The Daily Missoulian. [volume] (Missoula, Mont.) 1904-1961, 1910-10-10

Starkvlle. Colo, oct 9.-Entombed
by an explosion In tee Starkville mine
Of the Colorado Fuel a. Iron company.
ut least 81 men are the objects of
heroic efforts Of rescuers who worked
throughout today trying to penetrate
the black depths Of the mine In the
hope that some, or probably all of the
imprisoned miners might be rescued.
The presence of black damp. which
almost Invariably follows IN the wake
Of coal mine explosions, made the work
of the rcscuerS extremely hazardous
and time and again members Of par
ties were overcome. Late today those
experimenting the work Of rescue de-
cided that none should enter the mine
until a portable fan was installed and
rescue work was called Off for the
time being. The fan reached the
portal of the mine at 4 o'clock and
under the supervision Of the chief cleo
trlcian OF the fuel and iron company.
was mounted upon an electric motor
car and gradually pushed forward
into the new stopc, working as IL
went. driving the gas ahead. and. as
was hoped, to an air shaft thousands
Of feet inside the mine, where 1t would
escape into oocn air.
Rescue Work.
The greatest caution was exercised
that the motor carrying the ian
should not be advanced too rapidly
and sudden rush of gas, or kick
back overwhelm the men operating
the machine and snuff out their lives.
a touching feature of the rescue work
was the self-sacrifice and devotion to
duty OF James Wilson. superintendent
of the Starkville mine, who left
sick bed to lead the men who volup-
teered to face the deadly black damp.
Mr.. Wilson was finally overcome by
exertion and insdlous gases and was
put to bed. AS he left the portal of
the mine. Mr. Wilson said to those
who followed him out that he would
be ready to resume charge of the
rescue parties tonight.
Missing Men.
According to statement given out
officially by the coroner. there are
known to be I'm the mine rs Poles,
three Russians, 10 Americans, four
Mexicans and one Servian. Three ma
tonalitics represented In the list of the
entombcd were classified after care
ful house-to-house canvass of the
camp, made by Il mine clerk and the
town marshal. While this list totals
AS. the coroner says that he Is positive
that there are 81 men inside the mine
and explains the difference In the fig
ures by saying that the nationalities
of some of the men believed to be
among the missing are not known and
no attempt was made to classify them.
Some who are familiar with the work
ing conditions at the Starkvllle mine
express the belief the the number esti-
mated by the coroner is too conserya-
tive and they freely state their opin-
ions tn be that when the list is COM
peted 1t will number nearer so than 50.
No Tragic Scenes.
Hardened by previous experiences
and sights surrounding explosions in
mines. the residents Of Starkyille, in
most instances, silently watch the res
cuers as they entered the mine and
were later dragged to the open
air for resuscitation. Tragic scenes
usual at the mouths Of mines where
lives are lost by gas explosions were
not in evidence, Crowds of men and
women and children watched patiently
the coming and going Of the helmctcd
men and commented upon the seeming
impossbility of any Of the men cut off
in the mine having survived the snf-
locating gases.
Another Way.
In addition to efforts made to enter
the mine by the east or new stope
miners were sent into the Englevillo
mine, which adioins the Starkville
property. to dig through the masonry
wall built to separate the mines when
q the workings ran together severa