The Marlboro democrat. [volume] (Bennettsville, S.C.) 1882-1908, 1906-03-16
Over Twelve Hundred Men En-.
tOmbed in a Furnace.
TERRIBLE DISASTER.
Hundreds Of Bodies Have Been T.aksi
Dat. France Is Shocked by the
Magnitude of the Catastrophe
the Worst In Mining
History.

A dispatch from Paris says q min
Ing catastrophe Of Invaluable horror
and magnitude has stricken the great
coalcentre OF northern France. An
explosion Of ire-damp at 7 O'Clock
Saturday morning carried death and
destruction throughout the network
Of DIAL mines conferred at Courriere,
and Dire followed the explosion, max.
Ing rescue dinloult, and almost i'm
possible. All France has been pro,
four Oily shocked by the magnitude Of
the disaster, which is said to be the
greatest In the history Of continental
mining.
Toe scene of the catastrophe ia the
mountainous mining region near Lens
In the department. Cf Pal-de-Calais.
Here are huddled small hamlets OF
thesmine workers, who operate the
mos5 productive coal mines in France.
Tho subterranean chambers form q
series OF tunnels, Six of the outlets
are near Dens, and others are at
Courriere, Verdun and many other
points The OUTPUT Of these mines Is
particularly oombustiole and is largely
uSea IN The manufacture OF gas and
In smelling. About 1000 miners
~otk the group Of mines and, with
uheir families, mako a population OF
froin 5000 TO 5000 souls
Ehe catastrophe took place shortly
after l 1875 msn had descended into
the mine saturday morning. There
was a deafenlDg explosion which wfs
followed by the cages and miLi z APP
paratus being hurled from the moutl,
OF the Couriere mine. Men and ht rst S
nealby outside the mine were either
stunned or killed. The roof Of the
ntRe Office was torn off. Immediately
oHowho~ the explosion the flames
A5uhl s.Jm the mouth Of the pit. driy
lnggffhack those without who sought to
enter and booming those within.
The work Of attempting to rescue
the imprisoned miners was hastily be.
gun by tnioials, engineers and miners
from the surrounding mines, who
tromed parties and made heroic ef-
forts to penetrate the smoke and foul
gases and bring out the imprisoned
men. The families OF the entombed
miners crowded about the shaft, seek.
ing fathers or husbands and threaten
ing In their Efforts TO obtain details
to force back the gendarmes who kept
them from the mouth Of the pit. TIE
populace Of the diStrict is appalled,
by the disaster which effects every
household. Those persons who were
rescued were terribly ~utned.
r. hnO hDnn. lnoe,,nl tln 1
l,795 men who descended into the pits
TO work, only sol have come up, leav.
Ing / ,204 buried in tho three pits.
Throughout the afternoon the heroic
IF rtS at rescue were continued, but
nigh5fall brought the con vioGion that
the entombed men had been ~suffOcated
and the dispatch from Lille at 8 45 D.
m. announcing the number Of death at
1,l95 appears to remov the last hope
that others may be brought to The
surface alive.
Some Of the imprisoned miners
sought to escape to the pits which re-.
NAMED intact and several rescues
were made. The first cages came up
at 10 O'Clock with about q dozen half
~suffocated men, who were promptly
taken to the hospital. Among them
was nj VOisin, an engineer, VINO had
attempted to organ,z4 q BuGcor. To-
wards neon wounded workmen began
to be brought up In the baskets and
the bodies Of two men were taken from
pit 10. 1t is fearoa the remainder had
boen a~sphyxlated. Assistance reach.
ed CourrIere from all sections CT tine
department and a large force of volun.
tecrs took part In the efforts made To
rescue the entombed miners, recover
Cle bodies OF the killed and help In
TIE killed and help In the work Of sal.
age.
Ole OF the rescued miners, Pierre
Dasson, said: II was $50 metres from
the shaft whom l heard o deafening
explosion. The air Immediately be-
came fairfield and tlled with poisonous
vapors. ~lnStinctively / CROPPED my
way toward thcibottom OF the shaft OF
pit Q, near which | found a number Il
SutfOcating comrades who had fallen
uelpless In the galleries and were cry
inR for assistance. | asst8ted them &c
mount the trolley ana thus they were
enabled to reach the shaft" A state
OF stupOr and ~desolation prevails owe
the Courriero mining reg Ol. Toe
most agonizing scene are witnessed
at the pit mouths and the gendarmes
xpefiGnce the utmost difficulty In re-
strainlilg the crowds Of people eager
10 ascertain the fate Of their relatives.
The chief engineer OF the depart.
ment Pase-aC-C Calais, M. Leon, says
that the fire broke out In the pit at
3 O'Clock last Monday afternoon and
the engineers COPIED with 1T as best
they we're able, but that Friday, be-
ing unable to master 1t, they closed
all the outlets. Fissures, he thinks,
must have formed which permitted
the gases to escape and these becom-
ing ig1ited, resulted in an explosion
Onc Of the engineers OF the mine says
that the cage vas unable to descend
more Unan 100 metres, while the gal
lery where the miners are entombed
Is so metres farther down.
Ncscuers who descended In this cage
report having heard distinctly the i'm.
prisonod men tapping on the water
pipes, bet the hope that was rekindled
by this statement was extinguished
by Engineer Leon, who estimated
that &c would take eight days to dis,
| lol.a fIo lnlwia a.. III