The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1905-02-22
Caused by Dust.

Birmingham, Ala, Feb. 2l-By a
"dust" explosion in the Virginia mines,
seventeen miles southwest of Birming-
ham, yesterday afternoon at O'Clock,
between ITO. and .125 union miners,
negroes and whites, are entombed zoe
feet below the surface, and 1t is prob
able that none of them VIII live 10
tell the story5ot. the disaster.
Scores OF Vigorous rescurers are at
work digging into the mine to reach
their friends and comrades.
The explosion is believed to have
been caused by an accumulation OF
dust. The mine has been noted for
being entirely free from gases. 1t is
believed that as the entire force Of
men has been killed, the details OF the
cause OF the disaster may never be
known.
The explosion occurred shortly after
o'clock, and the news spread rapid
ly throughout the entire district. The
camp is practically isolated from the
rest of the world, and there is no
telephone station at Virginia, and the
only wire running to the place is a
dispatcher's wire of the Birmingham
Mineral Railroad, on which Virginia
is located. Details of the disaster
were SLOW to come in, but each man
who arrived in the city from the scene
told a story of the horror more grue-
some than that told by his predeces-
sors.
The class of miners employed was
the best in the district, and all be-
longed to the United Mine Workers of
America. Since the strike has been
on in the Birmingham district, many
of the most Industrious and thrifty
miners of Pratt City and other I'M
portant points have removed to the
Virginia, so that the mines were being
worked to their full capacity by the
most skilled miners in the community.
Relief trains with surgeons and
workmen were dispatched from both
Birmingham and Bessemer as soon
as the news of the disaster was
learned. They began the work of sue
cor in earnest before 6 o'clock, and
at midnight had not gotten half way
through the mass of debris which cuts
off the helpless men from the outside
world. 1t is probable that it will be
10 o'clock tomorrow morning before
the interior of the slope is reached.
Virginia mines are located about
seven miles west of Bessemer, and
Bessemer is seventeen miles south of
Birmingham. Il is one of the ideal
mining camps of the district. The
slopes are well arranged and there
l. fro in
the mines before. They are owned by
the Alabama Steel and Wire Company,
but are leased and operated by Reid
& Co. Union miners are employed ex-
clusively, and the mines have not been
affected byatheg recent strike in the
district.
J. Hillhouse,. assistant state mine
inspector for Alabama, said tonight
that he could not understand how
such a catastrophe could have oc-
CURED at Virginia mines, since they
are so we'll ventilated and have never
been troubled with gas. He will go
to the mines early tomorrow morning
and officially investigate the cause of
the disasters .
PresidentsE Ed Flynn, of the Alabama
United Mine Workers, and National
Committeeman Farley, tonight with
Joe HALTER. district organizer, left
for the scene early this morning to
render what assistance they could. in
rescuing the men and in the aiding
of the families of the unfortunate.
President Flynn, before leaving,
said that there were 1876 men en-
ployed in the mine regularly, but as
yesterday, he could not say whether or
not the full force was in the mine at
the time of the. disaster.