The Corvallis times. (Corvallis, Or.) 1888-1909, 1906-03-13

region The most agonizing scenes
are Witnessed at the pit mouths
and the psndarmes experience the
utmost difficulty In restraining the
crowds Of people eager to ascertain
the fate Of their relatives. At Lille
estimates Of the dead are from loco
to 1900, which numbers, however.
are given under all reserve until
more exact figures are obtainable.
Gas is pouring into pit 2, pre-.
venting an entrance, and it is inn
possible to succor the men impris-
oned there. In pit 8 the cages will
not work, having been damaged by
the explosion. The rescue work,
therefore, Is progressing mainly 10
Ten miners from pit II were re
Imovsd alive, but none of the 1858
miners who entered pit 8 have yet.
ibeen brought out, Of the 500 min.
! ers who descended there this morn
| ing, according to, q dispatch from
Lens, 388 have been brought ont,
but the rescue of the others is i'm
possible. In pit 3 only - men. out
lof 443 have been rescued, and. ~
fthe ladders are broken and the Gag
Ies jammed, the reacnefs despair of
helping the others. - :. =. :, :, :.
The prefect Of Pas-de- Calais, Ne
Arras, is directingthe work Of res1T
cue :at pit II :, near the scsne Of tn
main catastrophe II ID possible
THAT the rescuers may be able to ap.
proech the lateral galleries, and so
miners headed by Engineer Bar,
fhave been formed into a relief gang
snd. will make. make an s.pp attempt to reach
r. Foreman Lecomte came up from
the mine this afternoon and report
led a terrifying scene bslow.
The crowd surrounding the mouth
of the mine is showing signs Of inn
patience at what it considered the
Islow progress by the rescuers. Al
i s O'clock tonight a rescpe party at
lCourriere brought several engineers
two Of whom were unconscious, but
fwere revived under medical attend
+ ance. .e<...<.a 9.,-f.5
j The attempts. at rescue have beer
given up, as the galleries have fal
len in.
st Crowds still surround pit 4, ant
the scenes are heartreuding.
The chief engineer of the depart
: ment Of Pas-de.C Calais, M. Leon
8 says that the fire broke out in thu
{. pit at ; O'Clock Monday afternoon
] and that the engineers coped will
; 1t as best they could, but that Fri
day, being unable to master it, the.
y closedall the outlets. Fiseures, b.
0 thinks. must have formed, whicl
S permitted the gases to escape, ant
s shese becoming ignited, resulted il
g an explosion.
. One of the engineers of the min
q told the. Journals correspondent
9 that the cable was unable to de
l. scend more than $50 meters, Will
s the gallery where the miners are en-
tom bed is 50 meters farther down
n Reacuers who descended in thi
e cage report having heard distinctl
It the imprisoned men tapping on th
!. water pipes, but the hopes that WEI
d kindled by this statement we're 81
g tinguished by an engineer, who es
i timated that it would take eigt
= days to dislodge the debris in th
IS shafts and that meanwhile the mir
If ers would die, either from starvs
) tion or asphyxiation. The lates
r, news received in Paris is to the e
|. feet that rescuers we're still at wor
d but were making slight progress
their work being most difficult an
10 dangerous.
ie Up to the present time so boo
l. les have been taken from pits
n and IL, all the men having bee
f. asphyxiated.