Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1905-02-22
Virginia Mine Disaster the
Worst That Ever Happened
In Southern Mines
P,TlFuL SCENES ENACTED
Relatives of the Victims of the ExpIo-
sion Stand Weeping at the Mouth
of the Mine-corpses Are Fright
fully Mansled by the Explosions
One Man Found Alive.

Birmingham, Ala. Feb. %. The
scene at the Virginia mines Monday at
ternoon where terrific afterdanlp eN-
plosion imprisoned 100 men ioo feet be-
low the surface is the most gruesome
and narrowing that has ever been Wit
messed in this mining section of Ala
bama. OF the miners who entered the
mines Monday afternoon. so tar o'lly
fifty bodies have been recovered. AS
time grows. Notwithstanding the IL
tanic efforts on the part OF the rescu-
ers to reach the entombed men. the re-
covery already of so many dead bodies
precludes any idea that any living men
remain among the unlortunates still
in the mine.
Practically isolated from the outside
world by telesrahpic communications,
the Associated Press correspondent
found it necessary to employ coulers
to intercept it's wires eight miles dis
tant With the first rumble Of the COM
ing catastrophe, by common impulse
every citizen of the model mine village
of Virginia rushed to the mouth of the
main slope Crazed then Wit anxiety,
today's abject hopelessness of rescu-
ing their fathers, brothers and sons has
increased the narrowing scenes around
the mines The corpses are frightfully
mangled and disfgured, and identitlca-
ton is almost impossible Many OF
them are so badly bruised and twisted
and discolored that negroes cannot be
told from white men.
All day long at the mouth of the
mine the wailing and moaning OF the
women and children whose unfortunate
relatives We're in the mine has been Il
most heartrending feature of the dis
aster. One hundred families and three
hundred children are left destitute ana
without means of support by the ca
lamity, and they are of the best class
of mining famiiesein Alabama.
AS the bodies o. the victims, which
in many cases have been gathered to-
gether a piece at Il time, are brought
to the surface they are placed in rows
on a rough improvised platform and
late last evening ambulances began the
removal of those so far recovered to
Bessemer
Since the list of dead will probably
go to 100 the local undertakers have
wired to adjoining cities for collins. as
it was found there We're not enough
suitable collins in the district to bury
the victims.
The work or the diggers at the mines
has been an inspiration to the Specta-
tors and everyone has done all in his
power to facilitate the work of rescue.
The excavation of the debris has been
handicapped from the start. The foul
gases which had collected in the slope
made necessary the use of safety
lamps and it was found that less than
score of safety lamps We're available
in the district. Union miners went to
the scene from practically every min
ing camp within a radius of twenty
five miles of Virginia City to aid in the
work of rescue.
One Man is Found Alive.
Out of the fifty bodies recovered up
to this time, one was found about
o'clock which was barely alive. The
body was carefully taken from the
mine and heroic methods resorted to to
bring the man to consciousness. He is
still alive, but scant hope is held out
for his recovery.
President Flynn of the Alabama
Mine Workers said to the Associated
Press:
II shall be surprised if a single per-
son escapes alive from that mine Ven
tlation is very difficult and if the
men were not killed by the explosion
they have certainly been suffocated by
the gases. The bodies so far reached
were in the main slope and it will be
several days before we can get to the
rooms which branch off from the main
slope"
President Flynn worked all Monday
night with a pick and shovel at the
mine and other mine officials We're
among the leaders in the rescue work.
Head Found in Basket.
One of the most gruesome sights witt
messed was a mans head being carried
out of the mine in a dinner basket. 1t
was found in this position and the
flesh was almost entirely burned away
from the skull. Legs, arms and man
gled trunks We're brought out in sue
cession. After nightfall the entrance to
the mime was converted lIlo a we're
table chamber of horrors, the awful
ness of which was intensified by the
of the lamps as the feeble
rays fell upon the mangled and bleed
ing fragments of human flesh, strewn
about the entrance.
Many stouthearted men who had
been assisting in the work of rescue
were forced to give UP the task and
numerous persons have tainted upon
seeing the CHASTITY array of bodies.
Several women became hysterical;
others tainted and still others had to
be placed in the hands of attending
surgeons, being completely Frustrated
oy the terrible scenes. When the bod
les are identified a tag is placed on each
and special ambulance wagons convey
..,,-a,