Albuquerque citizen. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1907-1909, 1908-01-01

unexpected had happened.
The galleries of the mine, too
small for the vast force of gas re-
leased, were as the cartridge cham
ber Of a gun. Unable to tear away
to the outer atmosphere through the
encompassing walls of rock, the eff
feet of the explosion was to hurl
away the columns of air, which were
thus forced through the galleries
with an awful and irresistible force.
Sound of Explosion Spread Terror.
In far less time than it has taxi
EN- TO tell the story the tragedy had
begun and ended. Yet. in those brief
moments the mine was filled with
tragedy and death
AS the sound of the detonation
knelled its way TO the ears of those
above ground, horror gripped the
heart and chilled the blood.
Man meeting mtn held out a ready
hand in sympathy, speechless with
self congratulation, sick with fear
for the fate of others.
To write of the subsequent events
of the day would be to tell of a
hundred heroisms.
Under the leadership of he mine
superintendent, w. J.. Weber, hose
personal courage and resouyc stab
lished themselves An local tame, the
work of rescue and investigation
Necessarily a great deal of time
elapsed before it could be learned
with any certainty JUS how many
men were in the mine when the dis
aster occurred, but eventually the
fact was established that fourteen
miners were 10 be looked for.
How Bodies Were Brought Out.
As body after body was brought
forth, a proper estimate could be
made of the fearful force of the
rending powers of air and gas. Some
of the bodies were absolutely fiat
tened out and appeared to contain
not a single whole bone.
Scorched, hideously disfigured, par
ticles of stone and dust had been
driven far into the skin and were
imbedded immoveably.
In these cases death must have
been instantaneous and painless.
Identified Only by Clothing.
One OF the bodies in particular
could be Identified more by the rem
nants of apparel hanging to 1t than
by the likeness to the man alive a
few hours before.
1t was o'clock that night be-
fore the report was sent over the
wire that the last missing man had
been accounted for.
Then the sum total of the tragedy
was found to have been, besides the
eight dead already mentioned, six
badly injured.
In the fact that most of these men
may 'lcover is found the only re-
lief from the gloom and sorrow, that
prevails here today.
All that can be done for the suf-
fering miners is being done by the
able mine surgeon, DR.. G.. H. Bacon,
whose interest in the victims is that
az a friend and a companion.
But 1t would be unfair TO cite any
one instance of heroic work where
men and women all We'd with each
other in the work.
The irony of fate is shown in the
fact that all the great mining disast-
ers recorded have occurred in the
season of festivity and gladness.
When the poor men now dead
were looking hopefully to the dawn
ing of another year, already filled
with their plans for the future, death
suddenly came upon them in the
here torn, blackened, crushed, some
of them scarcely showing a likeness
to a human form.
1t will be many days before the
closing hours OF 1907 are forgotten
here, Fortunately some forty other
miners are left who had they re-
mained scarce thirty minutes in the
have me. the fate of the powder
shift.
Unlike most OF the mine disasters
that have occurred recently. few of
the men who lost their lives here
yesterday, had homes in Carthage,
although several of them left fam
lilies.
Juan Rentervilla left a wife at
Garfield, n. NJ, Wilcox is believed to
have a family in Maffa, Texas
Brooks, who is dangerously injured,
lived at Captain, n. NJ.
The homes of the other dead and
injured have not yet been ascertain
ed, and in several cases II may be
days or weeks before the relatives
know of the accident.
Aged Miner Writes FeelingIy.
An aged miner gave the following
brief but feeling note TO The Ciu- |
zen's representative today and asked !
that ir be published:
"By the time that these lines will |
have reached the public the New |
Year will have come and have been