Little Falls herald. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1889-1950, 1904-01-29
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= Because Of the sPrsssnce OF After
dampp-AII Hope That Any Of the
Miners Escaped Death Abandoned.
Pittsburg, Jan. ,26.-From all that
can be gathered at present between
$50. and 100 men are lying dead in the
headings and passage ways of the
IIarwick 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
eued 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
ing engineer, who plotted the mine
and who was the first to reach the
bottom after the explHGon happened,
is now among, the lJstbf dead. or
those in the mine s.4~ar probably
dead
The explosion occurred at 1920
o'clock Monday morning and the first
warning was a rumbling underground
and then q 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 we're 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.
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
beth 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 it was not until 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.
Shortly after o'clock 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 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 M.
Taylor and one Of his assistants sig
nailed for the engineer to lover tho:1l
into the shaft For hours they were
net heard from and three attempts at
rescue proved in vain. Finally came
report that Taylor and seventyfve
other men had been found alive, but
the report was III te1y shattered g,
1925 a. M. when the body of SelwJ'll
Taylor was brought 90 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
lis fast pouring into the mine, cover
Ting the corpses with shroud of ice
and making the work Of rescue almost
impossible. After-damp is collecting
lin quantities.
DR.. w. B. Mccullough Of Cheswick
after being in the mine for two hours