The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1906-03-11
ONE THOUSAND
MINERS KILLED
Explosion Follows a Fire in a Coal
Mine in the CouTTieres Dis
trict of France.
DISASTER is APPALLING
AeoNlzINe SCENES AT MOUTH
OF PIT.

A4&@&4%
= Paris, March IA dispatch from y
, Lille timed s:4h p. m, says it is nov y
= certain that j. 1913 OF the entombed :
= miners are dead
= Paris. March ia dispatch from :
= Courrieres timed s p. m, says that =
y the attempt TO rescue the imprisoned =
= miners has been given up, the gal
= leTies in the mine having fallen in =
Paris March IA terrible explosion
occurred today in a coal mine in the
CourTieres district Of the Pas-de-Calais,
eighteen miles from Bethune- It has heen
learned that out Of ], 7s5 men who de-
scended into the pits TO work, only 5s1
have-eefne up, leaving 1901 buried in the
thres-f5its.
ResGla parties that have come to the
surfaes- say that al further attempts At
rescue are useless. The explosion occurred
at oscloek this morning.
Exact Number Unknown.
The first reports which reached the
ministry Of public works announced that
1t was impossible to calculate even ap-
proximately the number of victims, but II
was hoped that most OF the miners had
sought refuge In the lateral galleries
In the three chambers in which the ex-
plosior took place the violence Of the fire
was such that flames issued from the
mouth of the pit
NJ. tDelafond Inspector general Of mines.
was ordered to the scene of the disaster
and the minister of the interior. NJ Du-
bief, viii follow later TO adopt relief
measures.
Later it was announced that the explo-
sion occurred in pits IL and +, and that
the flames spread to all the communicate
ing pits. embracing MeTicouTt, CO-On and
edIy considerable, but it is not possible ut
present to ascertain how many of the
miners succeeded in reaching the gal
leries which are still closed,
Over 1000 Killed.
dispatch from Lens says that ru-
NOR is circulating there that over Loo
EIen have been killed, which has caused
const ernation- 1t IS added. however. there
IS nothing to indicate that this number
is correct. Not a single miner has Vet
been taken from pits Nos. ,, 3 or 4. The
spectacle surrounding the scene is fear
children gathered 10 ascertain the fate Of
male members of their families
President Fallieres has sent his secre-
tsTy 10 the scene of the explosion and
he has cancelled the attendance at q ball
which was 10 have been held at the Ely
see palace tonight 1r
The disaster caused widespread public
depression. All that can be ascertained
IS that the rescue work is proceeding.
Fire Before Explosion.
During the evening a dispatch was re-
VeiVed- from Lille which seemed to give
Fame clue to. the origin of the explosion
i was stated that a smOuldeTing fire
broke out last night in the Cecil pit OF
lhe COuTrieTe mines near MericOurt at a
aepth of 20 meters, whore masonry work
Has proceeding n. Berault, the chief en-
Fineer of the mines descended for the
purpose of investigating the ciToum-
stances which led to the fire This is all
that is known of the origin of the terrible
catastrophe. The cages in which the min
CTS descend into pits ,, and +, were
at about o'clock this morning hurled
thirty feet from the mouth of the shaft
a miner working near the mouth was
killed and a horse was blown into the
air. Some of the imprisoned miners
sought to escape TO the pits which re-
mained intact and several rescues We're
m8de- The first cages came up at 1l
o'clock with about a doz - half sUff0-
the hospital Among Inem was NJ. Vol
sin, N engineer who had attempted to
organize succOr.
Toward noon wounded workmen began
TO be brought up in the ba skets and the
bodies Of two dead men were taken from
pit 10 II was feared the remainder had
been asphyxiated-
Assistance reacheF Courriere from al
sections Of the department and a large
force of volunteers took part in the ef-
forts made to rescue the entomb5d mill
ers, recover the bodies Of The killed and
help in the work Of salvage.
Agonizing Scenes.
a state Of stupor and des0'ation pre-
walls over the COurTieTe mi ling region
The most agOniZinE scenes are witnessed
4 the pit mouths and the gen a armes eX-
perience the utmost difficulty in restrain
Ing the crowds Of people eager to asceT-
tain the fate Of their relatives.
At Lille the estimates of the dead are
from Loo to 200, which figures. how
ever, are given under al reserve until
more exact figures are obtainable
inf
entrance, and il is impossible to sUCcOl
the men imprisoned there. In pit 3 The
cages will not work, having been dam
aged by the violence of the explosion. The
rescue work therefore IS proceeding main
~ in pit 4. The rcscuers are made N