Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1907-12-27
Another Grea- Disaster In Bit
luminous Coal Region
DEAD MAY NUMBER 300
Fearful Force of Explosion Wrecked
Mine of P,ttsburg Coal Company
Bodies Are Badly Muulated--Ma-
jority of the Victims Are Americans

Jacobs Creek, Pa, Dec. 20.-An ex-
plOsion of gas in the Darr mine of the
Pittsburg Coal company, situated here,
entombed between 200 and 300 miners
and there is scarcely ray of hope that
single one of them will be taken from
the mine alive.
Partially wrecked buildings in the
vicinity of the mine and the condition
of the few bodies found early by res
cuers indicate an explosion of such ter
rife force that it seems impossible that
+ any one survived it. All of the bodies
taken out up to this time are terribly
mutiated.
This is the third mine disaster since
the first of the month in the veins of
bituminous coal underlying western
Pennsylvania and West Virginia, for
the Naomi mine near Fayette City and
the two mines at Monongah. w. Va, in
which the earlier explosions happened,
are in the same belt as the local work
ings. Yesterdays catastrophe swells
the number of victims of deadly mine
gas for the nineteen days to between
$50 and 600.
That yesterdays disaster does not
equal or even Surpass in loss of life and
attendant horrors the one in West Vir-
ginia is due to the devotion to church
duties of Il considerable number of the
miners. In observance of the church
| festival many of the 400 or more men
regularly employed ut the mine did not
go to work yesterday morning. Those
who escaped for this reason are mem
bers of the Greek Catholic church and
! they stopped work to celebrate st.
/ Nicholas day.
AS was the case AT MOnongah. the
explosion followed a brief suspension
of the Darr mine, it having been closed
| Tuesday and Wednesday. Just Mt l l 80
o'clock. when loaded cars had been
brought out to the tipple, there came an
awful rumblng sound, followed imme-
diately by loud report and a concus-
sion that shook nearby buildings and
was felt within a radius of several
miles. simultaneously there came out
of the mouth of the mine an immense
cloud of smoke and dust that fioated
across the Youghiogheny river.
1ntuitively everyone in the vicinity
knew what had happened and all
started for the mouth of the mine. The
river separates the mine and the homes
of many of the miners, so that only a
portion of those who started for the
scene were able to reach it. there being
scant facilities for crossing the stream.
To those who could not cross the water
the smoke and dust pouring from the
mines mouth seemed to indicate seeth-
ing flames back in the workings, and
from this source came reports that We're
persistent until late in the day that the
mihN was burning.
The ventilating fans were kept in
operation almost without interruption,
however, the power plant having with
stood the force Of the explosion, and up
TO this time the rescuerS have found
no fire in the mine AS far as known
only one man who went to work yes
\ to-day escaped. Joseph Napoleon.
pumper. emerged from one of the side
entries shortly after the explosion. He
| had left the part of the mine where most
! of the men were working and was on
his way to the engine room for oil.
About 300 feet from the mouth of
the mine a heavy fall of roof was en-
countered by the rescuers 1t is be-
lieved that most eff the men will he
foVnd nearly mile and half beyond
this point. How long it will require
to remove enough of the debris TO open
Il passage to these remote work ings can
only be conjectured, for it depends upon
how numerous these falls are.
A considerable number of the miners
We're Americans. Some of the officers
estimate that probably more than half
the victims are Americans, rs many of
tn foreigners did not work yesterday.