The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-11-05
FIVE KILLED BY
 LOCAL EXPLOSION
 IN YO[ANDE MINE Two Versions Offered as to the Cause of the Accident Yes
 terday Morning MEN BLASTING FROM
 ENTRY TO RECOURSE President McCIary Inclined to Believe That This Was the Cause Rather
 Than That There Was a
 Pocket of Gas


 Thomas and Mark Creek, are still buried under the fallen rock in Yolande mine No. 1, following the explosion which oc- cured yesterday morning between 1 and ? o'clock Three dead bodies have been brought to the surface All of the dead were white men and are as follows: Fred Steele, timber man, unmarried. Mark Creek. miner, leaves bride of few months
 James Walker, timber man, leaves wife and three children.
 Dan Thomas, miner, leaves wife and two children.
 Len Grant, timber man, unmarried. It was expected that the two remaining bodies would be uncovered and brought to the surface during the night A crew of rescue men was working with reg ular relief crews.
 Explosion Was Local The explosion was local. Twelve men were working in the mine, but none were injured except the five who were killed. Two theories are advanced. One Is that the disaster was due to the explosion of a small pocket of gas hanging over the heads of the five men who were killed. The other Is that three of the men were killed by what is known to miners as a kick back" and the other two were killed by falling rock due to the force Of the kick back"
 MT. Rowe Talks
 The officials of the Yolande Coal and Coke company give the latter reason as being the more plausible cause of the explosion. F.. J. Rowe, treasurer of the company said: "I have just talked over the telephone with the men who are doing the rescue work at the mine. They told me that the explosion occurred in the sixth heading, where the two miners, Thomas and Creek. were cutting an up- cast from the entry through to the air course. Tn their work they prepared q blast to loosen up the rock through which they were cutting the passage. They were working from the air course toward the entry and were almost through to the entry but did not know they were so close. When they bored into the thin partition yet remaining between them and the entry they bored so far through that when the explosion was discharged 1t blew out into the entry instead of coming back into the air shaft, as the two miners had intended l for it to do.
 '"The three timber men, Steele, Walker and Grant. were working in the entry | just about where the upcast was being cut through and when the charge "back kicked" or went into the entry instead of the air course, it killed them. It Is claimed that they were hurled down the entry slope about 200 yards. '"The two miners, Thomas and Creek, are supposed to have retreated into the air course, just around the corner of the upcast which they were cutting, and waited for the blast to discharge. The l., l ot,,x-o them and they were buried under tons of falling rock. This rock is what is re- tarding the rescue work. as it has to be removed before the bodies can be reached. No one else in the mine was injured in the least, and it Is believed that the last two would not have been hurt by the explo- sion, had the roof not fallen on them" The news of the explosion reached Bir- mingham early yesterday morning. when a message was sent to State Mine Inspec- tor James Hillhouse and President J. B. McClary. of the Yolande Coal and Coke company. MT. Hilhouse, with one of his assistants, MT. Dickerson, and Mir. Me- Clary hurried to the scene of the disaster on the morning train. MT. Hillhouse and MT. Dickerson remained at. the mines last night. experimenting the work of rescu- ing the two bodies. They will not stop work until the bodies are recovered. MT. McClary returned to the city last night. He said:
 MT. McClary's Views
 ''I know very little about the cause of the explosion. Of the two theories which have been advanced. I am inclined to favor the one regarding the kicked-back blast MT Iillhouse has not yet ex- pressed any opinion to me as to what he regards as the cause of the accident. l believe that it was simply very serious mine accident and not an explosion of gas or dust at all.
 From what I can learn. it seems that the other men working in the mine did not know of the explosion immediately after 1t occurred. It was entirely local It was first discovered by Mining Engineer Fletcher. who hurriedly called the other men from the mine and then sent word to me and MT. Hillhouse of the accident Words cannot express the sorrow and re- gret that I feel on account of the acci- dent. .
 .sThe mine workings were not damaged any to speak of, and work will continue at the mine almost without Interruption The accident will do us undoubtedly lot of damage. as sensational stories have been printed in the newspapers about it and all the horrors of the former expio- ison at these mines was resurrected Ev- erything possible will be done by the com ..ox,.x rr- the foy, y,1fIfea of fhe dead. "