Little Falls herald. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1889-1950, 1904-01-29
ID
aTlllals,l Nd k,llsl-o xxx lt oect,na ili
sTllE kIssil olLlER n
3595, cllEsNiIcl d Ss5ss
Attsmpts . inter The Collie md
Rsseue ths ntombsd y u a " A..
cover ne Bodies Grove unavalIlno.
Because 81 y The Prsssncs of Afters-
camp AZ 81, Hops That "a Any 81 ths
Miners Escaped Death Abando

- 'Y-s.
Miners Escaped Death Abando
Pittsburg, Jan. 26 !. rom all that
can he gathered at present between
$50 and 100 men are lying dead il the
headings and passage ways OF. the
Harwtck mine Of the Allegheny Coal
company at Cheswick, the result Of 9
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 M nday morning have
been brought to the surface. One res:
cued man Is AdOlph Gunia and he is
still in q semi;conscious condition in
the temporary hospital at the rude
school house on the hillside above the
mine. s :..5.s e., ,.:.... Il
In addition to the miners who were
1T work when,sthe explosion occurred,
Selwyn M, Taylor, the Pittsburg min
ing engineer, who plotted the mine
and who was the flrst~to reach the
bottom after the explH1on happened,
Is now among the IF dead. OF
those in the mine are probably
dead. r =.
The explosion occurred at $3.50
o'clock Monday morning and the first
warning was a rumbling underground
and thena sheet OF flame 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 and fell dead on the ground.
The injured men were brought at once
to this city, where two Of them have
died since. 1890. -. =
Given No Encouragement.
As soon as the rumble of the explo-
sion, and the crash at the pit mouth
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
mouth of the pit, There were calls
for assistance and for surgical aid
from the men in charge of the mine,
but 1t was not until 4 o'clock in the
afternoon that the first attempt at res
cue was made. This was a failure as
the two men who volunteered were
driven back by foul air. q. .--... -: =
Shortly after 5 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. M. .Rayburn,. went
down first in this rig. Rayburn
brought up Gunia, but Taylor did not
come back alive.
There were many heroes in oil
skins and overa1ls 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.
Reseuer's Body Recovered.
Shortly after o'clock Selwyn M.
Taylor and one of his assistants sig
nailed for the engineer to lover them
into the shaft. For hours they were
not heard from and three attempts at
! rescue proved in vain,> Finally came
a report that Taylor and seventy-fve
other men had been found alive but
the report. was 1uiely shattered a;
2:25 a. m. when the body of Selwyn
Taylor was brought 80 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
Els fast pouring into the, mine, cover.
Ting the corpses with shroud Of ice
and making the work of rescue almost
lin nnca}h1A ~A;RfArHur.r I: