Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-01-13
ALL ARE DEAD IN MINE
No Chance That Any Buried
Have Survived.
rs CORPSES RECOVERED
Many Bodies Probably Blown to
Pieces by Explosion.
ONLY THREE MINERS ESCAPED
Bank Boss Crawls to Safety on
Hands and Knees, With
Broken Limbs.

BLUEFIELD. ". Va. January Ia
Rescue crews worked necessarily all
night at Lick Branch coal mine the scene
of yesterdays explosion. At . o'clock
today twenty-six bodies had been rccov-
cred
There is no change in the estimate oc
dead, the number ranging from 81 to 100.
Identifcations proceeded slowly through
out the night, but few were present
at the morgue on account of the cold.
1t is not likely that any more bodies
will be brought to the surface until late
in the afternoon. although brattice and
rescue crews will work all day and into
the night, relayng every few hours. with
fresh forces of men. who have volun-
teered from all over the coal field.
1t was learned today that the company
had ordered eighty caskets and robes.
A carload of necessities was SHIPPED
from here to the scene of the disaster
today.
James w. Paul of Pittsburg, Pa. rep
| resenting the United States geological
survey. is expected here today with "A
number of assistants. West Virginia mine
inspectors are arriving at the mine with
every train.
They are almost continually in the
mine. All efforts TO talk with them con-
futile.
One OF the most remarkable features
OF the accident is the miraculous escape
OF Cleve Bowers mine foreman, who
crawled or hands and knees from the
mine, while fire. smoke and deadly gases
belched forth over him.
Bowers IS the only man who reached
the surface alive. Although he lies i'm a
!oSpltal with TWO broken ribs and other
injuries, it is asserted today he will prob
ably recover.
Inc explosion was in a different part
OF the mine from that of two weeks ago
Since the catastrophe the mine has been
inspected by government officials and bv
tne most experienced mine men in the re-
Sioh. All. 1t is said, expressed the opin.
| ion that it was safe.
Terror Follows Explosion.
Scarcely had the detonation died auay
yesterday morning before a throns of ter
rorized women and children, their feet
sped by anxiety and dread, rushed to the
! mine mouth and fmplored those there to
alioW them to aid in the effort to save
! some of their loved ones who might still
| be alive within.
! Mine Foreman Bowers. who was near
the entrance. was blown from his feet.
out managed to crawl out safely as Il
also Robert Smith. miner. With the
loIeHah was miner named Holiday,
|
rescue party, organized on the mo-
menf. rushed in the jaws of the smoking
mines and tried to rescue him. They were
driven back by the deadly fumes of the
after gases and were compelled to leave
! him to his fate
a train was rushed from this city to tho
| scene of the disaster some twenty five
miles away, carrying bratticing and other
material to be used in the work of ex.
] poration and rescue.
There were supposed to be from sixty 10
! eighty men in the section of the mine
affected. The debris from the explosion
/ of two weeks had not been cleared away
and twenty men We're engaged in this
work.
| Nineteen contract miners with their
crews were at work in new entry. II is
| feared that all of these men were lost.
OF the men under the ground at the
| time OF the explosion. ii is sad that only
three succeeded in making their escape.
and these We're the motorman, the brake
man and Bank Boss Bowers.
J That all of the men ontombed are dead
there can be no doubt. Tie fire i'll the
mine and the deadly gases. 10 say nothing
of the awful force of the explosion. pre-
cludc any chance of rescuing any of the
men alive.
The main entry of the mine is iour miles
long running from one side Of tie noun
tain to the other. Debris waS blown from
both entries which gives some IDEA OF
the tremendous force of the explosion
Many Blown to Pieces.
II is reasonably certain that all OF tha
bodies will never be recovered. Some OF
them were blown TO pieces and others in
cinerated no doubt. The fans which fur
nisli the fresh air for the workings. as in
tho former explosion, were not disabled
and are forcing fresh air in the mines.
Two brothers named Surratt of Speed
well. Va, who went TO the mine at the
time of the other explosion. through Gu
rostv. accepted positions, and both are
in the mine
State Mine Inspectors Phillips and
Nicholson are at the mine, and are direct
ing the work of rescue. Crews nave been
formed and are ventuling in as far as the
air is pure enough TO breathe in their ef-
forts to reach those entombed.
ByStanders at the time OF the explosion
say that immense clouds of SCOT and
. smoke GuShed from the mine almost
simultaneously with the d"tonation, and
Immediately We're sucked bick i'll enor-
nous volumes into the mine.
on the tug Riverside four miles from
the main entrance the smoke and flame
gushei from the entry. burning the twss
and small limbs from trees that grow
near.
The damage TO the mine cannot be es-
timated.
The explosion was the most terrific
that has even occurred in this region In
! 1884 at the South West Virginia Improve
ment Companys mine 3D were killed in
an explosion. Today's horror is the most
disa strous that has occurred since. The
mine is owned by the Pocahontas Con-
soldated Galleries Company
An old carpenter shop has been turned
into n morgue. The bodies have been
placed there with the expectation that
Identification can be accomplished
HITCHCOCK COMING NORTH.