The citizen-Republican. (Scotland, Bon Homme County, S.D.) 1???-19??, 1907-12-12
EIGHTY c0RPSES
FOUND; 500 NAY
HAVE PERISnED
Heroic Rescuers Now Within
500 Fact Of End Of One
81 the Mines.

M-ononaah, w. Va, pec. fo-up 70 ~
tsdaS. sixteen bodies had been removed
from nainea Mo- and 9, sof the rasr-s
mont Coal company. .our Anerscans:
About eighty bodies have heen teano
altogether, but only sixteen
the surface. 80
Tho rescuers arc now within, I,oOv
feet of the enc of the mine, 2 sney
are working IN two pArtsss CT anous
eighty each, with rsliefs every ncni
company, stated this morrina that =
Dry possible investigation viii be mads
az the sqdisaater TO ascertain tho cause
and fix the responsibility.
Mor,peah. w. va, Dec.
were brought to the surface during tn0
night. were washed and made As pre-
sentable as possible by q dozen under
takers from this and
towns, and placed In n of the mine
buildings which was converted into g
temporary morgue With the dawn OF
day there began q heart rendering
march up and down the atsles xl0nEa
which the bodies laid, by sobbing wives.
mothers. sweethearts. orphaned chill
dren and strong men. each seeking .
near relative or believe friend.
The people OF the town are stunned
by the catastrophe. They 2 long re-
garded these mines as practically Inn
coal mining Industry. The plant of.the
company is provided with every device
for the protection of life and the equip
ment Is considered the most modern.
complete outfit used in the production
OF bl~tuminous coal.
Strong Mon in Tears.
Last night hundreds of men stood
about the entrance OF the two ntnes~
! They said nothing, but when APP
preached and asked questions they
--.-.p "a, -~x~ = -
to tears. During the night few wom-
en- were TO be seen, but all day e.
terday the women We're the chief actors
In the most pathetic, heart rending
scenes. They crowded the sides OF the
hills overlooking the i'll fated mine, and
cried aloud in their agony of grief.
AS the day advanced they became al
most cfazed through grief and sus-
pense. One woman pulled out her hair
by the handsful, another tore all tho
kin from both cheek with her finger
nails. Some lay down on the frozen
ground and cried themselves to sleep.
In this condition many were carried
to their homes nearby without .aWak-
ening.
Full Extent of tho Horror.
1t is thought, by tonight the FULL
extent OF the horror will be known,
and 1t is feared the knowledge will pre-
cipitate even more pitifll scenes than
those of today, with hysteria In all
its devious forms rampant among the
populace. Precautions have been taken
to prevent these narrowing manifesto
lions of grief.
Rescuing parties penetrated mine No.
6 about :, 500 feet before they came upon
the first Of the dead. The majority OF
corpses will, it is believed, be found
| about one mile further back. It is
hardly possible all the bodies will be
recovered for seyeral days. -Four nun
dred men are working in a territory one
mile square. 1t will be days before q
thorough search OF all the square can
be made. As the searching parties ad-
vance they must clear away the debris.
The explosion wrecked over 600 mine
cars and these block the entrance on
all sides. A particularly remarkable
feature is that Notwithstanding the,
force OF the explosion very little OF the
nine roof is wrecked.
The Fairmont and Cl~arksburg Trac-
ton company's cars pass within ten
yards of the mine entrance. A large
car rowded with passengers mirac-
ulously escaped being blown into the
| West Fork river. All the passengers
were stunned by the terrific concus-
sion. +,
Monongeh, w. Va, Dec. 1O.-Many
charred bodies lying in an ~improvised.
lnorgue, o badly injured and nearly
500 men imprisoned by tons of coal,
rock and mine debris in the depths Of
the hills surrounding this mining town.
with the chances all against a single
one Of them being alive, is the most
accurate summary obtalnable of the
mine explosion told of in yesterday af-
%ternoon's dispatches. which in all prob
ability was attended by greater loss OF
life than any former disaster In the his
tory of the bituminous coal mining in
dustry of America.
The explosion occurred shortly after
10 a. m. after the full force of 500 had
gone TO work In the two mines affected.
The mines are Nos. 6 and S, of the Con-
solidated Coal located on OPP
posite sides of the west fork of the river
at this place. but merged in their un-
foreground workings by a heading and
on the surface by a great steel tipple