New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1904-01-27
NO HOPE FOR MINERS.
Continued from first page.

But TO work the fan In a way quickly to clear
the mine of foul air would drive the afterdamp
in onto the men who have found a temporary
place of refuge If there are any such It would
mean almost instant death to them.
Adolph Coma. the only miner rescued, may
be totally blind from the injuries he received.
His face and the upper part OF his body are
badly burned. His eyes are swathed in band
ages so that it is impossible 10 say whether he
has been blinded.
Coma told his rescuers that at the time OF the
explosion he was between the sixth and seventh
headings on the south slope. and managed to
get to the bottom of the shaft. He did not
know the fate of the others in the mine
George Farvath, who in the shaft with
Selwyn u. Taylor wnen the latter lost his life
taken out OF the mine this morning He
has suffered from, slight hemorrhages to-day,
but it IS thought he will recover.
In expectation Of the bringing up Of the bodies
eight detectives from this city patroled the pit
mouth all day. but they had little to do besides
keeping back the crowds All night members of
the families of the entombed miners hung about
the shaft. and early this morning nearly the
whole population Of Harwick and Cheswick was
on the scene again, in spite of theb finding and
cutting snowstorm raging. The only hopeful
ones about the mine are the women and chill
dren, and they will never be convinced that
their husbands their fathers have persisted
until they are brought from the opening.
CONTRIBUTIONS COMING IN.
Contributions to aid the families Of the miners
are already coming in. There are more than one
hundred widows and probably four or five hun
dred orphans. They have been living on the
scanty wages of the average coal miner, and It
is said that immediate assistance VIII be needed
to prevent suffering for the necessaries Of life.
The relief committee in charge of the typhoid
fever work at Butler, Penn, has telegraphed to
MaWnF pP oft, IL
still in the thrOes OF the typhoid epidemic the
committees and the citizens of that town gen
orally stand ready to aid in any way they can
IN the great disaster OF the sister county, and
request that the balance OF the fund collected
In Pittsburg for Butler be transferred TO the
proper authorities for the benefit OF the Harwick
Mine sufferers.
A committee from the United Mine Workers.
consisting of NJ. Kerrigan, Thomas Brown, An
drew Davidson and John w Fisher, all veteran
coal miners. is at the mine to represent the or
ganization. Nearly all the miners lost were
members Of the union, and representatives, of II
VIII be on the ground until every one is taken
out
U. C. Hatch, of Cleveland, one of the prin-
cipal owners Of the NINE together with a num-
Der Of other Cleveland men associated with him,
arrived at the mine this morning Mr.. Hatch
said that the company believed that they had
aS safe mine ae anX in Ir-bjc, go a. f,,-,3
They had taken every precautOn known to min
ing engineering but, he said. some unforeseen
happening fired the gas. and the lives Of the
men were snuffed out"
The body of Selwyn NJ. Taylor, who lost his
night, was taken away at 1870 this morning
and sent to Pittsburg. Mr.. Taylor was presi-
dent of the Midland Coal Company, but the
greater part OF his work S chief engineer
and consulting engineer for concerns in which
he had no personal financial interest
He planned and plotted the Harwich mine
When he went to his office yesterday morning
he bulletin outlining the mine disaster
and after telegraphing the Cleveland members
Of the firm took the first train for Cheswck and
Immediately took charge Of the rescue work.
He ranked among the first Of the mining engi-
neers of the PittsbuTg district and the country.
a widow and stepsOn survive him.
The explosion seems to have been a double one
making one long, continuous rumble and the
second blast heard rolling back under the
hills toward the south end of the mine which
contains by far the largest part Of the workings
The officials Of the mine. and nearly every miner
who is alive in the village, at a loss TO give
the for the terrible disaster. It is the
opinion of the majority. however. that the ex-
ploson caused by some foreign miner stril1-
ing a 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 IL caused by a heavy blast in the mine,
whereby a new pocket of gas was struck and
Immediately ignited. Still others say that the gas
was set off by broken safety lamp in the
/ hands OF one Of the miners
Inspector Cunningham said o-day: 'JTiredamp
! caused the to lose their lives. AS to the
/ cause, I DO not care to make any statement
| yet"