The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1906-03-11
ONLY 591 ESCAPE
AFTER EXPLOSION
Flames BeIch From Mouth OF
Shaft and Drive Back
the ReScuerS.
FEARFUL SPECTACLE OF
FRENZIED WEEPING WOMEN
President of France Sends Off,
cialS to Scene and Cancels
Festivities.

PARIS. March lO.-A terrible catestro-
pkc has occurred at a coal mine "a the
Ccurrieres district of the Pash De Calsts,
eighteen miles from Bethunc. where arr
explosion OF gas is believed to have killed
1904 miners
Three chambers OF the mine are on fire.
One thousand seven hundred nnety-hvc
miners descended into the pits at Cour-
ricres this morning and only 59l have come
up leaving 1904 buried in the three pits.
! Rescue parties that have come TO the
surface say that all further attempts 1T
rescue are useless,
A dispatch from Lille, timed S:45 p M.
says II IL now certain that llB OF the
ertombed miners are dead.
Narrowing Scenes at Mine.
The explosion occurred In pits IL and 1
and the flames spread TO all the COM
municatnK pits. embracing Mericourt,
Coron and Lens.
The number OF lives lost is undoubtedly p
great. but 1t Is not possible at present to
| ascertain exactly how many OF the miners
succeeded in reaching the galleries which
are stil closed,
A dispatch from Lens says over u thou
| sand men have been killed.
Not Il single minor has yet been taken
from pits Nos. ?. OF 4
The spectacle surrounding the scene Is
| fearful Gr Eat crowds OF weeping women
| and children gathered 10 ascertain the
fate OF male members of their families
French President Cancels Ball.
President Fallsres has sent his secre-
! tary to the scene OF the explosion and he
las cancelled the attendance at "A ball
! which was to have been held at the Ely
| see palace tonight, The disaster caused
widespread public depression.
The explosion occurred at Z o'clock this
morning. The first reports which reached
tho Ministry OF Public Works announced
| that II was impossible To calculate even
approximately the number of victims.
Flames Issue From Shaft.
It Is hoped that most II the miners had
sought refuge In the lateral galleries
In the three chambers In which the ex-
posion took place the violence OF the fire
was such that flames issued from the
mouth OF the pit
Mines. ordered To tho scene of the
disaster and the Minister OF the Interior,
NJ DubIef. Will follow late to adopt relief
In pit the cages will not work.
having been damaged by the violence OF
the explosion.
The rescue work therefore is proceed
Ing mainly in pit l. The rescuers are
made up OF engineers and men from tho
surrounding mining towns
The roof OF the office near the entrance
TO the mine was blown OFF by the explo-
sion.
s5s in One Pit.
Ten miners from pit Ii were removed
alive but none of the S5S miners who en-
tered pit have yet been brought out.
or the 500 miners who descended there
this morning, according 10 a dispatch
from Lens. 3S have been brought out,
but the rescue OF the others is impossi-
BILE In pit only thirteen men out OF
443 have been rescued. and as the ladders
are broken and the cages 1ammed INC
rescucrs despair of helping the others.
The prefect OF Pas-de-Galats, NJ Ar
ras is directing the work OF rescue at
Terrible Scenes Below.
IT is possible that the rescuers may. be
able to approach the lateral galleries
and fifty miners. headed by Enslneer
Bar have been formed into relief gang
and will make an attempt to reach them.
Foreman Lecomte came up from IN"
mine this afternoon and reported terr,-
ing the mouth OF the mine Is sho%lng
signs OF impaticnce at what IT considers
the slow progress being made by tne res
cucrs.
Cause of Disaster.
During the evening n dispatch was re-
ceiyed from Lille which seemed TO give
some clue 10 the origin OF the explosion
II was stated that a smouldering hrs
broke out last night in the Cecil pit or
tho Courrlcre mines, rear Mericourt, at
depth OF 30 meters, where masonry Work
was proceeding. 49,
Mines descended for the purpose of In,
ycstigatinG the circumstances winch iei
to the fire. =, tt
of the terrible catastrophe
Horses and Cages Blown In Air,
The cages In which the miners descend
into pIts . and A. were at about o CLOCK
thIs morning hurled thirty feet from tho
mouth OF the shaft -
4 miner working near the mouth WAS
KILLED and horse was blown into the arr
some of the Imprisoned miners sought 10
sscapc To- the pits which remained intact
and severll rcscucS were made
The first cages came up at lo CLOCK
with about a dozen h1lf-Suffocated men,
who were promptly taken TO the hospital
Among them was NJ Nolsin. an engineer
who had attempted to organize succor.
Dead and Dying
Toward noon wounded workmen began
Ia he brought up in the buckets. and the
bodies of two dead men were taken from
nIt 10 IL IS feared the remainder had
tAssjstancc reached Courriere from all
sections OF the department and large
force of volunteers took part In the efforts
nade TO rescue the entombed miners, re-
cover tho bod!es Of the killed and help IN
the work OF salvage
A state of stupor and desolaton pre-
walls over the CourIlere mining region