The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1908-12-05
'FR|GHTFuL Loss d
LIFE IN COAL Mine
Two Hundred and Eighty Work
men Swallowed up and
Nearly all Cremated.
Five Thousand Women and Chill.
s. dren Pleading for News Of -
Loved Ones. 49,.

MARIANNE, Pa, Dec. 3.-Two hun
dred and eighty miners lost their lives
in the explosion which wrecked the
Model mine of the Pittsburg-Buffal
Coal company here.
The work of the rescuers was slim
| ulated when they came upon a Greek
| miner buried under the wreckage He
was horribly burned from head to foot.
His pleaiings to be put out of misery
were pitiful in the extreme He lived
but few minutes.
This is the only victim who has been
taken alive from the mine. The others
are crushed or burned beyond recog-
milton.
Women and children, 5000 strong,
are hampering the work of the res
cuers by their pleadings for news of
their loved ones.
Victims Mostly Americans.
The majority Of men buried under
the wreckage are Americans and most
of the others are English miners, i'm
ported by the company two months
ago. The 200 men were nearly 700
feet below the surface Of the earth
when the explosion occurred. Many of
| these were eating their midday lunch
at the bottom Of the shaft when the
tremendous detonations burst open
! the bowels of the earth.
! For two miles the ground rocked.
The great iron cage in which Foreman
J Henry Thompson and two miners were
, descending, was literally torn from it's
| chains and hureld into the air.
! Thompson was instantly killed, the top
of his head being torn off. The two
laborers were so badly injured that
they died an hour later.
| Two hundred pine collins have been
rushed to the scene of the disaster by
Monongahela undertakers. Few of
these, If any, will be needed, however,
as at least two thirds of the victims
! are believed to have been cremated.
Cause Of Disaster Unknown.
| The cause of the explosion is I'M
known, but it Is generally believed that
the gas was ignited from the connec-
ton tunnel near the base of Shaft No.
2, as the force Of the explosion was
felt worse here.
! Following the explosion the fans in
the mine stopped, permitting the dead
| ly after-damp to generate and suffo-
! cate every person in the wrecked shaft
who escaped cremation, or being
crushed to death.
Latest news from the scene Of the
disaster says that it is even worse than
was at first reported.
Although the mine operators refuse
| to admit it, flames are battling every
| attempt to rescue and brattice cloth in
| enormous quantities is being rushed
here by train from Monongahela. Res
| cuing parties which have been low
cred in great iron buckets have been
| able to force their way through the
mass of tangled wreckage to the bot
tom of the shaft. Here, however, they
have been stopped by the great piles
Of stone heaped there by the force Of
the exploding gas.
| Blast Followed Inspection.
While the mine was protected by
every mechanical device known, sup
piled with perfect system of ventila-
ton and operated by the most i'm
proved methods, nevertheless the mine
| is huge charnel pit, in which rest the
mangled forms of it's most expert min
! ers.
Every two hours during the day in
spections were made and the force Of
| men Withdrawn if there was even the
| slightest suspicion Of danger. In fact,
| 1t was just exactly two minutes after
the completion of one Of these inspec-
ton trips that the explosion occurred
| al
superintendent A. B. Beeson and Mine
! Foreman ]. E. Kennedy, were the men
who made up the inspection party. Ac-
cording to Inspector Loutitt everything
was in excellent shape.
Troops Hold Crowds Back.
In the. afternoon Company A of the
state consta;bulary, arrived on the
scene ana took charge of the work on
the outside, placing ropes around the
pit and keeping the great crowds back.
During the long, cold night, men,
women and children, many without
hats and coats and some of the latter
without shoes and stockings, pressed
forward against the ropes, striving to
get glimpse Of the black pit.
One woman, whose husband and two
sons were in the mine, went mad, and
rushed dreaming through the crowd
and almost had reached the top Of the
shaft, when she was cauhgt by the
guards and led back, resisting with all
her strength and begging to be al
lowed to leap into the pit.
Aside from this one instance, there
twas little disorder. The residents Of
the little town are stunned by their
loss, and have not realized the full
extent of the calamity.
The Marinanna mine is the largest
and newest Of those sunk by the Pitts
burg-Buffalo company. It had not yet
been completed, but would have been
within the course of a ew months
When finished it would have been the