The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-01-03
MINE INSPECTORS DIFFER
 ON Y0LANDE EXPLOSION

a seam of coal lying foot above the seam worked. The ends of brattices, however. were knocked out of the roof, sides and cars showed signs of intense neat from the air slope way to inside of the inside track. Very bright and thick coke was found on loaded cars on the sidetrack.
 In the neck of room No. 2 a man was found with his body split open, one hand blown of. one shoe blown in two, top out of cap, shovel handle splintered, toe sack full of burnt holes, which indicated that his supply Of dynamite exploded. and his being same,
 There was water pipe with a hose line near 1t at room No. from which MT. Robert Arnold, the mine boss had sprinkled the dust just a few minutes before the explosion. fso stated MT. Huckaby.)
 From condition of dust on the day Of the examination. 1t is the opinion of the inspectors that there was no indi- cation of any sprink1ing of water hav- ing been done just prior to the ex- plosion.
 'Messrs. Hillhouse and Flynn were among the first to enter the third and fourth-right entries during the rescue work, and they say that the water
 
 at the time of the explosion except the dripper and small ponds of water near them. and the water running down the entries was due to the cleaning up of the entries to get out the dead mules. "In the sixth-right on December 30 was found gas in the upset, there be- ing only one upset on this entry; inI the heading. air course. and upset there was no indication of a shot hav- ing been fired on the morning of the explosion, but tools were found. at the face of all three places.
 There was considerable heat devel- oped in the sixth right along where the slope airway crossed it. On slope just above sixth right at first crosscut piece of thirty-pound rail, twenty nine inches long, was broken out of the track, the web and ball being torn apart.
 Evidence Conflicting.
 There was nothing to amount to anything found in the second and fourth lefts which would throw any light on the cause of the explosion. The evidence as to whether the mine was inspected before the men went to work, by the fire boss is conflicting. Hewas In the mine when the explosion occurred, and he and the mine boss were both killed. The fire boss quit the morning of the explosion and some seem to think that he did not inspect the mine but Mir. Huckaby. the superir-. tendent of the mine. told the chief mine inspector that the fire boss quit before that morning. yet he made an exsmi- nation of the mine. and Mir. Huckaby had just come out of the sixth and fifth-rights few minutes before the accident.
 "rhe evidence shows that there was no gas made anywhere in the mine above the sixth right heading. The mines zwas inspected last on August 1s, 1907, by MT. Ed Flynn. He reported the ventilation fairly good. condition of the mine very good. At that time the mine was not generating any gas
 Cause of Explosion.
 "In summing up the facts as found 1t is the opinion of Messrs. Hillhouse and Flynn, associate mine inspectors that there was gas in the upset on the sixth right; that this gas was ignited by an open lamp. and on account of the dry and dusty condition of the mine the flame was extended to the other workings, causing the loss of life.
 "Tt Is the opinion of J. M. Gray that the man opposite the room No. in the fifth-riRht was handling his dy- namite. and fin some way it was ex- ploded, and this in connection with the