The Savannah morning news., 1904-01-26
NJ ARLY 200 Die
IN A COAL MINE
FNroMBED BY EXPLOSION.
,so,-rRs BATTLED BRAvELY TO
SAVE THEM.


e. Re Among the De"d-Es'h""'e"
Mat between $50 and 100 Me"
uovc Lost Their Lives.
pittsburg, Pa. Jan. zo'-r rom
hat can be gathered at
bour. between $50 and lSO
are lying dead in the
ssadines and passageways OF the Har-
l'i., mine of the Allegheny Coal Com
INV, At Cheswick, the result OF ter
r,he explosion to-day.
raro after cage has gone down INTO
,,,ioa and come up again, put only
,,,iner of all those that went down
to work this morning has been orousn'
4. ~as surface. The rescued man 10
,soi,b Gunia, and he is still IN Semi
oious condition at the temporary
tosni+al at the rude school mousse OH
.ho hill side above the NINE
,d5i+ion TO the miners who were
III, when the explosion occurred
IL &c now believed by practically dill
tho mon of the rescue party who came
4ha o2O-foot vertical shaft for
-.a,,,,i,,o and breathing SPELL that Sell
.r, 1,avlor the Pittsburg mining en-
ui,eer who plotted the mine and VINO
o.. tho first to reach the bottom after
the explosion, is now among the lS'
of the dead
All those in the mine probably are
dead. ,.,.o,-
rha evnlosion occurred at 500 O'Clock
.bis morning. and the first warning
,,.os the sudden rumble underground.
Then sheet of fame followed up the
deem shaft Both mine cages were
hurled through the tipple, twenty IeeC
obove the landing stage, and the three
mon on the tipple were thrown TO the
oro,nd mule was thrown hlgh
above the shaft and fell dead on the
ground.
The injured were brought at once 10
this city where some of them nave
died since.
After the explosion the crash at the
nit mouth startled the little village
The wives and children of the men be-
low rushed TO the scene of the disaster,
hut to gain no encouragement. There
was no way 10 get into the deep work.
ings. The cages that let the men into
the mines and brought them out again
when the days work was done were
both demolished.
While Loved Ones Waited.
All day long there was a Jam of
women and children waiting about
the mouth of the pit There were calls
a
from the men in charge of the mine,
but it was not until o'clock this aft
ernoon that the first attempt at rescue
was made This was a failure, after
two men, who volunteered. were driven
back by the foul air.
Shortly after o'clock, Selwyn M.
Taylor and one of his assistants sig
nailed for the engineer to lower them
into the shaft. Taylor is still down
there. Three times efforts have been
made to reach him, but so far without
avail. lE
Thomas Wood one of the first of the
rescue party hauled to the sarface,
told his story of his trip through the
mine. He said:
Il was with Taylor and we clam
bered over three or four falls. Tay-
Tor laid out the mine, and seemed to
know the way. There was one man
alive at the foot of the shaft. He was
sent up. and then we took the mule
path into the south level. We saw two
men who we're alive and notified those
back of US and then went on. We
passed the third, fourth and fifth
headings and then through an over
drift into the other shaft. 1 began
10 feel dizzy and SICK and then I saw
Taylor stagger and fall. His lantern
1ell We tried to ift-him, but could not
carry him up, and made my own way
to safety"
Mine Inspectors Statement.
F W. Cunningham,the mine inspector
oil the fourteenth district, reached Har-
WICK about 1880 o'clock. When seen by
an Associated Press reporter, just
al'er his arrival, he said:
went to Greensburg to inspect a
mine this afternoon, and when
reached home this afternoon I found
lunch of kilograms telling me of this
disaster.
The mine where the explosion oc-
cured was inspector, 1 think, about
zee. J. There was some gas in there
men but never considered the mine
dangerous"
ne last inspector blank hanging on
.le nail in the mine company's office
Is dated July II, 1908, but it is evident
uie' later report has been torn of.
-Nhong the rescue party now in the
nine in addition to Inspector Cum
,,nHsnam, are Jack Mccain, Bob North
'ert Carney, Herley Becker, Robert
SS,oson' William walkenerst. An ad-
down.
lnree of the rescuers, Becker,
and Walkenerst when they re-
to the surface, declared that in !
opinion, all in the mine outside
me rescue party are dead, including |
'.S'or' the engineer.
'-''e tonight Manager scheetze |
@'esrarhed to Chief Mine Inspector
o. Roderick at Harrisburg as fol-
"o outside men died OF injuries
my .s evening. But one brought out of
were still living. Rescuins