The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-03-12
1900 DEAD IN FRENCH MINE.
ANSWERING APPEALS FOR AID.
RESCJERS LOSE THEIR LIVES.
Force Their Way Into shafts Filled WIN
Poisonous Gases and Drop Dead Before
They Reach Men They Try TO save
Crowds Gather at the Pits Mouths.

Special cable Despatch TO THs SIN,
PARIS, March 1l.-Despatches from Lens
Pas de Calais. kill all hope that the extent
OF the colliery disaster at Courrleres nae
been exa ggerated. Absolute accuracy for
the present il naturally impossible, bur the
grim fact that in round numbers | 200 miners
met an awful death can no longer he
doubted.
The mines Of COURT eres are the thlrd
largest in France. They are three miles
from Lens and cover an area Of II 200 acres
There are twelve pits.
Shortly before . o'clock on Saturday
morning there was a terrific eSploslon III
pits 2, 3 and 4. 1t was 80 violent that the
cages in the shafts were blown ont, wreck
ing the structures at the mouths OF the
pits. The man in charge Of the windlass
at shaft 4, 800 yards away, was blown ny
! the rush Of gas against a stairway and
killed instantly. simultaneously at shaft 2
a mile away from shaft 8, the roof was blown
fifty feet into the air.
This NAV give some idea of the awful
suddenness and magnitude Of the disaster.
but words cannot describe the scenes at
the mouths Of the pits, where men. women
and children are standing day and night.
too stunned by the horror of the catastrophe
! to give expression to their feelings. Now
and then a woman faints and is carried
away. but for the most part there is a wierd
calm. The company officials fear that
this . 1arent quietude is the prelude to a
| violel.. outburst directed against the mine
owners.
The signs of the restlessness have be-
.l.N ~ 800 ArYn
moned reenforcements Of troops and gen
darmes. A battalion of infantry is coming
from Arrao to reinforce the 200 gendarrnes
already on the spot.
Exactly how the explosion was caused
Is not yet known, but it is known that an
outbreak Of fire in one pit was observed
on Thursday. This is "A common occur
renee, and the usual precautions were taken
to isolate it.. II is thought possible, how
ever, that owing to insufficient isolation or
through a fall in the strata a pocket of gas
may have come in contact with the fire.
resulting in a terrific explosion, the ignition
Of the suspended coal dust, the collapse
here and there OF the walls and sides OF
the galleries, thus spreading the scope Of
the explosion, and finally the transforma-
ton of the mine into a vast reservoir of
smoke and asphyxiating gases.
Another theory offered by a Govern
ment engineer is that the fire was not re-
sponsible. He says the coal at the Cour-
rieres mine ia very soft, friahle and gas
eous, As n rule the accunula'ions Of gas
are rendered harmless ly continuous ven
~tiiation, but there is always the possibility
OF an explosion in a pocket Of gas through
Il spark from a p~ickaxe, a half closed lamp
or a miner lighting a cigarette in defiance
Of the regulations, 1t is even said that
the miners are accustomed 20 work in
these pits with open lamps.
Chief Engineer Leon, who headed the
first rescue party in shaft II, which was the
least damaged, says it was not until j O'Clock
in the afternoon that it was possible to get
down az far as the first gallery. The sight
was awful. There was a confused mass
Of beams. rubbish, corpses and dead horses.
The resc,lers heard feeble groans and dashed
at the obstruction with axes.
They relea sed twelve men VITO were at
the last gasp. They were then obliged to
return to the surface. Another gang of
resc,iers soon descended and returned with
twelve corpses. All the dead we're com
pletelv carboniaed. one was headless.
WINE an arm wis lOlu OH dlIolIlsI' InHIt
may have been others still alive quite near
the shaft, but the rescuers could not reach
them as the air was so bad. No one could
venture more than a few va rds from the
shaft.
Al O'Clock al night the Minister OF Com
meroe, the Minister of Public Works and
Col. kerandran, representing President
Fallieres, were at shaft 3. An engineer
was let down, but he found it impossible
to breathe when a little more than half
way down. He reported that not a sound
could be heard from below.
Between midnight and this afternoon
only two men were brought up alive, and
by the strange irony of fate exactly the
game number Of resCuers lost their lives in
the same pit, victims Of the poisonous
gases.
The distress in the district must of neces-
sity be lamentable unless it is speedily re-
lieved. In some villages not a single man
is left. Salaumines alone lost 500 men.
President Fallitres was the first TO send n
subscription of 5000 francs to aid the suf-
ferers.
The Minister of the Interior has placed
10, 900 francs at the disposal Of he local
authorities for pressing neoessities. The
municipal authorities of Lem will meet to-
morrow and vote a grant. NJ Basly, Deputy
for Pas de Calais, and the Mayor of Lens
ha We asked the Mayors in the mining dis
trict to summon their municipal councils
for the same object. NJ. Basly at an early
date will ask the Chamber of Deputies to
pass a grant of 500, 900 francs.
The loss to the mining company, which
is legally obliged to pay pensions of q per
cent of their husbands wa ges TO the widows
Of victims, is estimated at upward of
5000, 900 francs.
The Kings of Italy and Portugal and the
President Of Switzerland have telegraphed
condolences to President Fallieres.
ROCkEEELLER MAI Help ROIS.