The Washington times., 1908-11-29
M y steTious Explosion
Wrecks Mariana of Buff
falo-Pittsburg String.
JUST INSPECTED;
CALLED PERFECT
Rescue Work Fearfully Difficult
Narrowing Scenes at
Shaft.

NJ RIANNA, Pa, Nov -2S.-Within thres
minutes after a State inspector and the
mine superintendent had returned from
an inspection of its depths. the model
Mariana mine Of TIE Pittsourg- Buffalo
Coal Company was blown Up by a tres
mendous explosion today.
Two hundred and seventy-dvs men ars
entcabed beneath the thousands OF tons
OF coal caving in upon them at a depth
Of $40 feet and the authorities DO not
believe that a single man has escaped.
The Mariana mine, which has been
IN operation less than three months, was
considered the model mine Of the world.
Every device known TO modern fnven-
ton had been installed to prevent just
such a tragedy as occurred today. But
now, wrecked by = mysterious explo~
sion, the very machinery which was 70
have made accident impossible Is hamp-
ering the resCuers at their work. for
they do not understand the wonderful
mechanism which bolstered the great
mine with such a net work OF coutriv~
encss that the dIggeTs cannot bore
through them 10 the bodies Of Jhs men
| lying dead in the bottom Of the shaft.
Mighty Blast Wrecks Plant.
ne ca DA0e4y4 came 4A1A A-lAe4F AA-za
noon hour in the Rachael shaft II was
I so terrific that the blast. beIching Up
the whole length Of the deep shaft tore
| loose the giant elevator cage at the sur-
| face Of the mine and hurled it 200 feet
away. Two men were in the cage at the
time. Both were instantly killed, the
head Of one OF them being literally
blown of
Rescuers to the number Of 90 are
burrowing frantieally at the mouth Of
the mine in a futile effort TO dig down
i through the tremendous masses Of coal
that block at least the upper reaches
4 OF the shaft, while other rescuers. head
/ ed by President John H. Jones. Of the
| Pittsburg- Buffalo Company, have rushed
| % the scene in special trains from Pitts
/ burg and 8IonongaheIa with the latest
/ appliances. which are being erected at
the head OF the shaft TO bore 10 the
entombed men.
Five thousand women and children
! and miners throng the mouth Of the
mine, the former weeping piteously and
I pleading for the rescue Of their fathers
o. brothers within. while the latter
curse impotenuy, because thus far there
| can be no way devised to reach the en-
| tOmbed men for days, even though. as
| il is now believed. some Of them SUR
vived the explosion and stiN remain
alive.
Oficialg Are Stunned.
| The officials Cf the mine are in a pitts
| ful condition They had spent huBdredS
Of thousands Of dollars to make the
/ Mariana fireproof. and experts assured
| them that such disaster as occurred
| today was impossible
J In 4ha av0fEaT77ar1r and ma uf ff Is ir1a
possible thus far to learn the exact
/ number Of victims or tneir names. But
| the books of the company indicate that
| the majority of the 275 buried in the
/ Rachael are Americans, and that most
| of the others are English miners inl-
ported by the company two months ago
| TO work the richest shafts.
| All mine disasters come unexpectedly
| Of course, but that one would occur IN
the model Mariana mine was ebso-
| lutely undreamed Of.
/ The day shift Of men entered tbs
Rachael shaft and were lowered to thetr
work nearly 100 feet beneath the sur
| face at 7 O'Clock this morning. The
mine, automatically flooded with pures
| fresh air from the surface and lighted
| with incandescent electric lamps, need
ed no safety lamps for its working, and
the giant network OF steel beams props
/ ping every possible point Of collapse
| gave the men feeling Of the most per~
feet security.
Inspection Just Completed.
Moreover to make safety a doubts
| certainty State Mine Inspector LOutitts
ACCOMPANIED by Mine Foreman Kenne-
DIV. had lust finished the weekly In
spection Of the mine and In passing out
had told the sub-foreman that every
appliance was in perfect order and that
the Rachael shaft was as secure from
accident as the model homes in which
| the miners live about the great mouth
of the mine.
Then as the miners sat down to eat
their MONDAY luncheon at the bottoms
of the shaft the inspector and the fore-
man entered the hoisting cage and wers
hauled to the surface far above. These
two men had walked some 800 feet to-
ward the compauy's offices. the eleva-
| tor operators were still in the cage az
| the entrance, when a tremendous de-
tonation burst up from the bowels OF
| the shaft. The ground rocked for two
miles around; the great cage, torn from
its chains, hurtIed into the air and with
| it's two dead men within crashed among
| the houses 800 feet away, While billOWs
| of smoke shot out of the mouth Of the
mine, shutting the scene Of disaster
/ from sight.
/ There was no second explosion, but
| The panic-strieken women and children
rushing from their shaken homes heard
another great rumble in the depths be-
/ low. This was the falling Of tons upon
/ tons of coal which, loosened from their
/ broken props by the force Of the ex-
! olosion at the bottom of the shaft. fell
with great crash down upon the other
oeams below, and then tumbled in
avalanche masses to the lower depths.
There is only conjecture to account
| for the explosion. n close proximity ta
1 the Rachael SHAFT fhere iz q tarcr, "a =