The Red Cloud chief., 1905-02-24
MANY MINERS DEAD
REsCUERs BRINGING OUT DEAD
FROM ALABAMA MINE.
over One Hundred Men Are Still
Entombed on the Lower Level and
Al Hope Of Saving Any Of Them
Has Been Abandoned.

Do 'so S~S'
Birmingham, Ala, Feb. 22.-The
scene at Virginia mines, where a ter
rife after-damp explosion imprisoned
100 men 700 feet below the surface, Ia
the most gruesOme and sorrowing
that has ever been witnessed In this
section Of Alabama. or the miners
who entered the mines Monday, so
far only fifty bodies have been recov
cred. The recovery already Of sc
many dead bodies precludes the idea
that any living men remain among the
~unfortunates still in the mine.
The corpses are frightfully mangled
and disfgured and Identification is al
most impossible. Many of them are
20 badly bruised and twisted and dis.
colored that negroes cannot be told
from white men.
All day long, at the mouth Of the
mine, waiting women and children
whose father was in the mine has
been most heartrending. One hun.
dred families and 300 children are left
destitute and without means of sup
port by the calamity and they are the
best class of the mining families in
Alabama.
AS the bodies of the victims, which,
In many cases, have been gathered to-
gether q piece at q time, are brought
to the surface they are placed in
rows on a rough platform, and am
balances began the removal of those
SO far recovered to Bessemer.
The excavation of the debris has
been handicapped. The foul gases
which had collected in the slope made
necessary the use of safety lamps,
and it was found that less than a
score of safety lamps were available |
In the district. Union miners went
to the scene from practically every
mining camp within a radius of TWEEN. |
ty-Gve miles Of Virginia City to aid
In the work of rescue.
Out Of the fifty bodies recovered up
to this time, one was found which was
barely alive. The body vas carefully
taken from the mine and heroic meth.
DDS resorted to to bring the man to
consciousness. He is still alive, but
scant hope is held out for his recov.
cry. President Flynn Of the Louisiana
United Mine Workers said to the AS.
ISOLATED Press: 81 shall be surprised
II a single person escapes alive from
that mine. Ventilation Is very difficult
and II the men were not killed by the
explosion they have certainly been
s%uffocated by the gases. The bodies
so far reached were in the main slope
and 1t will be several days before we
can get to the rooms which branch off
from the main slope"
One of the most gruesome sights
witnessed was a mans head being
carried out of the mine in a dinner
basket. II was found in this position
and the flesh was almost entirely
burned away from the skull. Legs
arms and mangled trunks were
brought out in succession. After
nightfall the entrance to the mine was
converted into a veritable chamber of
horrors, the awfulness of which was
intensified by the Pickering OF tho
lamps as the feeble rays fell upon the
mangled and bleeding fragments OF
human flesh strewn about the en-
trance. Many stout hearted men, who
had been assisting In the work Of res.
cue. were forced to give up the task.
and numerous persons have fainteu
upon seeing the array of bodies.
Mine Boss Reed is confident that
more than 100 of the men in the mines
were white and believes all persisted.
He knows the rooms in which each
man vas working and this informa.
ton. In many cases, is the only means
Of identification, so horribly are the
bodies %disfigured.