The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-02-22
FIFTY BODIES ARE FOUND
Narrowing Scenes at Mouth
 of Fatal Mine.
With Spartan Persistence Miners Cons tinue to Excnvats in Hopes That Some Few of the Eatombed May be
 saved.

Birmingham. Ala. Feb. 2i.--ne the 160 miners of Virginia City, who en- tered the mines yesterday afternoons one-fourth of that towns population was destroyed.
 So far only fifty bodies have been recovered. As time grows. notwith- standing the titanic efforts on the part of the rescuers to reach the entombed men. the recovery already of fifty dead bodies. precludes any idea that life may still remain among the unf0rtn- nate.
 Practically isolated from the outside world by communication the Aasocla- ted Press correspondent found 1t he- cessary to employ couriers to inter- sect its wires eight miles distant. called the Model Miness the hamlet and the homes were to the same extent given more than ordinary care in beau- tifying the little valley, enclosed on three sides by mountains varying m altitude, dotted on the horizon by oth- CT camps.
 With the first ominous grumble or the coming catastrophe, by common impulse every citizen rushed to the mouth of the main slope. every heart string drawn taut. fear struggling against hope for the safety of loved one. Crazed then with anxiety todaysa abject hopelessneas of rescuing fathers. brothers and sons. has only Increased the narrowing scenes around the mines The scenes at Virginia mines this evening where a teriffic afterdannt explosion yesterday evening imprison- ed so many men seven hundred feet below the surface are the most grue~ some and narrowing that have ever been witnessed in the immediate niInr ing section Of Alabama. It is now general conceded that at least 160 unfortunate men were in the mines at the time of the catastrophe. [ Fifty bodies have already been brought to the surface
 Ennnot Distinguish Color.
 The corpses are frighfguiy mangled and disnktired and identification is al- most impossible Many of them are so terribly bruised ana twisted and discolored that negroes cannot be told from white men.
 All day long at the mouth of the mine the wafling and moaning of the women and children whose unfortu- nate relatives were in the nina has been the most heart rending feature of the disaster. One hundred families and three hundred children are left destitute and without support by the calamity and they of the best mining families in Alabama.
 As the bodies of the victims which in many cases have been gathered to- gether a piece at a time. are brought to the surface. they are placed in rows ma rough improvised platform and late this evening ambulances be. gan the removal of those so far recov@ cred to Bessemer.
 Since the list of the dead win prob- ably go to 160 the local undertakers have wired to adjoining cities for c0f~ fins as it was found there were noe enough suitable cofrins in the district to bury the victims.
 The work of the diggers at the mlna has been an inspiration to the specta- tors and President Ryan has done all in his power to facilitate the work Of the rescue. The excavation of the de-l bris has been handicapped from the. start. The foul gases which had col~ lected in the slope made necessary the use of safety lamps and it was found that less than score Of safety lamps were available in the district Union miners went to the scene from prac- tically every mining camp with a radius of twenty-five miles of Virginia City to aid in the work of the rescue.
 Live Body Recovered. 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 heoric methods resorted Go to bring the man to consciousness. Ha is still alive but scant hope is held out for his recovery.
 President Flynn of the A1abama United Mine Workers said to the As4 sociated Press tonight:
 T shall be surprised if a single per@ aTf i've ss4A Ventilation is very dinioult and if the men were not killed by the explosions they have certainly been suffocated by the gases. The bodies so far reached Were in the main slope and 1t may be several days before we can get to tas rooms which branch off from the main slope
 President Flynn worked all last night with a pick and shovel at the mine and other mine oficials were among the leaders in the rescue work. R. Fairley. member of the national executive board of the United Mine Workers from Alabama
 Head In, Baaket.
 One of the most gruesome sights this afternoon was when a mans head was carried out of the mine in din- neP basket. It was found in this posi- ton, and the flesh was almost entirely burned away from the skull. Legs. arms and mangled trunks was brought out in succession in this manner.
 After nightfall the entrance to the mine was converted into a veritable chamber of horrors, the awfulness of which was intensified by the fiickerinm lamps as the feble rays fell upon sha mangIed and bleeding fragments Of human flesh. strewn about the entrance In slckenlng confusion.
 Many stout-hearted men who had been assisting in thc work of rescue. were forced to give up the task this morning and numerous persons havo tainted as the ghastiy array of bodies was found.
 The Associated Press representative has been on duty at the mines eor twenty-four hours, and during that time he has sent out more than ls.0oa