Morgan County republican. (Versailles, Mo.) 1906-1914, 1909-11-18

Thomas Gleason, pastor OF the Con
gregational church, consollng suffering
women and in some instances offer.
ing up special prayers.
An idea Of the calamity may be
CLEANED from the fact that in O string
Of thirty.three houses on Long Row
only two miners were saved.
In q family named Love the father
and four sons persisted.
Mines In Two Shafts.
The catastrophe probably the
greatest in the history Of mining, oc-
Cured shortly after 1 o'clock Satur-
day afternoon, when the miners were
at work in two Of the big shafts Of
the mine.
A fire started and the men were cut
of from air. Out of the 450 miners,
only eighty-ive are known to have
made their escape.
A rescue party, consisting Of thir-
teen men, made two trips in the mine
cage and brought out a number Of
men,. On the third trip the entire
rescue party was s~uffocated and were
dead when the big cage was brought
to the surface.
a majority of the victims met death
from suffocation, although many are
believed to have burned to death.
The disaster was the result Of a
load Of hay catching fire in the Sec
ond vein of the mine, over 300 feet
below the surface, the explosion fol-
lowing. Quickly the mine was a mass
of flames.
The entire population Of Cherry
was at the mine when the bodies Of
tho rescue party were brought to the
surface. The scene that followed IL
beyond description. A great moan
swept through the crowd. Women
tainted and men wrung their hands
and wept. The cries and shrieks of
the mothers, wives and sisters Of the
victims, mingled with the hoarse
shouts Of the men who were attempt
ing to aid the cntombed miners.
Volunteers Reach Second Vein.
Volunteers answered Immediately.
They entered the cage, and the en-
gineers lowered them to the second
vein.
Here the rescue party left the ele-
vator, and as quickly as possible they
carried the unconscious miners to the
cage. Only a few minutes vas spent
in this work, as the air was such that
the men could not breath. Back to
the surface they were hoisted. The
miners recovered as Dor az they
reached the air and the rescue party
started back on the second trip.
Down to the death pit a second
time went the volunteers on the
elevator. The cage was filled with
smoke and the heat was SO terrible
that the rescuer wrapped their coats
about their heads. Several Of the
party tainted, 1t is said, but gave the
return signal. When the cage reached
the Inflated vein several more uncon-
scious forms were bundled in and
once again the elevator returned to
the top.
Despite the pleadings of the mine
officials and the crowd that huddled
around the mouth of the shaft, the
rescue party decided to make another
trip to the second vein. They said
hat many miners were lying uncon-
sciOus neal the pit bottom and they
believed that by a quick trip many
more lives could be saved. The wife
OF one Of the members Of the rescue
party chung to her husband and
begged him not to go down in the
mine again.
Reseuers Burned to Death.
you'll all die" she screamed, hold.
ing to her husbands coat. Il know
you'll come out alive"
The woman's prediction was true.
The big cage containing the men who
were to sacrifice their lives was
quickly lowered down the shaft and
stopped at the entrance Of the sec.
ond vein. For three minutes the en-
gineer operating the elevator at the
surface waited for the signal to hoist.
1t did not come.
Realizing that something had hap
pened the engineer quickly threw on
the power and brought the cage back
to the top Of the shaft. The door
was opened, and on the floor were
the scorched and SCARED bodies Of
the victims. Every man was dead ex
cept one, and he breathed his last
five minutes after the cage came tc
the surface.
Charles Mcdonald, mi Of the her
who was rescued. told q narrowing
story Of the fire in the depths below
and Of the rush to the elevator shaft
1T was shortly after l o'clock" hi
said. when . load Of hay came dowr