Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1904-01-28
NEARLY 200 MEN DEAD

TERRIFIC EXPLOSION OCCURS IN
THE HARWIck coLLiERY
At cHEswicK, PA.
Attempts to Enter the coIIiery and
Rescue the Entombed Men or Re.
cover the Bodies Prove Unavailins
Because Of the Presence Of After
damp-AI Hope That Any Of the
Miners Escaped Death Abandoned.
Pitt.burg. Jan. 2s.-From all that
can be gathered at present between
$50 and 100 men are lying dead in the
headings and passage ways OF the
Harwick mine of the Allegheny Coal
company at Cheswick, the result of
terrible explosion Monday. Cage
after cage has gone down into the
mine and come up again. but only
two miners, Of all those that went
down to work Monday morning have
been brought to the surface. One res
cued man is Adolph Gunia and he is
still in semi-conscious condition in
the temporary hospital at the rude
school house ON the hillside above the
mine.
In addition to the miners who were
at work when the explosion occurred,
Selwyn NJ. Taylor, the Pittsburg min
r~vS~1
and VINO was the first to reach the
bottom after the explosion happened,
10 now among the list of dead. or
those in the mine all are probably
dead.
The explosion occurred at $3.50
o'clock Monday morning and the first
warning was a rumbling underground
and then a sheet Of fame shot up the
shaft. Both mine cages were hurled
through the tipple. twenty feet above
the landing stage, and three men on
the tipple were hurled to the ground
A mule was thrown high above the
shaft ana fell dead on the ground
The injured men were brought at once
to this city, where two of them have
died since.
Given No Encouragement.
AS soon as the rumble of the explo-
sion and the crash at the pit mouth
startled the little village the wives
and children of the men below rushed
to the scene of the disaster, but could
gain no encouragement There was
no way to get into the deep workings
The cages that let the men into the
mines and brought them out again
when the days work was done were
both demolished.
The explosion occurred at the bot
tom of one of the shafts, presumably
caused by firedamp.
All day long there was a jam of
waiting women and children about the
for assistance and for surgical aid
but it was not until o'clock in the
afternoon that the first attempt at res
cue was made. This was failure as
the two men who volunteered were
driven back by foul air.
Shortly after o'clock a temporary
rigging had been put in place over the
mouth of the main shaft and a small
bucket capable of carrying three men
fastened to the tackle. Selwyn M.
Taylor, the mining engineer who had
been summoned from Pittsburg, and
an assistant. j. NJ. Rayburn, went
down first in this rig. Rayburn
brought up Gunia, but Taylor did not
come hack alive.
There were many heroes in oil
skins and overalls and with grimy
hands gathered round that black hole
at night. At every call there were
always men enough to man the buck
ct. Jack Mccain. an engineer Of the
company, made the trip twice. Again
and again the men were driven back
to the fresh air and the heat Of the
boiler rooms. but only to return.
Rescuer's Body Recovered.
Shortly after o'clock Selwyn NJ
Taylor and one of his assistants sig
nailed for the engineer to lover them
into the shaft. For hours they we're
not heard from and three attempts at
rescue proved in vain. Finally came
report that Taylor and seventy-five
other men had been found alive, but
2:25 a. m. when the body of Selwyn
Taylor was brought so the surface.
He evidently had been dead for sew
eral hours and now hopes for the 9TH
er imprisoned men have been aban-
doned.
The rescuers are being brought out
coated with ice. drenched to the skin
and unable to walk. They report that
the dead are scattered one above the
other as thick as pine needles. Water
is fast pouring into the mine, cover
Ing the corpses with a shroud of ice
and making the work Of rescue almost
impossible. After-damp is collecting
in quantities.
DR.. w. 3. Mccullough of Cheswick,
after being in the mine for two hours,
came TO the surface at 81 Is a. m. and
said that in his opinion not one of
the miners who were in the shaft at
the time of the explosion is alive.
At the entrance to the mine a great
trial in the work of the rescue have
been the wives and daughters of the
men entombed. They finally were told,
kindly but firmly, to go home. They
went and left the men to do the work
Of rescue.