The Wenatchee daily world. [volume] (Wenatchee, Wash.) 1905-1971, 1910-11-07

Seattle, Wash, Nov. There is
no possibility of the fifteen men en-
tombed in the Lawson mine near
Black Diamond, being alive, accord
ing to the latest advice from the
mine The rescuers are still at
work but have no hope of finding
any of the men alive.
With thunderous defamation,
heard for miles around, followed by
a stream of heavy timbers, rocks and
debris, that spurted forth as if from
the mouth of a cannon, an explosion
occurred at $50 o'clock yesterday
morning in the Lawson mine, at
Black Diamond, which undoubtedly
levied a toll of fifteen lives, injured
three men and utterly wrecked, prob
ably beyond repair, property valued
at quarter of a million dollars, one
of the deepest mines in the United
States. The catastrophe marks the
second of its kind in the history OF
the luckless mine, in when twelve
miners lost their lives in an acct
dent of a similar nature in 1902.
Shook Country for Miles.
So terrific was the explosion that
il shook the countryside as far away
as Ravensdale and carried fear to
the inhabitants of the mining dis
trict that a mighty seismic disturb
ance was taking place. From out
of the mouth of the slope running
10 the bowels of the mine belched
tons on tons of earth, rock and de-
bris, huge timbers and steel sup
ports, and. ominous in their import,
coats, hats and caps-the wearing
apparel of the unfortunate victims of
the disaster-flew skyward. Tim
bers measuring two feet in thickness
and twenty feet in length hurled
through the air a quarter of mile.
A great steel pipe was thrown half
a mile with such terrific force that
when it struck the earth it embed
ded itself fifteen feet. The explos-
ion blew from the mine practically
all the timbers and supports in the
hosting plant, and the mine imme-
diately began to cave in. That the
fifteen men caught in the explosion
met instant death is not doubted.
Company's Own Theory.
Precautionary measures against
the occurrence of explosions had al
ways been taken by the Pacific Coast
Coal company, owning and operating
the mine, in enforcing rule prohib-
iting employees, on pain of instant
discharge, from entering the mine
with matches on their persons. As
a general rule( all employees are
searched every few days. Yesterday
morning it happened that the men,
bers of the Sunday shift were not
subjected to the examination. The
only theory offering an explanation
of today's explosion-ene which Of
ficials of the mine believe to be ten
able-is that a fissure of poisonous
gases, opened within the last few
days and remaining undiscovered,
was ignited when a workman lighted
a match on the ascending or descend
ing trip. For several days preced-
ing and at the time of the explosion
tie electricity had been cut off in
the mine. No giant powder had been
taken into the mine for a week.
> Anxious Women Gather.
Barely few minutes had elapsed
after the report of the explosion was
heard before every employe of the
Lawson, realizing instantly what had
happened and alive to the impera-
tive necessity of beginning at once
the work of rescue, should there be
any survivors, gathered before the
gaping hole that once was the slope.
Soon their number was augmented
by the women and children of the
neighborhood, among them appear
ing the anxious faces of the wives
and children of the mines victims.
Under the direction of James
Hamm, superintendent of the mine.
and Frank Honckers, mine foreman.
the work of attempting rescue be-
gan Immediately, the full working
force, 200 men, turning to with a
will. Then was it discovered that
even had the men inside survived,
their rescue was improbable, as the
force of the explosion was SO ter
rifle that practically every bit of
framework supporting the slopes and
airshafts had been blown out and
every avenue of ingress was choked
up.
The Lawson mine is 2,200 feet
deep, and is one of the deepest mines
in tho country IT has been in on