The Detroit times. [volume] (Detroit, Mich.) 1903-1920, 1908-11-30

mine. 10 a. m.--Of the SO bodies al
ready brought from the wrecked Ma
rianna mine here. IS have been iden-
tilted. The names of the other five
men probably never will be known.
Their bodies are headless.
The work Is going on very rapidly.
Thirty more bodies, approximately.
are In sight OF the rescuers and all
these will be brought out soon.
AS soon as the bodies are recover
ed from the black depths. they are
taken to the power house, where Cor
oner w. III. Sipe and IL ,undertakers
wash and prepare the bodies. Then
they are taken, over a railroad, to an
improvised morgue In the town or
Mariana, about one-fourth OF a mile
away.
Then the victims number Is looked
up; a call Is made to the waiting
crowd for friends or relatives to step
forward and thus the mournful work
is being rushed.
At 10 o'clock this morning President
Jones, of the mine company, stated
that he is certain that the death list
will not exceed 1870.
Two hundred and forty-four men
went to work Saturday morning
| and only enc was rescued alive"
said the man who gavo out the
checks flto the miners at the
Mariana mine. He made this
declaration positively. In response to
statement made that President John
II. Jones still adhered to his original
estimate of 100 men In the mine.
"One hundred and twenty men are
in the mine and that Is all" declared
John III. Jones. Il still insist that
there were not 2SS men entombed."
There are at least $50 miners dead
lin the Mariana mine." declared -
trustworthy man who has been in
charge OF a rescuing party. few mill
utes after Mr.. Jones had said 120.
There are 1873 men dead In the
shattered entries" said a mine Of
fetal late last night. He Is mem.
er of the company and knew that
John II. Jones still insisted the num-
Der OF victims was 100.
| There Is no certainty as yet as To
the exact number in the mine. This
probably never will be known. and
some OF the bodies may have been
burned TO ashes. Several of the bodies
already recovered are torsos. others
are only parts OF bodies, the rest ap-
parently have been burned away.
| There will be a general funeral Tues
day afternoon.
| Mining experts are still at loss to
account for the explosion In the mine.
Every invention known to human ge-
MUS had been utilized to prevent .
catastrophe.
But, wrecked by mysterious explo-
sion, the very machinery which was
to have made accident impossible
hampered the rescuers at their work
for they did not understand the won
derful contrivances which bolstered
the great mine with such a network
that the diggers could bore through
them to the bodies OF the men lying
dead In the bottom of the shaft.
The explosion came just before the
noon hour Saturday in the Rachael
shaft. 1t was SO terrific that the blast.
belching up the whole length OF the
deep shaft, tore loose the giant eie-
vator cage at the surface Of the mine
and hurled Ii three hundred feet away.
Two men were in the cage at the
time. Both we're instantly killed
the head OF one OF them being literal
ly blown of.
| Rescuers to the number Of two hun
dred burrowed frantically at the
mouth OF the mine in futile enort
to dig down through the tremendous
masses OF coal that blocked at least
| the upper reaches OF the shaft, while
other rescuers, headed by President
John n. Jone, OF the Pfttburg-Buf-
falo Coal company. rushed to the
scene in special trains from Pittsburg
and Monongahela with the latest ap-
planes. which are being erected at
the head OF the shaft to bore to the en-
| tombed men.
Five thousand women and children
and miners thronged the mouth OF the
mine. the former weeping piteously
and pleading for the rescue OF their
fathers or brothers within. while the
latter curse impotently because thus
far trere could be no way devised 10
reach the entombed men for days
even.
The officials OF the mine are In
pitiful condition. They had spent hun
dreds OF thousands OF dollars TO make
the Mariana freproof. and experts
had assured them that such disaster
was impossible.
All mine disasters come unexpected
NY, of course, but that one would &C
cur I'm the model Mariana mine was
absolutely undreamed OF
The day shift OF men entered the
Rachael shaft and were lowered to
their work. nearly seven hundred feet
beneath the surface. at Z o'clock Sat
urday morning.
The mine, automatically flooded
with pure fresh air from the surface
and lighted with incandescent electric
lamps. needed no safety lamps In its
working. and the giant network OF
steel beams propping every possible
point OF collapse gave the men feel
ing of the most perfect security.