The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1907-12-07
FIVE HUNDRED
LIVES LOST IN
DEADLY BLAST
Greatest Disaster in the His
tory of Mining in United
States.
THREE CHARRED BODIES
RECOVERED FROM MINE
FOUR INJURED MEN IN HosPIT.
AL-REMAINDER OF VICTIMS
DOWN IN THE DEPTHS.

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y FairmOnt, W. Va, Dec. AT II y
= o clock tonight the list of employees y
= of mines Nos. and s, at Monon- =
4 gah, had been checked off, showing y
y that $50 were in the two mines when =
y the explosion occurred. OF these .
y six have been brought to the sur =
y face dead and five escaped through =
y air shafts The latter five are in the :
4 miners hospital here with serious y
= Injuries and in precarlous condi- =
= ton. y
4 Neither entry has been opened to =
y the real workings and the indications ,
y are that a majority if not all caught =
y in the mine are dead. y
\ 1t is rumored here that mine off y
4 Gals have ordered $50 collins shipped 4
= to MOnOngah as soon as possible. y
y Clarence W. Watson of Baltimore, =
y president Of the mining company. y
7 was at Parkersburg when the explo- y
= sion occurred, and chartered Spe- y
y cial train to bring him to the scene.
Monongah. w Va, Dec. 6.-Three
charred bodies lying in the improvised
morgue, four badly injured men, and
1913 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 &C
curate summary obtainable tonight Of
the results of a mine explosion today
which in all probability was attended
by greater loss of life than any former
disaster in the history of the bituminous
coal mining industry of America.
Full Force at Work.
The explosion occurred shortly after
10 o'clock today, after the full force of
800 men had gone TO work in the two
mines affected. These mines are num-
bers and of the Consolidated Coal
company, located on opposite sides of
the West Fork of the river at this
place, but merged in their underground
workings by heading and on the sur
| face by a great steel tipple and bridge.
The finding of the three bodies and
the four dying men is the only reward
of the strenuous and uninterrupted
work on the part Of the large rescuing
forces that Immediately set to work
at every possible point.
Frantic Struggle for Life.
The three living men. while unable to
give any detailed report of the disaster.
state that Immediately back of them
when they began their frantic struggle
for liberty there was a large number
of men engaged in a similar struggle,
while still further back i'm the workings
there was a larger number, of whom
they know nothing.
1t is the opinion Of the mine officials
and others familiar with mining that
these seven men had not penetrated the
mine as far as had the majority of the
dav shift when the explosion occurred
and that they headed for and reached
the main entrance before the heavy
cave-in that now biOckades the entrance
more than a few hundred feet beyond
the main opening of mine No. 6.
Death Almost Certain.
! AS to the miners referred to by the
rescued men as having been alive wher
/ last seen, 1t is believed that they were
caught back of a heavy cavern and
could not have survived more than a
/ few minutes in the deadly gases with
which the entry filled as soon as the
ventilation system was Interrupted
! There is more hope for those in more re-
mote sections of the mine. as they may
| have reached workings where fresh ali
| is supplied by other openings. But al
/ best only the most slender hope is en-
/ tertained for the survival of any one
of the men in the mine when the debris
can be cleared away and communica-
ton with the outside re-established
The two mines regularly employ LOG
men, working i'm two shifts, 800 during
the day and 500 during the night, and
the best information obtainable at this
time is that the entire day force had
gone to work this morning and thai
all were caught
It was shortly after 10 O'Clock When
the explosion occurred, and at that houl
even the latest of the struggling force
Continued on Page II.