The Holly chieftain., 1910-02-04
HORRIBLE GAS EXPLOSION IN
COLORADO FUEL & IRON
CoMPANY'S MINE.
MAY Be OVER 100 DEAD
RESCUE WORKERS FIND TWEEN.
TY.FouR DEAD BODIES AND
ONE MAN ALIVE.


Over 100 men are believed killed by
terrific explosion in the Primero
mine Of the Colorado Fuel & Iron
Company at 4:3O yesterday afternoon.
At 10 o'clock last night fifteen
bodies had been recovered from one
OF the main slopes.
The bodies were literally blown to
pieces and were unrecognizable.
Rescue parties are making desper-
ate efforts to reach the interior work
ings, cut off from the outside by the
caving of the main portal.
Five men were killed at the mouth
of the main stOpe by the force Of the
explosion.
Both fans with which the mine is
equipped were shattered and were not
repaired until 1880 last night.
AS soon as the fans were repaired
General Superintendent ]. F. Thomp-
son and rescue party entered by the
main air shaft but were unable to
reach the main shaft, which was conf
pletely blocked.
The party returned to the surface
after securing five bodies, which were
badly burned.
A party equipped with oxygen he'll
NETS replaced them in the workings
reached through the air shaft and at
a. m. had recovered twenty-four
bodies and rescued one man alive.
When the explosion occurred flame,
smoke and timbers burst from the en-
trance and killed five men standing
outside the mouth of the mine.
The mouth of the main stope was
completely closed by the force of the
explosion.
At the entrance of the air shaft
which runs parallel to the main stope,
the work of rescue began.
At 3 o'clock this morning twenty.
four blackened and charred corpses
had been laid out in the warehouse
l50 feet from the shaft. which had
been transformed into temporary
morgue.
At 2:10 cheer went up from the
crowd gathered around the mouth of
the air shaft when it was announced
that a man had been brought out
alive.
His name was Dronardo Virgen. He
was revived by oxygen treatment.
This gives rise to the hope that
there may be other men alive in the
mine
At 3 o'clock the company officials
stated that there were seventy-nine
men still in the mine.
Owing to the blackened and charred
condition of the bodies taken out, the
only means of Identification was brass
number checks and few articles car
ried in their pockets which were not
destructible.
Nearly all clothing was burned from
the bodies brought out and 1t will take
careful checking up by the payroll to
determine the names of the victims.
Most of the victims are Slavs and
Hungarians, although Electrician Will
Helm is known to be among the miss
ing.
At 1:30 a. m. James Thompson OF
Trinidad, division superintendent OF
the c. F. & L., who was in actual COM
mand of the rescue work, was carried
from the mine unconscious, but after
being revived by oxygen treatment he
donned another oxygen cap and en-.
tered the mine to lead the rescue
work.
Miners were rushed to Primero from
Trinidad, Segundo, Starkville. Sopris
and Cokeville and are laboring fran
tically to clear the main shaft, reliev-
ing each other every few minutes.
1t is impossible to determine how
far the main shaft has caved and 1t
may be days before the shaft is
cleared and the total dead list known.
There is little hope that any Of the
men in the mine are alive.
The company clerk reports that
seventy nine safety lamps are missing
and he is sure that that number OF
men are entombed.
Many Of the miners state that $50
men are missing.