The Marlboro democrat. [volume] (Bennettsville, S.C.) 1882-1908, 1906-03-16
Over Twelve Hundred Men En-.
tombed in a Furnace.
TERRIBLE DISASTER.
OF Bodies Have Been Taken
eat. France Is Shocked By The
Magnitude of the Catastrophe
the Worst In Mining
History.
History.

a dispatch from Paris says q min
Ing catastrophe Of incaluable horror
and magnitude has stricken the great
coal centre Of northern France. An
explosion Of fire-damp at 7 O'Clock
Satu day morning carried death and
destruction throughout the network
of oval mines centercd at Courriere,
and ldre followed the explosion, maxi
irg Tescue di1icult, and almost i'm
possible. All France has been pro,
fonrdly shocked by the magnitude Of
tho disaster, which Ia said to be the
greatest In the history of continental
miDirg.
Toe scene Of the catastrophe ia tho
mountainous mining region near L Ems
in the dopar tment of PaL-de- Calais.
Here are huddled small hamlets OF
thesmine workers, who operate the
mos1 productive coal mines In France.
Inc suoterranean Chambers form a
series Of tunnels. Six Of the outlets
ara near Dens, and others are al
Courriere, Verdun and many other
points The output OF these mines IL
parJculary oombustible and Is largely
usefi In the manufacture of gas and
In smelling. About 1000 miners
~olk the group of mines and, With
Uhe1r families, mako population OF
frotn 5000 TO 5000 souls
The catastrophe took place shortly
afEor ! 795 msn had descended into
The mine saturday morning. There
w&5 deafening explosion which WIS
followed by the cages and u.iLi ap
pafatus being hurled from the mouti,
OF the Couriere mine. Men and ht rst
neaiby outside the mine were either
stunned or killed. The roof Of the
mine ot1ice was torn Off. Immediately
soliowl7~l the explosion the flames
Ai,qas I'm the mouth OF thepit, driv
ingfback those without who sought to
enter and booming those within.
The work Of attempting to rescue
the imprisoned miners was hastily be-
gun by tilicials, 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 this mouth Of the pit. Toe
populace OF the district Is appalled,
by the disaster which elects every
household. Those persons who were
1t has been learned that cut OF
1876 men who descended into the pits
TO work, only sol have come up, leav.
Ing 1904 buried In tho three pits.
Throughout the afternoon the heroic
ctf rts at rescue were continued, but
aigh5fall brought the conviction that
the entombed men had been suffocated
and the dispatch from Lille at 8 As p.
M announcing the number Of death at
L. l95 appears to remove 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 dCz,n half
suff0cated men, who were promptly
laken to the hospital. Among them
was M Voisin, an engiaecr, VINO had
attempted to Organ.Z3 suocOr. To-
wards neon wounded workmen began
to be brought up In the baskets and
the bodies Of two men we're taken from
pit 10. Ii iS feared the remainder had
boen asphyxiated. Assistance reach
cd OourrIere from all sections CT the
department and large force of volun.
tecrs took part In the efforts made 10
rescue the entombed miners, recover
tie 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: Il was 280 metres from
the shaft when | heard deafening
explosion. The air Immediately be-
came 'Iarifad and tlled with poisonous
vapors. Instinctively | CROPPED my
way toward theIbotton OF the shaft OF
pit 2, near which l found a number If
sutfucating comrades who had fallen
helpless In the galleries and were cry
inR for assistance. | assisted them to
mount the trolley and thus they were
enabled to reach the shaft" A state
of Stupor and desolation prevails over
the Courriero mining reg on. Tne
most ag0nizing scenes are witnessed
DIT the pit mouths and the gendarmes
xporiGnce the utmost diniculty In re-
stfainrg the crowds OF people eager
10 ascertain the fate Of their relatives.
The chief engineer OF the dc part
ment Paao dc Calais M. Leon, says
that the fire broke out In the pit at
3 O'Clock last Monday afternoon and
the engineers ooped with 1t as best
they were able, but that Friday, bt
Ing unable to master 1t, they closed
all the outlets. Flssures, he thinks,
must have formed which permitted
the gases to escape and these becom-
lno igaited, resulted in an explosion
One OF the engineers OF the mine says
that the cage was unable to descend
more than $50 metres, while the gal
lery where the miners are entombed
is 90 metres farther down.
Rescuers who descended in this cage
report having heard distinctly the I'm.
prisoned men tapping on the water
pipes, but the hope that was rekindled
by this statement was extingujshed
by Engineer Leon, who estimated
that 1t would take eight DAYS TO dis
l0dua tho dehria In tbo oLaR4 l