The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-03-09
THE MINE DISASTER
STATE INSPECTOR REPORTS AN Ac-
 CrDENT AT PIPER.
r.tn.fronhe which Caused Eleven Deaths Was Due to Hole
 Tn Heading of the
 Mine.


 According to the report of State Mine Ingpecter J Nj. Gray, the dlsas- fer at the Piper Mine of February 27 was caused by funnel shaped hole in .tbe heading of tho mine, which caused inc explosIon and produced the wind force and flame which cost the lives of the victims of the disaster.
 It will be remembered that on the afternoon of February P eleven min CTS were killed and eleven others were injured. Inspector Kuffner went imme- diateiy dispatched to the scene of the tragedy bv Governor Jelks and he was soon reinforced by Assistant Inspector MiIlhouse and Chief Inspector Gray. They carefully investigated the eondi- tions at the mine and examined a number of witnesses, two or three of whom told with narrowing detail the scenes directly atfer the explosion. The report made yesterday to the Cover nor was extremely technical and full.
 In his report Mir, Gray says that care ful examination of the Piper Mine was made by himself, MT. Millhouse and M. M Kuffner. on Marcn 3. The Chief Mine Inspector and MT. Hillhouse were detained n Birmingham by the Circuit Court as witnesses in the Virginia Mine disaster on the day of the explo- sion. MT Kuffher, however was dis patched to the scene of the tragedy on the first train and arrived at the | mines the next morning. He found | that all of the wounded and dead had l been removed from the mine and the | mine was in safe condition for re- | pair work to begin. He gave the com panx orders to restore ventilation and 1 let everything stand in that part of | the opening in which tine explosion oc- | cured until the arrival of all the in- | spectors. Nothing was disturbed but | rubbish blown from cross cuts and | overcast.
 The miners selected committee of 1 three men to accompany the inspectors I on the examination and every place in | the fifth west heading was carefully sorutinized The velocity at the mouth 1 of the slope was 720 feet per minute I but a second anamometer shows that l the velocity was T50 feet per minute. l The fan was running between seven | ty-fiye and eighty revolutions a min l ute. In the fifth west heading the | manway door was blown up the man i way through itself. Just above this on l tho side track q set of double timoers | was down. Moisture was found on 1 some of the cellars of timber on the 1 side track and a little puddle of water was found on the entry above this | track.
 Inspector Gray then goes into tech nical and elongated description of each | one of the ten rooms. He declares that l the funnel shaped hole found in the 1 heading was undoubtedly the principal cause of the explosion or produced the | wind force and flame that killed the
 eleven men and wounded eleven oth- | CTS In room No. 9 there were three | holes badly located. any of which I would have given off considerable wind
 as none of them pulled to the back of l the hole but left perpendicular cracks In the face of the coal. In room No. 6
 several props were shot out indicating | that the shots in this room were over | charged The entry floor was dry on l the Sd of March, notwithstanding the 1 fact that the mine boss, Sam Jones
 the fire boss, Morgan Johns, and the | driver, Sam Snow, who sprinkled the | entry, testified that it was sprinkled
 on Sunday night, February 20.
 r. What was the condition of the head
 Ing on the afternoon of the disaster
 MT Gray was unable to state. but MT i Kuffner says that on the morning aftel
 he found the entry to be dry. Frank ,Brinskull, who was working in No 3 l and escaped from the mine after the
 explosion without having been hurt ex. cept being overcome by after damp
 stated that he heard a very loud shot | then came strong wind and fire into l
 up but the atmosphere was so hot that he stopped down holding his face close | to the bottom. He managed to go IT | this position until he reached the enc ! of the side track. Here he got down or his stomach and dragged himself out or
 the rail. The testimony shows tha
 there was rio gas standing in any oi
 the rooms or other places on the fiftt l west This, in conjunction with Erin
 skulls statement, leaves no other con
 clusion but that the explosion wal | caused by windy shot in the heading l being aided and increased in force bl
 the smoke and dust from shots in Nos | and 6 rooms, and the dust gathered | from the walls and floor of the entry, MT. Gray was accompanied to Mont ,gomery yesterday by his assistant. MT l Hillhouse, and both were with tho
 Governor for some time. They talked I over the eutire situation and gave th' l Governor much information about th'
 accident and the mining conditions
 generally.
 Plenty of DaybPeak Fertilizers ana