The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-12-08

Charles McGraw headed a relief party which went down the airshaft out of which the Detrescos had been blown Almost suffocated by the noXiouS gases they made theirsfway along the lower gallery almost to the point where the three Italians had beer working. Here he discovered a Hollander, Peter Roist- zeberger sitting on the body of his brother and moaning. He was entirely demented. His brother was dead and lay with his head in a pool of water. The miner upon being hustled out of the aif- hole broke away and began to run. Upon being caught ne was unable to tell his name. His story of tho explosion was fragmentary and dsjointed
 Tt came so suddenly" said he to an interpreter, that it was all over before l knew what had happened. The gal leries toward No. seemed filled with fire that came so fast that we both had to fall down in the water to get away from it. My brother seemed to breathe the flame and I guess that is what killed him.
 So far as known Rolstzberger and the three Italians are the only ones left alive to tell the story of the disaster.
 Seven Bodies Found. c
 At o'clock a party of men working near the connecting tunnel between the
 
 had apparently been suffocated They lay in black hudde against the gallery wall. Their positions indicated that, al- though horribly injured by the explosion, they had gathered instinctively together as though to better withstand the horrors of the suffocating which they knew was inevitable.
 At sunset the crowd about the mouth of both mines grew to such proportions that the work was seriously impeGed- A trolley car starting from No. mine, was one hour in making the journey to No G. In the great throng of open-mouthed sensation seekers, the poor women and children with dead relatives in the mines were practically swallowed up and for gotten. It seems probablye that the militia will have to take charge of the situa- ton.
 At nightfall over 100 aicked men were engaged in the work of recovering the bodies. They had reached the junction of the two mines which is mile from the entrance of No. 6. Those who were forced to retire temporarily for rest and sleep came back early in the evening and again took up the stern burden of digging out their comrades.
 Rescuers Suffer.
 Experienced men who have worked long in the mines say that the greater
 
 one and one-half miles back from the en- trance of No. 6. In reaching this point canvas is used to shut out the air, and the carpenters follow with lumber to brace the rickety galleries, and make them safe. The emergency hospital is crowded with men who have been over- come with mine gas in their heroic work and second one has been equipped. One of the men en route to the hospital said:
 T have seen good many mine ex- plosions, but I have never seen any thing to equal this disaster. As we worked our way into No. 8, bratticing g and gracing, the dead were lying al labout us. They were in tangled heaps, seem- ingly blown together in punches by the awful force of the explosion We saw hands and arms lying here and there. and shoes with human feet still inside It was a sight at once ter rife and overwh elming."
 The fires wh ich ragged in both mines after the explosion were extnguished during the day and it is thought that by tomorrow the galleries will be free from smoke and gas. Thirty six horses and mules were in the mines at the time of thes explosion, but al- though the main heading is strewn with harness none of the animals has yet been seen.
 Picturesque Scene.
 As darkness fell the scene around the stricken mines became intensely picturesque. On every hand flared the lights on the miners hats. Occasionally a squad of them would disappear down the mine entrance going nobody but themselves knew, whither. Gradually the crowds thinned out until at 8 o'clock they began to bring the bodies from the mine. Then as if by magic the sorrow stricken women and child ren again began to gather around
 As regularly as the pulsations of the human heart the bodies were brought out and borne solmenly to the temporary morgue and laid on the floor and decently covered with can vas Between each row of bodies were aisles along which those who had lost