The Birmingham age-herald., 1906-10-05
RESCUE PARTY IS 7 IN GREAT DANGER. Two Members Already SufOcat-
 ed in PocahOntas Mines
LOSS OF LIFE IS APPALLING
Three Different Rescue Parties Are Sent Into Mine, Working Against Great Odds to Bring
 Out Bodies.

Pocahontas, Va, October 4.-Nineteen known dead and from thirty to forty more men entombed and doubtless all dead. is the situation up to a late hour tonight at the West Fork mines of the Poeahontas Galleries company, where the explosion occurred late yesterday after noon. The dead:
 B. Cook.
 IFa9i Richards.
 V !. Kelly.
 Reniy Green.
 George Radford.
 J. A. Dainey.
 John Davis.
 John Cumber
 Paul Kalsko.
 Joe Flash.
 Berty Estony.
 John Odom, rescuing party.
 Ed Brown, rescuing party.
 Negroes: Henry Ward. Dick Moorman, Llghtburn Woody. Ben Perry, John Green, Joy Palmer
 Bodies Brought Out By Rescuers. The bodies If these men were recovered from the mines as the result of the he roic work of a band of thrty-hv men, constituting a rescue party that worked necessarily through the hours of the night and day. It was not until 7:SO o'clock this lternoon that the rescaers reached T5oint nearest Paul entry, where the ex- iplosion occurred The work of rescue was / very slow as the conditions confronting the party were difficult to surmount
 The authorities anticipated the fearful extent of the casualties by ordering carload of collins and burial supplies, which are now on the way.
 " ,rr tendent William Leclkie of the E,lt nnteres the mine as one of the sescuing party, had narrow escape from death. He was overcome by the fumes and had to be carried out. Edward Jones, the tde ininn foreman, led the first rescue party and when that party failed to return in a reasonable time second rescue party under Superintendent Leckie followed.
 Two Rescuers Are Overcome.
 John oldham and Ed Brown were over come by gas and died and Leckie barely escaped with his life. Then the third party was formed and continued the work Meantime the first party had reached another entrance to the mine In safety, and sent word over the noun tain announcing that fact. All this time the work of bratticing the mine. neces- sary for carrying on the work of rescue, was being effectively carried on. Some confusion was caused in the determina- tion of e exact number of men en- tombed :. / the fact that the explosion occurred when the exchange of shifts was in progress, added to which was tIat 1haf af ,11n caped from the Tug Fork entrance.
 The scene around the mine was pitiful Relatives and friends gathered in groups at the entrances and elsewhere awaiting tidings of the victims and gave vent to their grief as the bodies, one by one, were brought out.
 Survivor of Former Explosion.
 s. B. Cook, one of the victims, whose body was found within 300 feet of the outside of the mine, was the only sur vlvor of the big explosion in the Poco- hontas mines in 1884.
 Parties coming to work from the Tug river on the West Virginia side Of the mines did not discover there had been any trouble until they ran into some bodies on the tracks and some small mules dead. with a man pinned between them While the force of the explosion was terrific the foremen who were at the mine offices did not know there had been any trouble until the men and mules failed to come out at the time for quilting work.
 Up to midnight the exact number of men who were in the mine was not known. There is no evidence of fire in the mine I'D to a late hour tonight The Norfolk and Western railroad superintendent at Bluefeld late tonight wired a report to the general offices of that company at Roanoke that the information he had was that the death list may exceed thirty and that 1t was hoped that all the bodies would be taken out by tomorrow. This estimate of the dead, however, is believed to be too low and based on the situation as 1t appeared earlier in the evening.