The herald and news. [volume] (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, 1907-12-10
AWFUL MINE DISASTER,
Dreadful Black Damp Kills Nearly
Four Hundred Coal Min
ers.

Monongah, w. ", Dee. 6.-Six
charred and blackened bodies lying
IN the improvised morgue prepared
near the entrance to the mine, five
men lowering between life and death
from the awful bruises sustained and
the deadly gases inhaled in a tenn
porary hospital into which one Of
the company buildings has been
transformed, and 360 men imprison-
ed by tons of coal, rock and mine de-
brl> i'll the depths Of the hills sur
rounding This mining town, with the
chances all against single one of
them being alive, is the most accur-
ate summary obtainablc tonight Of
the result Of Il mine explosion today.
which il all probability was attend
; ed by greater loss Of life than any
! former disaster in the history Of the
blluminous coal mining Industry Of
| America.
The explosion occurred shortly af-
ter 10 o'clock today, after the full
force of $50 men had gone TO work
in the two mines affected. The
mines are Nos. and s Of the Con-
solldatinn Coal company. located on
! opposite sides of the West Fork riv-
er, at this place, but merged in their
underground workings by IL heading
and on The surface by IL great steel
tipplc and bridge.
Six Bodies Found.
The finding of tie six corpses and
the five badly injured men is the on
! ~ reward for strenuous and unintcr-
ruptcd work on the part Of The large
rcSruin" forces that Immediately sci
to work at every possible point.
The lire living men are unable to
give any detailed report Of the disas-
ter or to even explain how they
reached the surface. They state that
back of them when they began their
frantic struggle for liberty there was
a large number of men engaged in a
similar struggle, while still further
back in the workings there was Il
large number, cf whom they know
;lothinc..
1t is the opinion of the mine Off
cials and others familiar with minin"
that these II men had not penetrated
the mine as far as had the majority
of the day shift when the explosion
occurred and that they headed for
and reached the main entrance be
fore the heavy cave-in that now
blockadeS the entrance not more
than few hundred feet beyond the
main opening Of mine No. 6.
All Caught in Cave-in.
AS to the miners referred TO bv
the rescued men as having been alive
when last seen, ii is believed that
they were caught back of heavy
cave-in Of coal and mine roof and
that they could not have survived
more than q few minutes in the dead
ly gases with which thc entry filled
as soon as The ventlatin" system
was interrupted. There is more hope
for those in more remote sections of
the mine, as they may have reached
workings where fresh air is supplied
by other openings. But at best only
the most slender hope is entertained
for the survival Of any one Of the
men in the mine until the debris can
| be cleared away and communication
| with the outside rraSt abliShcd.
There is much speculation as to
| the cause Of the explosion. but the
most generally accepted theory is
that ii resulted from black damp. IT
is believed that Il mincr attempted
to sci off Il blast which blew out and
ieinitcd an accumulation Of this
deadly GAS and that ihs in' turn
i"niicd ihc coal dust. highly in
flammablc substance found in great
cr or less quantities in all West Vir-
"inia mines. However. all cxplana-
tions Of tn" cause MP TO this time are
necessarily speculative.
Big Price for Bull Dog.