou-
dixie the mines are safe and unlujured.
Within the fatal limits the havoc wrought
| by the explosion is fearful. Solid wallis
Of masonry three feet In thickness were
torn down as though made Of paper. The
/ roofs OF the mine were demolished and
not door remains standing. In the face
Of these difficulties, the most heroic ef
iorts toward rescue seem hopeless. Min
ers who left the mine by way OF the
| Mil Greek entrance brought horrible stories
Of crawling over the dead bodies Of their
comrades, Two young men who were at
work in the KlondIke when the explosion
occurred escaped by way Of the air shaft
| heading up through the Kernylle hll from
the mine. A fan, now out OF use. stands
at the top of this air shaft. This way.
the young men. sick and dizzy from naus.
eous afterdnnp or blackburn, reached
safety. They told how they had walked
across dead bodies to pure mir and light
How many they did not know.
The Cambria steel officials were notified
at once OF the explosion. Chief Mining En-.
klheer Moore ana Assistant Prosscr were
the hrst to enter the mine after the tYp.o.
SION Ibey went In ut the main entrance
and began TO work their way to the other
end Both were supplied with safety
lamps. The progress was slow and tedious
because of the poisonous gases.
THRILLING EXPERIENCE.
The stories Of the men who escaped are
miraculous. Tom Foster. an assistant fore.
man In the klondke mines. was among tho
hrst to emerge from the Mill Greek shaft.
shortly after. Powell Griffith. n fire. boss
came up. Foster was In his office when
the explosion occurred. His first Thought
was for the safety OF the men under his
charge. With the help OF Foreman Roberts
an effort was made 10 replace few of the
shattered doors. All the while the fire
damp was closing In around them. They
did not faltcT for an instant but straight
into the midst Of danger they went. The
thought, save the men," was paramount
Through galleries into headings, warning
and helping the two men went Roberts
fell, but Foster staggered on. whittier
hardly knew In the midst Of dnuper ne
met Powell Griffith, a nre boss. He ma
faced what seemed certain death IN ma
effort TO save his men. Forward they wont.
dragging comrade into a possible place of
safety here, giving word Of warning
there until human endurance could stand
the strain no longer Exhausted they stag
gered into heading where the fire damn
had not entered, There they rested for d
moment and then plunged forward--where
they did not know-until finally they wan
dercd into water level and through II
reached place Of safety.
Tom Foster said: How escaped / don't
know. 1t seems like terrible nightmare
Hundreds of times 1 gave up hope, but
from sheer instinct / stumbled forward
until ! reached place Of safety"
John whitney, who was beyond the dlI
when the explosion took place. said. 81 was
at the heading onehalf mile from the ex
plosion, Several dozen were overcome by
the damp or gas and / had all 1 could dc
TO escape. After the explosion we went
back TO rescue the less fortunate and nearly
lost our own lives. We got one man ami
saved his life. did not see my father
who was struggling to get out. don't
think many outside Of the divers escaped.
William Lamcolm was In the upper part
OF the mine when the explosion came. "Ths
t first ! knew Of the trouble he said. twas
} when men came running from what Il
known as the dip. or lower section. They
= came running without hats, coats and some
E without clothes ana IN a terrible state Of
excitement. As near as can remember,