Waterbury evening Democrat., 1907-12-10
TAXING OUT THE DEAD
More Than One Hundred of ihe Four Hundred Have Been
 Brought 10 the Surface.

MOnOngan, Dec. lV'-"IIn lAS bodies on the surface at 10 o'clock to- day, 25 more ready to be brought out of mine No and four awaiting re- moval from mine No 8, it was expect ed that the total number of bodies re-, covered from the wrecked mine by noon would be Al.
 The rescue work is being pushed and before night it is expected that most of the bodies will have been talk en out. -,..,,
 It has been raining here steadily since last evening and wretehed con- ditions prevail throughout this s' sec tion to-day.
 Monongah, West Va, Dec. 1O.- Bodies brought from mines Nos and ; 8 of the Fairmont Coal company, where probably more than 400 min CTS were killed by an explosion last Friday, during. last night carried the list of victims beyond the. hundred mark, and others are being carried into the morgue at short intervals. To-day dawned with bright prospects for bringing to the surface majority of those still in the workings, deep in the bowels of the hills and far from the entrances. It is believed that the preliminary work of the rescuers has at last been completed, after many Interruptions and complications and that conditions are now favorable for the expeditions gathering together and bringing into the open the maim- ed and blackened corpses to secure which brave fellow wOrkingmen to the number of hundreds have been risking their lives for nearly 96 hours.
 The terrible conditions that have prevailed here from the moment the community was paralyzed by the awful catastrophe became more ter rible last night. Rain began falling early in the evening and continued almost necessarily throughout the night. The heavy rainfall caused a veritable mortar of mud of more than shoe top depth in many places through (which the workers and the anxious watchers could make their way only with the greatest difficulty. It dispersed, however, a very large portion of the great, impatient surg ing crowd that from the first has hov- cred as near the entries as they could get, constant handicap to the rescuing forces whose work they re- tarded.
 Bishop P. J. Donahue of the Wheeling diocese of the Roman Cas 4, ollie church. has been sheTes slzS,sl.! local clergymen in caring for sHe parishioners and also assisted in a number of the funerals. He visited many of the homes of miners and found so many children made orphans by the disaster that he Immediately took up the work of providing homes for them. He will arrange to have as many as can be accommodated sent to the orphanages maintained by the church at Huntington and Wheeling. A large number of funerals were held yesterday. The relief work is we'll under way and will soon be systematized. There is now plenty of food but there Is urgent need of clothing in many l families. Cash funds are being raised | in many places and installments have already been forwarded from some points. The coal companies of this district have contributed $2O,OOO cash.
 Health authorities fear an epidemic of fever due to the decaying bodies of the men and the animals caught in the mine and have prepared to en- force heroic measures if it becomes necessary.
 Chief State Mine Inspector J. W.. Paul is quoted as saying he believes the explosion was started by an cleo tric spark from runaway cars in the main entry. A string of these cars was piled up in the entry at the bot tom of a slope.