Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-12-21
RESCUERS ARE STOPPED
BY WALLS FALLING I'M
OF 200 at Work Only Eight Man
aged to Reach the Top Alive.
BODIES OF TEN RECOVERED
Pitiable Scenes at Mouth of Little
hutton Colliery, Where Crazed
Wives and Children Are
Gathered.

hoLlON. England. December 21.-An
explosion followed by fire and causing
ihdhy fatalities occurred i'm the Idtt,e
mutton coiliery of the Hutton CoIlierv
company here this morning soon after
=" miners had gone below the surfsc.
to begin the days work.
The cause and extent of tbe disa..
was In doubt for several hours The
nrst rescuing party to reach tb. $50.
succeeded in bringing seven men ana =
poy TO safety and later recovered tbs
bodies OF five victims who had had M
chance of escape
At O'Clock this afternoon only eirn,
or the go imperiled men had escaned ana
the outlook for the rescue of Others VIA.
dubious. At that hour a total Of ten
bodies had been recovered.
AT the moment of the explosiop ean..
spread through the affected passage and
smoke and poisonous gas fumes filled th.
shaft
Escape by Shaft Cut OF
The plight OF the miners u.s rsrd...A
more desperate by a mishap to the ma.
chinery of the shafts, where the c....
refused to move for a time. preventjr. .
quick escape and Interfering With th.
'entilauon The rising gases were check
eo oy obstructions and driven back unon
the entombed men. Meantime the An.
ragged hercely. and 1t is supposed thai
many who were not killed bv nor;o.-
FUMES We're burned to death.
The rescuers were unable IN IN d,r>~~
TO the spot where the miners were en-
tombed. and there was some delav whi,>
they sought access to the place throueh
adjoining leads.
word of the accident WAS c.rr4~a
Quickly TO the homes Of the miners. And
presently thousands Of persons surronnNcA
the mouth of the colliery. AS always on
the occasion of such disasters the anv-
ious throng included hundreds OF ha,e.
crazed wives and children. and the n1ts
onie scenes familiar to coal mining m.
trlcts were enacted.
Rescuers Work Desperately.
The work Of rescue continued bravely
amid discouraging conditions. The res
cuers, wearing helmets for their own
protection. went boldly into the pit and
succeeded in extinguishing the flames in
an area OF 1jo feet in length, but en-
countered heavy falls of coal and slack
that had been loosened from the roof OF
the mine by the explosion.
Inc rate OF the men still entombed re.
who had been below in an effort to reaci,
then expressed little hope that any more
could be rescued alive.
Seven Hundred in Jeopardy.
For a time the lives of 700 men were In
jeopardy. as mine communicating with
the one In which the explosion occurred
was also damaged by the shock and II
was some time before its 400 occupants
could be reached and brought to the sur
face.
The ten bodies recovered were discover
ed lying close to the mouth of the nit In
each case death was due to asphyxlatjon
One. of the eight miners VINO escaped
said that the force of the explosion was
such that the limbs of many were blown
off
The report was heard at points several
miles distant. Today thousands of per.
sons from the surrounding country were
still gathered at the PIT head The holi-
day garb of the city is already being re-
placed with emblems of mourning.