Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1904-01-27
No ONE ESCAPED.
Il Is Now Believed That 100 Men
Per.shei in the Harwick
Mine Disaster.
ALL HOPE is ABANDONED.
Ore OF the Rescue Farty Is Killed by
tie Gas Which Fills the
Mine
ALL HOPE is ABANDONED.
WORK OF RESCUE IS GIVEN UP

Pittsburg. Pa, Jan. 26.-Between 100
and 800 men are at the bottom OF Har
wick mine of the Allegheny Coal COM
pany at this hour and ali of them are
believed to be dead, only one of the min
ers has been brought to the surface.
He is still unconscious. One Of The res
cue party is dead. one is unconscious.
Aid has been asked for the work of res
cue from the surrounding towns. Work
has been abandoned until later in the
morning as the rescuers are overcome
with fatigue. 1t will probably be sever
al days before all OF tie bodies are re-
covered
Pittsburg, Pa, Jan. 26.-After night
Of suspense and uncertainty made heart
breaking by the contradictory reports
coming from around the pit mouth of the
Harwick mine, where the direful explo-
sion occurred yesterday, the relatives Of
The $50 entOmbed miners were forced to
the conclusion that all hope of life re-
naming in those below would have to be
abandoned.
Believes All Perished.
Dr. W. III. Mccullough of Cheswick,
who had been in the mine for over two
hours. came up this morning for little
warmth and a bite to eat.
Are there any men alive down there
now. doctOr?" was asked
L don't believe there is a man alive
outside the rescue party i'll that mine
now, was the mournful answer.
Rescuers Die in Mine.
Ia fo ~,
down to work yesterday morning has been
brought out alive. SalWyn Taylor. at the
head of the first rescue party TO reach
the bottom, is dead This morning George
Hawatch, also of the rescue party, was
brought to the surface He is still I'M
conscious.
None Can Escape
Z. Cunningham. inspector of mines for
the fourteenth district, Pennsylvania.
made this statemena as he came from
the mine this morning:
/ explored the mine for a quarter of a
mile I'm positive that of all those who
entered for work yesterday not one will be
bodies OF the miners, dead mules, wrecked
ears and tons of fallen coal and slate. It
plosion was terrific. 1t will take days to
clear away the wreckage. Until this is ac-
complished, we will not know how many
met death. l repeat that there is no chance
OF any OF the entombed men being saved.
Cause of the Explosion.
When pressed for what he thought was
the cause of the explosion, he said
Fire damp caused the men to lose
their lives. AS to the cause I do not
care to make any statement at this
hour"
q. W. Selects, general manager, issued
TINS statement at the same time:
Call for Volunteers
We need experienced men at once No
matter where they come from how much
they want, this company will pay the bills.
Under the wreckage In the mine are the
bodies of perhaps 100 men. They may be
dead and there is a chance of some being
alive The first thing is to clear away
the wreckage. We must do it quick. Our
fellows are willing. but we haven't enough
Aeft to dig the victims from the pile of
debris. Volunteers are wanted. Miners
who have had experience in work of this
kind, we want all we can get.
Double Explosion
The explosion seems to have been a
double one, making one long, continuous
rumble and the second blast was heard
rolling back under the halls toward the
south end of the mine which contains by
far the largest part of the workings.
The mine is at the head of what is
known IS Shops run.
Miner Lit His Pipe.
The highest officials of the Harwick
mime. and nearly every miner who Is
alive in the little mining village, are at a
loss to give the cause for the terrible
disaster. 1t is the opinion Of the ma
jofity, however, that the explosion was
caused by some foreign miner striking
ia match to light his pipe, which set off
the heavy charge of gas that was always
present in the mine. Another theory for
the explosion is that it was caused by d
heavy blast in the mine whereby a new
pocket Of gas was struck and immedi-
ately ignited. There are still others who
insist that the gaseous substance was set
off by broken safety lamp in the hands
of one of the miners.
Responsible Miners Dead.
It was the opinion of the rescuers
around the top of the Harwick mine
shaft that the real cause of the eXplo-
sion would never be known and they
gave as their reason that the miner, Or
miners, who We're probably responsible
for the catastrophe, were dead