The Hartford republican. (Hartford, Ky.) 18??-1926, 1910-12-02
eleven Miners
ARE ENTOMBED
Providence Kentucky Scene
of Disaster.
New Apparatus in the Charge Of
Experts, Rushed From
Evansville.


dsaee Mining CompaDy's wrrls a fe-
miles north Of this little Ws5ste-
county town, elosed like a tomb up
on eleven coal diggers lace this af-
ternoon-
, Two are white men. nine negroes
Their chance for life Is a slsnder
One. for IL they survive The stiff
ling black damp. which for hours
ksDt back relatives frantic 70 tsgin
an attempt al E-seue, they still face
the danger Of starvation.
The interior OF the shaft is chok-
I'd solid
Fire, which followed the explosion
it was al first feared. would prevent
any effort 10 expire the wreck %
staff, but after several hours n. fla
mes subsidsd ID.
Late tonight enginss were plac 1
in op ration pumping air into the
mouth ot the nina
An accumulation Of gas is though:
70 have ben the cause for the dis
aster. So terrific was ths explosion
tha, a mule. standing patiently az
the bottom Of the excavation ninety
feet down. was lift,d like shot ard
thrown fifty fe-t above tn surface
Of the ground.
Two men who were in th tippl.
high over tn. shaft escaped d ath
m:Tacuously for everything in tn
path 9th. debris was smashed u
atoms. They lnaraged TO regain
bod on n. fran; work, and w.
helped 20 the ground practically IN
hurt The air fan was totally de-
stroyed.
Men and women who came run
ming from all directions VIII the
boom Of The explosion told Of the
dizastcr, were forced back by
heavy FLOW Of black damp. which i'm
N sdia.ely followed the first burst Of
d sbris.
The wife Of Wesley FugatG with
her five small children. one of them a
baby in arms about h.r, was ore Of
the first % reach the Scsn.. While
the mn wait ID powcrless to act,
she became historical, and had 10
be carried home.
The father and mother Of Edward
Vaughn, who is unmarried were no.
Lfisd, and drove at gallop from
n ,lr home in Clay, a few mil.
from ProYid .ncs. The families OF
n nine imprisoned sgroes ar ga-her.
ID about the sLtraHce, wrlnging th.ir
hands and crying
BfOre darkness fell the whole pop
ulation Of the lit.s city and sur
rounding farming country had assem-
blet about the mine, thu III IN anxious
ly volunteering to go down and Start
in the work of sscue. b cause of
the deadly black damp. however.
which is declared by the miners TO
be the worst experienced in this sec
ton. Guards ar estationod about the
pit, keeping all at a distance.
A telegram TO Lexington to Prof
IC. c. Norwood, Sta,e Inspector OF
Mines, brought that official and three
assistants TO ProyideLce ON the frs
train. They carried with them the
new rescue apparatus, upon which
rests the hoLe that he mon may be
tlheh cut alive.
Veterans who lave explored the
Providence workings say there is still
a slight Glance I. al he impriaoned
WorAmen may Mae th.ir way out
d-.@i4uvu by way # a slope some dis
lance from tie " v.I4.e. ~ as LCL
t-ougLt, however tia a. y If the eley
~ ale &C .ualLt II with Olhe inter
iOr sufficiently h. reach the oIher
exist, if in iact, tLsy are sill alive.
While Minors h5 Z dealarc tla- the
uAs.-soer was que TO J-o explosion u
an accumulation OF mine gas, the
Officials of the Pr.yidsnce company
hold a different viaT. The manager
who hurIied 30 the scene from Lex
ington declares that the workings
were never dangerous from that
source and that the premature ex-
plosiOn Of power or windy blasting
shot must have been the cause.
Professor Norwood said tonight
that 1t was evident from the very
heavy damp that flows from the shaft
that the gas theory is the more IL
kelly.
The Providence mine is in the dis
trict over which Assistant Nine In
sped-Or Long has charge, from his
headquarters at Darlington. He came
Immediately bu. was unable to uti-
LIE his rescue apparatus not being
familiar with it's us ge.
Tonight inspector Norwood ord r-