The Montgomery advertiser., 1907-01-30
MINERS ARE
 ENTOMBED <l l D, ster at Hinton. West Virginia. EIGHTY PROBABLY DEAD No Cause for Accident Can Be
 Assigned. Work Was Being Done by Conductors aud Names of Those Who Are En-
 trapped Hard to

Hinton, w. Va, Jan. 29.--An explo- sion occurried in the Stewart mine this afternoon at 2 o'clock, killing in all probability about eighty miners, who were at work when the explosion oc- cured.
 The Stewart mines are of the few shaft mines operated in this section of the State. The shaft is 450 feet deep and the mines have only been in oper- ation about one year.
 It has been considered perfectly safe and the cause of the explosion is not known, although some claim 1t was from the accumulation of dust in the mine. The coal Is mined by contract labor, each contractor having his own men. For this reason 1t has been very difficult to get the names of the miners who were killed.
 From the best obtainable information the number working in the mines was about eighty men and there is only a remote possibility that any of them can be taken out alive
 The force of the explosion was some- thing terrific and there is no doubt that the tfanbers in the mines are broken and perhaps the roof caved in, in a number of places. There is no possi- ble way to reach the men until a new mine cage can be built as the old one was demolished.
 The mine is owned by Samuel Dixon and associates and Is located about six miles from Thurmund, on a branch line of, the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad and within two miles If the Parrail mines which exploded February 8, 1906. killing twenty-five men.
 The rescue work was commenced as soon as the wrecked parts of the shaft house could be repaired.
 About two hours after the expio- sion, three men were lowered into the shaft in an improvised bucket. Be- fore descending sixty feet two of the men were overcome with foul air and sthe third was barely able to, give the signal tos their comrades at the top: All further attempts were abandoned i for the time and the work of hrattic- ing the shaft was commenced. Air was supplied to the nina by several slaTgq fans but tbH mechanism was damaged and the fans were idle for about two hours.
 The fans have been started again and If the men were not all killed by the force of the explosion. 1t may be that they will have air enough to sur vive until the rescuers reach them. The Stuart mine has but one opening, although an entry was being driven to connect with the Parral mine, short distance away.
 2 This work had been about compile ted. Tho Stuart shaft has three com partmcnts, two for the coal cages and one for an air shaft. One of the coal cages had been taken out for repairs. leaving the compartment clear and uninjured.
 It was this that the three men at- tempted to descend In the improvised bucket It was stated that nearly all the men were at work in the entries near the bottom of the shaft The mine had been having q good run and in consequence most of the men were at work.
 No official announcement of the dis aster or it's cause has as yet been made by the officers of the company. That dust caused tho explosion is stated by persons at the scene but the investiga- tIon may prove otherwises It is stated that little or no gas has been encoun- tered in the mine, but that 1t is dry and that dust was frequently sprinkled.
 The stewart mine iso owned by the White Oak Fuel Company, part of the New River Fuel Company. of waaeh Mir. Samuel Dixon is President andM. W. Smiley is Secretary and TreasuFef, The general offices of the. White Oak Com pany are at McDonald. The mine Is located on the White Oak Railroad owned and operated by the fuel com pany. It is three and one half miles from Fayetteville.
 Secretary Smiley notified Chief Mine Inspector Paul of the disaster as soon as possible. He was not at the scene and could give only the bare facts. but he estimated that about ninety men were at work when the explosion oc- curred.
 Crowds gathered at the mouth of the shaft within q few minutes after the explosion. Rescue parties were imme- diately organized by Frederick Dick son. General Manager of the White Oak mine and volunteers offered for any kind of service.