The Brownsville daily herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1897-1910, 1909-11-15
HUNDREDS LOST
IN MINE FIRE
PROBABLY BURNED ALIVE

I
l.saout Moments Warming, Terrific
Evplc~:oI. Huile Hca'L 10 Helpless
dhore,> in Gal Nlia,-l'ire stun
burning.
Cherry, IN. Nov Three hun
bred or more miners were entombed
and possibly roasted alive in the St
Paul coal mine here as the result
of a fire caused by a terrific ex-
plosion of mine dust which occurred
al three o'clock Saturday afternoon.
INSERT TO COMES -..
Today hope had all but been ban
shed by relatives of the victims in
tle greatest mine disaster in the
history of Illinois That not one
man in the hundreds ent0mbed in
the mine VIII be taken from it alive,
is practically the unanimous opin-
ion of those on the scene. Rescuers
equipped with oxygen helmets and
all the paraphernalia used in mine
rescue work, who entered the mine
today added to the general horror
of the situation by declaring that the
mine is still on fire and caving in
many places. They were unable to
penetrate more than few feet from
the main shaft OF the second vein,
their equipment being useless in the
smoke and gas chOked chambers
mat every bit OF oxygen or life Civ
ing air had been exhausted many
hours ago is declared certain.
Three descents were made today
in hope of rescuing some of the vic
TINS, but no sign of life was seen,
and the rescuers declared no life
could exist for over a hundred feet
beyond tn eentance.
At 1870 p. m, A r. Newman,
chairman of the state board of ex-
aiming engineers annOu.,. that
rescuing and exploring party Were
unable to penetrate far into the gal
lery at the bO,,om of the main shaft
because OF the smoke. and no bodies
had vet been discovered. We are
preparing to start the fan and then
we expect revelations, he said
Fire was still burning in the mine
early this afternoon After the fan
started smoke began to pour from
the main shaft and the mine in
5peclors and mine engineer experts
are now playing on the fire at the
bottom of the shaft with hose They
ordered air shaft closed to shut off
further circulation of air.
Several of the rescuing party re-
turned from the second vein This
morning They brought the report
that the mine IS caving in several
places. They also declared that none
Of the entombed miners were near
the landing. and that il was i'm
possible for them to make any ex-
ploration more than a few feet be
yond the shaft entrance. The res
cuers prepared TO make another de
scent in a short while The mine
was still on fire then and it was
known that more than 300 miners
were somewhere in the burning
death trap.
The bodies of the miners who
nave t-l lStAtQ III LhC llilut W III lllOb-
ably be brought to the surface this
afternoon. After the second descent
OF the cage in the hosting shaft, pre-
parations were begun TO bring up the
. bodies. The searching parties are
provided with oxygen helmets to
-uard against the smoke. These par
ties carried stretchers on which to
bring mp bodies,
Fate of Miners Known Tonight.
Cherry. H., Nov. Before
night fall it seems probable that
the fate OF the 300 men entombed
in the ST Paul mine viii be as
certained.
This morning il was the plan of
the state mining officials who have
taken charge of the mine since
the fire On Saturday afternoon to
raise the cover of the hosting shaft
and lower q cage with rescuers to
the third vein, where, if alive, the
entombed men now 400 feet beneath
surface would be waiting Late last
night the air shaft, the only open
ing beside the hosting shaft, was
hermetically sealed