Watertown weekly leader. [volume] (Watertown, Jefferson County, Wis.) 1906-1908, 1907-12-27
SOME MAY Be RESCUED
EVERY EFFORT BEING MADE TO
EXPLORE THE ENTIRE
DARR MINE.
MANY DEAD BODIES FOUND.
Those Miners Who Were Out of Work.
ings at Time of Explosion Go
on Awful Spree.
VICTIMS NUMBER AT LEAST 200.

JACOBS CREEK, Pa, Dec. 20.-Of
the 200 or more miners who were made
prisoners in the barr mine of the Pitts
burg Coal company by terrific eXplo-
sion at noon yesterday, the bodies of thir-
ty this morning lie in the main entry
where they were tenderly laid during the
night by the brave rescucrs, until they
can be brought to the surface. Some
of the bodies are diSmembered and
mangled and all are distorted by the
agonies of violent death and disfgured
and begrimeG by the conclusion and
the smoke and dust of the explosion.
Some May Have Escaped.
Faint though it is, hope is cherished by
rescuerS and grieving friends and rela-
tlveS that some of the men have sur
Yived the explosion and are awaiting
release far back in the mine. For this
reason the reScuers did not take time
to bring out the bodies as they were
found, but continually pressed forward,
their only aim being to as quickly as
possible open passage to and explore
every section Of the mine.
Beginning this morning, the bodies To-
Gated during the night will be brought
out as rapidly as possible, while the
DRINKS Make Night HideouS.
The foreign miners who escaped the
disaster made night hideous i'll the little
village. They had suspended work be-
cause of the holiday and most of them
followed their usual holiday custom of
drinking to excess. Many were intoXi-
Gated before the catastrophe and after
wards they put themselves in worse con-
dltlon, some drinking in celebration of
their escape and others drinking TO
drown grief over the death of relative or
friend. All night long there was carous-
ing and disorder, at times bordering
closely upon riOting.
The Pittsburg Coal company has ar
ranged to provide Il Christian burial for
all of the victims and will bear all ex-
penses connected with the funerals.
Majority of Victims Americans.
1t is believed that a majority of the
victims are Americans.
The rescuers report the interior of the
mine badly damaged. As they advance
they are compelled to rebuild much of
the bracing that was blown out and Il
great deal of bratticing is necessary to
make possible the ventilation of the re-
mote sections.
Shortage of Supplies
There is shortage of many of the
supplies needed for such conditions and
the work OF rescue will of necessity pro-
gress slowly. The distance from the
mouth of the mine to the most remote
sections is said to be about three miles,
and it is thought many of the bodies will
be found near the end of the workings.
Nothing definite as to the number OF
men in the mine has yet been learned.
w. K. Woodford, vice president of the
company, said early today that he did
not believe there were over ITO men en-
tombed. He said he and his fellow of
hcers felt that there was scarcely a pos
sibility of any of the men still being
alive, but on the remote chance that
some may have survived the greatest
possible volume of air IS being forced into
the mine and the openings made as fast
as possible. Mr.. Woodford believes the
explosion was due to gas
Fire Is Out.
Up to II o'clock today but six bodies
had been removed from the Darr mine,
the scene of yesterdays explosion. Many
more had been located and as the work
of the rescuers is progressing well, with
the fans working and no fire in the
mine, il is thought the recovery of all
the bodies is merely matter of hours
The exact number of men entOmbed
when the explosion occurred is still I'M
certain, but there is no reason to change
the earlier estimates Of at least 200. Six
members of troop A of the state con-
stabulary who arrived during the morn
Ing from Greensburg, were at once placed
on duty at the mines to keep back the
crowds which began to gather at day
light, coming from all directions
No other explanation than that the ex-
plosion was due to gas has been ad-
vanced