Daily new dominion. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 1897-1906, 1902-07-11


company's police. with several assist
ants, stood guard. permitting no one
to enter the mine, from which nox.
ious gases were coming. It was
pearly O'Clock when all hope of
sending rescue parties from the West
mont opening was abandoned. Two
men who had escaped from the mine
Richard Bennett and John Meyers
went back two miles to see what
assistance could be rendered, but the
frightful damp drove them back, and
they fell PROSTATE when they finally,
after desperate struggle, reached
tie outside. Two doctors gave the
nsen assistance, and after working
with them half an hour restored them.
Their story of the situation in the
nDne made it 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 Mill Greek en-
t;ance. Soon after the news of the
frightful explosion reached the Cam.
bria officials, Mining Engineer Mar
shall G. Moore and one of his assist
ants, al G. Prosser, made an attempt
to enter the mine. They were soon
followed by Mine Superintendent
George T. Robinson, but the deadly
gases stopped their progress.
Mine Foreman Harry Rodgers, his
assistant, William Blanch, and Fire
Bosses John Whitney, John Retallick
erd John Thomas, were overcome by
the gases, and it is feared they per-
ished in an heroic attempt to rescue
me miners.
Heroic Son Had Narrow Escape.
The 15-year-old son of Harry Rodg-
ers, when he heard that his father
Dad been overcome with afterdamp,
started down the mine to help rescue
him If possible, and he had no sooner
entered the drift when the deadly gas
almost overcome the lad and he had
to be carried back. His tongue pro-
trEded it's whole length from his
mouth and men had to force his jaws
apart with q stick to prevent lockjaw.
William Stibich spent several hours
at the Mill Creek opening. He said
that he believed as many as $50 men
were still in the mine. In his opinion,
from all he could CLEAN, not to exceed
156 men had come out
Six hundred men were at work in
tie mine when the explosion oe-
Cured. Of this number only about
200 were last night known to have
escaped. Where those entombed were
or what condition they were in time
alone will tell 1t was utterly impos-
sible to obtain names last night
President Powell Stackhouse and
General Manager Charles S. Price
We're at the Mill Greek opening in
PERSONAL charge of the rescue work.
Before leaving last night both of them
expressed the hope that the currents
Of air being forced into the great
drift was reaching the imprisoned
nltn. They declared their belief that
the men were still alive, but this is
Ciscredited by persons who were I'M
foreground when the explosion took
Place.
General Manager Price said that
che mans guess was as good as an
others as to the number of men en-
tombed. There were about 600 men
in the mine when the explosion &C.
cured he said, but only about 100
were in the heading where the gas did
its deadly work
Explosion Was One of Fire Damp.
The mining officials of the Cambria
company stated the explosion was one
of lire damp.
The catastrophe occurred in the sec
ton OF the mine known among the
riners as "Klondike."
The few survivors who had escaped
from the depths of the mine describe
the conditions to be frightful in their
nature. Outside of the "Klondike"
the mines are safe and uninjured
Within the fatal limits of that mine
solid walls Of masonry, three feet
III, ough, were torn down as though
barriers of paper. The roofs of the
nine were demolished and not door
remained standing. In the face of
these difficulties even the most he
role efforts towards rescue might well
seem hopeless,
Miners who left the mine by way of
the Mill Greek entrance brought hor-
r,ble 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 Kern
Vi lie hill from the mine. A fan house,
row out of use, stands at the top of
this shaft. This way the young men,
sick and dizzy from the naseous otter
damp or black damp, reached safety.
Walked Across Dead Bodies.
They told how they had walked
across dead bodies to pure air and
light. How many they did not know.
che Cambria Steel officials were mott.
fled at once of the explosion 1t
caused CONSERVATION in the offices
Smong those who heard the awful
news.
Chief Mining Engineer Marshall G.
Moore and his assistant, All G. Pros.
sci, We're the first to enter the mine
after the explosion. They went in at
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 be-
cause of the poisonous gases.
The stories of the men who es.
capped are miraculous in their nature.