Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1906-03-14

1t is thoughthardly possible that many
bodies will be recovered tomorrow ow.
ing to the difficulty of reaching the bot.
tom pits, the runners on which the cages
descend being broken or bent.
director declared that the impris-
oned men numbered LOO
Minister Dubief inquired: "Have you
still any hope? The director replied
mo, believe all of them are dead"
This was whispered into the ear of the
minister, IN order that his words might
not be overheard by the pale, faced min
ers who stood anxiously about the mine
building waiting for an official view on
the state of affairs.
The mine building has been trans
formed into mortuarJ chamber. and all
about in it lie the carbonized and almost
unreoognizable bodies of miners which
were taken there as they were brought
up from the mine. Stricken relatives ar
rive at the mine building from time to
time, searching for missing members of
their families, sud indescribable scenes
OF grief occur as women recognize their
loved ones.
Heartrending scenes, too, are wit
messed about the mouth of pit No. 4,
where the bands of rescuers are continu
ally descending and returning with
bodies. The women with children in
their arms attempt to break through the
Gordon of troops, which form lane
through which the body. bearers proceed
Oh,
the burden consists of a mere heap of
hnrns flesh, and iii nearly every case the
body is terribly lacerated. Only one
half of the bodies recovered have been
identified
Despite the danger incurred, the vol
untcers, who include number of those
who were 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 suffocated on his
fifteenth attempt, and it is feared that
other fatalities among the volunteers will
follow, as the air in the mines is still i'm.
pregnated with noxious gases A num-
Der of the men engaged in rescue work
have already been brought to the surface
unconscious, and as they were driven to
their homes in closed carriages the
women followed and broke the windows.
suspecting that bodies were being hur-
ried away.
Several miners have come up from pit
IL, which is connected with pit g. They
effected their escape by means of lad.
der, and as they came from the mouth of
the pit they appeared to be bordering on
madness. All of them were more or less
injured. When asksd about their COM
rades, one of them said: r.
ut is horrible. All of them are dead"
Another miner said:
ut is indescribable. Everything was
demolished or has fallen in. saw bodies
lying in piles. My son is below"
Replying to an inquiry as to whether
hope remained for the finding of more
mon alive in the mine, an engineer who
had been down the shaft said:
ut is scarcely possible. The state of
the galleries is such that clearing them
will be difficult task, while the flames
were 80 fierce that many of the victims
must have been reduced to ashes"
Rescuers Forced to Stop Work.
Paris, March l2.-All rescue work has
been suspended at the Courrieres pits,
where over 1000 miners lost their lives
Saturday owing to the danger of gases
and emanations from decomposing
bodies.
The engineers fear another explosion
and therefore ordered up the relief gangs
at 7 o'clock this morning.
The engineers will attempt to venti-
late the chambers before attempting fur
ther rescues.