Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1911-12-11
ONLY SIX BODIES TAKEN OUT
Eighteen in All So Far Have Been
Found by Men,
EXPERTS PENETRATE TWO MILES
No Signs of Life Are Seen or Heard
During Trip.
DEAD IN LATERAL WORKINGS
Tn Ia Present ~ Has BeeR tmpOu-
sIble TO send Parties IRto These
Places Because of DsnEer 10
Rescue Parties.

| BRlCENlLLE, Tenn. Dec. 1O-Uutil
nightfall but siv OF eighteen bodies found
had been taken from the Knoxville Iron
company's Cross Mountain coal mine,
where Yesterday morning an explosion
entombed at least i5O men. Most Of them
were Americans. Black damp put stop
to resoue work at o'clock this afterrsoon
Experts had penetrated two miles into
the workings and neither saw nor heard
signs Of life. II is believed the great mass
of dead will be found in lateral workings
where until this time it has been impos-
sible to send men.
Shortly before midnight the rescuins
party recovered two additional bodies, one
being that OF Taylor Little, while the
other could not bo identified.
The workers had passed and bratticed
up twenty of The twenty-seven cross en-
tries. leaving but seven yet to reach be-
fore getting to the head of the mine, and
unless men are found alive in these few
remaining cross entries, there Is none in
the mine alive.
The body of Lee Polston, operator OF
the fan plant Of the mine, was found
buried and mangled under the cave-in
in the main shaft this afternoon.
Workers In Lateral shafts.
The shafts extend more than two miles
into the bowels Of the mountain, Accord
ing to President T. l. Stephenson of the
iron company, the men, II they had
reached their posts, were in lateral shafts
when the explosion. which blocked the
main shafts, occurred.
This at first encouraged those on the
surface to hope that many were living.
Rescuers encountered dense deposits of
earth, rock and coal in the main shaft
of the mine and also in an abandoned
entry which had been used for an air
shaft.
Fires were built in an attempt TO
create a circulation OF air from within
the mine.
Wood posts and trusecs in the shaft
have been blown out, and this, miners
asserts, is an indication OF serious ex-
posion beyond. Brsttices were con-
.strycied BY meenH4Sot wh9rh air wax
fotoed iA,o tho channel as last as It was
possible 20 remove the debra,
1heories as to Cause.
There are three theories as TO the cause
Of the explosion. One Is that in some
manner powder or dust exploded, the sec
ond is that an electric wire came in con-
tact with explosives. and the third is
that the explosion was caused by poor
tamping of drill.
The mine was thoroughly inspected Fri
day OF last week, by. j. f. Hatmaker,
who has been inspector OF the mine for
eight years. He remained in the mine
nearly oil of Friday night. lie said there
was no trace Of gases when he emerged,
The mine, also. was recently inspected by
an inspector under George E. sylvester.
state mine inspector, and a representa-
tive Of a casualty company which car
ries insurance on the employees Of the
company, is also said to have reported
that it was In excellent conditions
President Stephenson made the follow
ing statement late this afternoon:
Il deeply regret the accident in the
mine and / am bending every effort to
fescue the men who are entombed. l am
in hope the men will be reached. Ae-
cording TO the topography OF the mine.
the gases generally go into the entry in
which the explosion occurred. Most of
the men in the place must have gone
into the cross-sections where they were
employed in mining. and this, therefore,
causes me TO believe that they escaped
fatality, at least some OF them"
Members OF nearly half OF the families
in this little mining town OF 800 persons
are included among those entombed and
there is weeping in nearly all Of the
homes. Tonight nearly 1000 persons are
gathered around the mouth OF the mine
frantically awaiting news.
Three Men Escape.
or all the men who went into the mine
three only escaped. They were John
Lang Samuel Farmer and Bert Hal
maker They were in one OF the lateral
shafts. Warned by the noise they ss-
capped before being overtaken by flames.
These men observed bad signs" as
they entered the mine. They believe the
exact location OF the blast is at least
two miles in the interior and 500 feet
from the mountain crest.
BriceVille, as a mining town has had
a stormy history. II was the scene in |
the early nineties of riotng when miners |
rebelled against working with convicts
leased by the state. Troops were sent !
there 70 quell the trouble.
Al Coal Greek. near there, on May 49, !
1902 200 men were killed in the Frater- /
Vile mine explosion.
There are several big mines at Brice- /
vile known as the Cross Mountain sys- |
TEN. u was In one Of these that the 1
explosion occurred today.
Records Of Niue,
NASHVILLE, Tenn, Dec. l0-CrosS .
Mountain mine No. l. where the miners /
are entombed, employs day shift OF l26 .
men, according TO the records Kept al the \
mining bureau here. The mine twice has l
been inspected since Inspector Sylvester 1
assumed office. The first inspection was I
by Inspector Richardson, August Q. aud /
the second on October 30. Al the time OF
the last inspection the mine was reported |
as properly sprinlSled and the entries,
haulways and workings kept free from
dust. No dangerous conditions were noted.
The mine IS IN class y. and under the
Of the mining bureau. is in
spected every sixty days. Moreover, it
was learned that the mine had not been
this year prior 10 the time that
Inspector Sylvester assumed office. which
tCondnued on Second PageJ