The Billings gazette. [volume] (Billings, Mont.) 1896-1919, 1904-06-07

concealed assassin, by merely pulling
a wire, exploded an Internal machine,
thereby instantly killing IL men and
severely %wounding nine others, one
OF whom has since died, at Indepen-
dence, today: All the killed and in
jured. with the exception of two men
from the Deadwood mine, were non
union miners employed on night Shift
at the Findley mine. The men had
quit work at 2 a. m +. and were waiting
to board the suburban train on the
Florence & Cripple Creek railway and
return to their homes in Cripple
Creek and Victor.
Terrific Explosion.
Just after the engineer of the ap-
preaching train, according to custom,
blew his whistle as a signal to the
miners, a terrific explosion occurred
underneath the depot platform, on and
near which 26 men were gathered.
The platform was blown into splint-
ers, the depot was wrecked, and a
hole 20 feet in circumference and
about as many feet in depth was torn
in the ground.
Fragments OF bodies were hurled
through space for several hundred
feet. and later were picked up still
quivering. Some Of the bodies drop
pea into the pit made by the explc-
sion, but heads, hands, ears, legs,
arms and trunks were strewn about
, on all sides. Pieces OF flesh were
found on buildings 500 feet away, and
blood stained everything within a
radius of 50 feet.
Train Crew to Rescue.
The force of the explosion was felt
throughout the camp and the crash
awakened everybody. The approach
ing train was stopped, and the train
crew were the first men to reach the
scene of the explosion. They were
Joined in a few minutes by hundreds
of persons, and relief work was begun
at once A special. train was SEM
from Cripple Creek carrying physi-
clans nurses, officers and many 9TH
ers, but when it reached Independence
the injured had already been placed
on board the suburban train and re-
moved to hospitals in Victor. The
mangled bodies Of the dead, pieced to-
,gether as we'll as possible, were re-
moved to the coroner's office.
Amputation has been performed
upon a number of the wounded, but il,
is almost certain that several of them
will die.
A majority of the dead and injured
were single men, but several had fam
lilies living in the district.
Charles Rector of the Shurtloff
mine escaped by a miracle. He was
chatting with several men, uncon-
scious of danger, when the explosion
occurred. He saw a number of men
rushing toward the depot. At this
moment he was lifted from his feet
and vas deafened by a terrific crash.
When he realized what had occurred
he was surprised to find himself un-
injured.
Might Have Been Worse.
H. w. Van Alta, one of the Findley
miners who had a remarkable escap
from death, in describing the explo-
sion, said:
"The earth seemed to heave under
the platform and depot and the noise
made was deafening. We had been at
the station about two minutes when
the explosion occurred. was thrown
through the air about Is feet. There
were about 25 men on the platform,
and most of them were non-union min
ers who were working ing the Find
ley"
The Shurtloff men had not yet
reached the depot, but were hurrying
down the hill. Had these men reach
ed the platform the casualty list
would have been doubled. There must
have been 800 pounds of powder used,
and it must have been set off by an
electric spark or revolver, as the min
ers would have smelled the fuse if
m had been used.
George Remick was hurled many
feet from the platform, but escaped
with only a few bruises, although
heavy timbers and rocks fell all about
him.
The Internal Machine.
The Internal machine with which