The Washington herald., 1907-12-07
Little Is Accomplished

Little Il Accomplished.
Inc finding of the six corpses and the
hve badly injured men is the only 70
ward for the, strenuous and uninterrupted
labor on the part Of the large rescuing
forces that Immediately set to work at
every possible point.
The five living men are unable 70 ,tre
any detailed report Of the disaster or 10
even explain how they reached tho sur
lace. They say that Immediately back Of
them, when they began their frantic
struggle for liberty, there were many
men engaged in a similar struggle. while
still farther back in the workings there
was larger number Of whom they know
nothing.
The work Of rescue began PROMPTLY.
the suPerintendents and officers were on
the ground within half hour after the
explosion had happened. and the work or
relief began Immediately. The daadl,,
IRE damp made it impossible to do much
rescue work early in the dav. espociau,,
at Mine No. s. where the explosion had
completely wrecked the fan. until anotbor
ian could be brought from Sbinnstor
twelve miles away. and put in working
ORDER the men labored at disadvantage
but were able to save several lives
Overcome by Fire Damn.
Supt- Brannon, of the shat, min
No. g. headed the first relief party He
had ten men with him. Charles Price
one Of the men in that corps. was over
come by the fire damp and had 70 ho
brought out. He narrowly escapea with
his life. When the Brennon forces "a
turned C. E. Gaskin headed another
relief party. which continued the work
The explosion was the worst Imaginable
1t shook all the buildings in AIonongab
and the shock was plainly felt six miles
away. The mines had been examined nv,
mine official early in the week and
were considered among the safest in this
region. The cause of the explosion IS
not known. but the most capable mine
experts said that it must have heen duo
to striking a pocket Of gas. The fans
were all in splendid working order. and
it is certain that there was no dust in
the mine
The chances are that the work Of res
cue will proceed very rapidly until morn
ing, as it is very likely that a delav will
means the death of the imprisoned men
If life is not already gone. The gas is so
bad In the mines tonight that the relief
parties have been speedily overcome.
Fan Is Demolished.
The fan at the mouth of the mine No.
was one of the finest in the country
The explosion to-day completely demol-
ished it, however. and killed the engineer
and badly injured his assistant. A new
fan was to have been installed this even
ing. Relief parties cannot go in farther
than 200 feet at the present time.
The entombed miners are about 10 nor
cent Americans and the remainder Ttal-
ians and Poles. The majority of the
miners at No were natives OF this
county.
Jimmy Rogers, aged sixty. who was
miner in his native country. Scotland
had remarkable escape to-day. He
also escaped from a serious explosion in
the Newburg CIV. Va mines twenty
years ago.
A relief party found Peter Roisberg.
Pole. sitting on the dead body of his
brother When he was brought out from
the mine he started TO run. and was so
exhausted he could not give his name.
c. w. Watson. president Of the coal
company. arrived here from Parkersburg