Los Angeles herald., 1906-03-12
MANCLED MINERS
TAKEN FROM HOLE
tcontinued from Page one,

dropped dead on the way, including
my son and one foreman. | carried
my nephew on my back for forty min
utes and succeeded in saving him. 1t
took us four hours to reach the shaft"
For the time being the mine build
ing has been transformed into a NOR
tuary chamber and all about it lie the
carbonized and almost unrecognizable
| bodies of miners which We're taken
| there as they We're brought up from
the mine. Stricken relatives arrive at
the mine building from time to time
searching for missing members of their
families and indescribable scenes of
grief occur as women recognize loved
ones.
Heartrending scenes, too. are wit
messed about the mouth of pit No. 4,
where in the presence of Ministers
Dubief and Gauthier the bands of res
cuers are continually descending and
returning with bodies.
The women with children in their
arms attempted to break through the
Gordon of troops which forms lane
through which the body bearers pro-
ceeded to the mortuary chamber Some
times the burden consists of a mere
heap of burned flesh, and in nearly
every case the body is terribly lacer-
ated. only one-half of the bodies re-
covered have been identified.
Despite the danger incurred the vol
unteers who include a number of those
who We're successful in escaping at the
time of the explosion, do not hesitate
TO descend the shaft. Some of them
have been down more than a dozen
times. One. of them after having
brought up fourteen bodies was suf-
focated on his fifteenth attempt, and it
is feared that other fatalities among
the volunteers will follow, as the air
in the mine is still impregnated with
noXious gases. A number of the men
engaged in rescue work have already
been brought to the surface uncon-
scious, and as they were driven to their
homes in closed carriages, the women
followed and broke the windows, sus-
pecting that bodies were being hurried
away. .,.
Bordering on Madness
Several miners have come up from
pit No II, which is connected with pit
No 3. They effected their escape by
means of a ladder, and as they came
from the mouth of the pit they ap-
peared to be bordering on madness.
All of them were more or less injured.
When asked about their comrades one
of them said:
ut is horrible, all of them are dead"
A young miner who escaped from
main, said:
Il was working about fifty feet from
the shaft. Suddenly l felt puff of
hot gas and started toward the shaft.
l was suffocated and was unable to
farther because of the fumes. |
Finally, however, succeeded in reach
ing the cage and came up in it.
after the blast 1 neither heard nor
saw more of my comrades, and L be-
lieve that all in that gallery in which
1 was working are dead
Another miner said:
TT is indescribable. Everything was
demolished or has fallen in. l saw
bodies lying in piles My son is be-
low"
One rescuer has asserted that he
heard voices in the mine and Others
found two horses still living. This
gives rise to hope that some of the
men are still living.
Replying to an inquiry as to whether
hope remained for the finding of more
men alive in the mine, an engineer |
who had been down the shaft said:
TT is scarcely possible. The state
of the galleries is such that clearing |
them will be a difficult task where |
the flames were so fierce that many of
the victims must have been reduced |
to ashes. .....
1t is thought nardly possible InaI
many bodies will be recovered tomor-
row on account of the difficulty of
reaching the bottom Of the pits, the
runners on which the cages descend |
being broken or bent"
The engineers are endeavoring to de-
wise means for locating the dangerous |
zones in the mines and aerating the
galleries. The shaft of pit No. 3 is
blocked and the authorities |
are considering the advisability of
dropping a heavy mass of metal down
the shaft in order to clear it and thus
enable them to descend and learn the
worst