Omaha daily bee., 1909-11-16
SHAFT IS AGAIN SEALED UP
Fire Breaks Out Soon After the Cage
is Lowered.
LITTLE PROGRESS is MAD
Party Forced to Retreat After Pene.
trating One Vein $50 Feet,
NO BODIES ARE RECOVERED
Explorers Find Neither Living Nor
Dead-Over Thousand Orphans
and Two Hundred widows
Need Relief.

NNNu
CHERRY. ILL.,, Nov 15.-The 800 or NOR,
miners who were entombed in the ST. Pau
coal mine by last Saturdays disaster ar,
dead. Some Of the bodies lie buried be
meath thousands OF tons Of earth, which
have caved in upon them, and II is doubt
full IL many OF the bodies can ever be re-
covered This was the opinion tonight
when attempts at rescue work, carried or
night and day for forty-eght hours, was
temporarily abandoned. Fires in the mine
made further descents of rescuers impos-
sible.
Efforts to carry fresh air and life to
the imprisoned men served only Co enliven
some sparks which sprang into a flame.
Soon the heat and smoke became so dense
that it was again necessary to seal up
the mouth of the holsting shaft and to-
night the men down there, whatever their
condition, are locked in as effectually as
in a dungeon
Whether the bodies will be taken out
tomorrow or not for several days will de-
pend upon the condition of the internal
fire. 1t is possible that steam and chem
icaIs producing carbonic acid gas will
be forced through pipes to the bottom OF
the mine tomorrow. These will have a
Three Hundred COffins.
! It was learned that 800 coffns have been
ordered. half of them to. arrive tomorrow
and half the following day. Meanwhile
the several score OF nurses who have been
rushed here look forward to no prospect
of heroic work in reviving injured and
half suffocated men, 1t is confidently be-
lleved there will be no one brought out
of the mine who will be within the power
of the nurses resuscitation.
Hope swung frequently in the balance
today. Before the fire broke out again
rescuers descended four times. Then the
rumor circulated quickly through the
crowds that the men below ground had
been reached and that the reason they
were not brought up immediately was that
they were exhausted BY lack Of food and
smoke.
They're alive" they're alivel" cried
hopeful mothers and wives. They'll be
brought up pretty soon"
But the truth was far different. The
rescuers did on one occasion so down 800
feet to the bottom of the hoisting shaft
Then grouping their way about by the
light OF electric lamps and kept alive by
oxygen stored in their helmets they
penetrated $50 feet to the bottom gallery.
A'NA AicAlS u NAAH AAASiAt hNeh VI 0AANN NSAN
found"
Hey, are you there?" cried the rescuers
Uheerily, but nothing came in response.
Fire Breaks Out Again.
It was conjectured the miners had
erawled for safety into the recesses re-
motest from the fire, but 70 these parts
the rescuers were unable to go without
reascending. Before they could again
) Gradually the crowd about the mouth OF
t the shaft began to thin as hope seemed
to wane.
The spectacle about the mouth OF the
! wrecked mine at dusk was pathetic A
! tall skeleton framework OF iron rods reach-
, ing skyward surrounded by a group OF low
= buildings, which few days ago had been
3 the scene Of industry, suggested by their
desolation that hope had been abandoned.
Only a half dozen guards patrolled the
premises. In the distance scattered over
the field here and there a few women
}, wrapped in shawls gazd on In silence
AS result of the disaster there are in this
% town OF only few thousand at least 1OOO
orphans and 200 widows Some amilles
Of one widow and as many as seven or
eight children will be dependent on charity
These are the figures of Duncan Nc
Donald OF Springfield. ILL.,, president OF
T, district No u, United Mine Workers who
- instituted a roll call OF the families OF the
- entombed miners. Mr.. Mcdonald early
= abandoned hope that any miners would be
= brought up alive.
!, EnrIing Shn Hopeful.
. President Earring Of the Chicago. MIL
. waukee & ST. Paul railroad declined tc
~ commit himself as to the fate of the men
- The men are just as safe now as they
were yesterday at this time" he said ,rht
mine is too big and has too many ramiflca
e tions TO be filled with smoke yet. Besides
o the smoke is not being carried downward
q by any air currents, II the men were aliv,
e. yesterday every man may be alive now.
d Mr.. Earling caused a house-to-honse can
a vass 10 be made This showed 256 miner
4 missing, but some OF the families were no
at home, and II Is believed that when ,
complete list Is obtained the number o
entombed miners will exceed 800.
Seal Of shaft broken.
The morning dawned hopefully. At al
I early hour the main shaft, which had beeI
4 sealed since Saturday, was opened and
. determined effort begun by the experts an,
volunteers to release the living miners o
to take the bodies from the wreckage.
"a Before o'clock the crowd assemble,
y around the roped enclosure surrounding tn
10 mine buildings and the workmen broke tn
seal Of the SHAFT. There was little smok
~ In the shaft and this gave hope that IN
"a fire had been smothcred out and that the
le would at least bo enabled TO enter the mine
ic A. r. Newham, president OF the sta
r Mining board, conferred with Mine Exam
10 iner James Taylor, r. Y. Williams an,
In others. who reported In their oxygen htl
NETS. etc, ready to descend.
ar Just as the signal was given the au
re thorities swore In an extra force OF depul
ID sheriffs. They believed that within a fe,
hours would begin the recovery OF tn
OF dead. They folt the grewsome sight woul
arouse the feelings OF the surviving rels
he tives and that great difficulty would /
n. encountered On preventing disorder.