Audubon County journal. (Exira, Iowa) 1884-1993, 1906-03-15
LOO DEAD IN MINE
AWFUL CATASTROPHE IN A
FRENCH COAL PIT.

Eighteen Hundred Men Were at Work
About Six Hundred Rescued, Man,
of Them Badly Hurt-Rest Probabl,
Dead of Asphyxiation.
Paris, March 1.-THE worst fear
as to the enormity of the mine disas
ter in the Courrieres district of the
Pas de Calais have been realized
The death list numbers LOO and the
whole of the region stands appalled, al
the terrible tragedy which has brought
sorrow to 5000 fathers, mothers
wives and children. The last great
mine disaster in France occurred in
1885, when 293 persons were killed
and eighty injured, but that and al
others sink into insignificance before
Courrieres. Four hundred soldiers
have arrived at the mine to assist in
holding in check the crowds of dis
tracted mourners. For time hope
had been held out to the people that
tappings on pipes by the imprisoned
men had been heard, but gradually
this hope vanished, and the people de.
manded admission to see the bodies,
and even threatened to break through
the Gordon of troops, who had the
greatest difficulty in keeping the
crowds from the pit. One man named
Sylvestra succeeded in entering the
mine, but he never returned. 1t is
believed he CROPPED about inside until
he was overcome by the gasses and
persisted. 1t is reported that rescue
party, numbering forty, has been cut
off by the caving in of one of the gall
leries.
Ministers Gauthier and Dubief have
received complete details of the catas-
trophe from M. Lavaurs, the director
of the mine. "Of 1900 miners who
were down in the pits when the ex-
plosion occurred" he said, 1913 were
working in pit No. 4, 1872 were in put
No. 8, 571 in pit No. 2, and the remain
der in pit No. 10. Those rescued were
taken out as follows: From pit No. 4,
100; from pit No. 8, Is escaped
through pit No. IL; 400 came up from
pit No. 2, and "a from pit No. 10. A
number of these were injured and
some of them have died since. At the
present moment LOO men remain i'm
prisoned."
For the time being the mine build
ing has been transformed into a NOR
tuary chamber and all about in it lie
the carbonized and almost unrecog-
nizable bodies of miners which were
taken there as they were brought up
from the mine.
Several miners have come up from
pit No. II, which is connected with
pit No. 8. They effected their escape
by means of ladder, and as they
came from the mouth of the pit they
appeared to be bordering on madness.
All of them were more or less in
Jured. When asked about their COM
rades, one of them said: cit is hor-
uble. All of them are dead"
A young miner who escaped from
pit No 4, where about 500 men re-
main, said: Il was working about
fifty feet from the shaft. Suddenly
l felt a puff of hot gas, and started
towards the shaft. | succeeded in
reaching the cage and came up in it.
After the blast l neither heard nor
saw more of my companions and l be-
lleve that all in that gallery in which
l was working are dead"
Another miner said: eft is indie
scribable. Everything was demolished
Or has fallen in. | saw bodies living
in piles"
Replying to an inquiry as to wheth-
er hope remained for the finding of
more men alive in the mine, an engi-
neer who had been down the shaft
said: ut is scarcely possible. The
state of the galleries is such that
clearing them will be a difficult task,
while the flames were so fierce that
many of the victims must have been
reduced to ashes"
The recovery of bodies is proceeding
very slowly. Only sixty were brought
up, but the rescuers reported that 100
more had been found.
An attempt is being made to reach
the miners entombed in pit No. 3.
via pit No. 2, which communicate
with each other, but there is faint
hope of success in this direction. The
mining company is arranging to take
a census of the surrounding mining
in order to ascertain who is
from them, as several COM
munes have been almost denuded of
able-bodied men. The funerals of the
victims will begin tomorrow, when
services will be held in all the vii.
lage churches in the vicinity of the
mines.
Agitation Against Russian Jews.