Los Angeles herald., 1908-03-30
MINE HORROR
THROWS PAIL
OVER TOWN
LIST OF DEAD MAY NUMBER
SEVENTY
WOMEN AND CHILDREN MOURN
ING FOR VICTIMS
Disaster at Hanna, Wyoming, Believed
to Have Caused the Death
of Over Three
Score
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ing the fire at the tenth level yesterday
that the first explosion of gas occufreu,
BUT one man is known to nave eScapeu
death who was with this party. inns
was Charles Harris, colored. After GO
ing to his home to notify MS 1anllly
of his escape, Harris returned INTO the
mine with the rescuers organized py
state Mine Inspector Elias to recover
tbe bodies of the unfortunates who
met death from the first explosion.
Harris name appears in the list OF
missing resulting from the second eX-
plosion. .,...z
According to the story of Alfred
CampbelI. who reached the entrance to
the mine with the bodies of Warburton,
Munson and Perry, killed in the first
explosion, and thereby escape death
himself, Inspector Elias scattered the
members of the rescue party through
the entrance for a distance of 1900 feet,
removing wreckage and making TEN"
porary repairs of damage caused by
the first explosion. The fire at the
tenth level was raging furiously and
INSPECTOR Elias and several others
with him discussed the wisdom of brat
ticing No. s entrance.
1t was decided that this would be
suicidal as the gas would be forced
back on the fire at the tenth level and
would probably cause an explosion
more terrific and direful than the one
which had already snuffed out the lives
of nearly a score of their comrades.
The party continued their work toward
the fire slowly, abandoning the idea of
closing No. s enrance way
May Be Larger Number
1t is thought, however, that some of
the stragglers in the rear were struck
with the same idea of cutting off the
spread of gas by closing this entrance,
and Immediately put their plan into
execution, with the result as reasoned
out by Inspector Elias and his immedi-
ate followers. But be this as 1t may,
the second explosion occurred and al
though it is known that ffty-eight per-
sons met death in the two explosions,
preparations are being made to care
for moro than this number of bodies
should it become necessary.
The reason that no definite estimate
of the number in the mine when the
second explosion occurred can be made
is that the rescue party was made up
hurriedly and many who went into
the mine entered after the first regu-
larly organized squad had been inside
the mine several minutes.
1t is known that dozen or more of
the rescuers were sent back to the
surface to get supplies with which TO
work. Campbell remembers that this
order was given, and believes the men
started on their errand. He does not
recall who they We're, but is not sure
theH ever reached the outside. If sc
they perhaps had not had time to re-
enter the mine and therefore escaped
These confusing circumstances make It
difficult to approximate the number OF
men in the mine when the second and
more th-dealing explosion occurred.
Head Blown Off
1t was not until daylight that the
bodies of Alexander Tenant and Matt
Huhatla We're found lying on the prai-
rie some distance from the entrance
to the east stope. Tenants head and
one arm was blown off. His head
has not been found as yet. The dis
membered arm was found quite a dis
tance from where the rest of the body
was picked up. The evidence of the
terrible force accompanying the second
explosion makes it certain that none
can possibly have lived through ii, and
if so the deadly gases that spread
throughout the mine quickly asphyX-
lated them
That none hesitated i'm responding TO
the call for volunteers in the rescue of
their fellow workers after the first
explosion is shown in the fact that
not a working official of the three
mines in this camp is left alive. All
were at work in the NINE seeking to
aid their stricken friends when the sec
ond explosion transformed mine No l
into a shambles.
A further evidence that the leaders
of the men of the camp were there Is
shown in the fact that nearly every
member of the mine local is missing
supposedly dead.
This accident in mine No. 1 brings
the total number of men killed during
the twenty years of its operation tC
nearly 300. The greatest loss of life
occurred on June 80, 1900 when 16C