The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1911-12-12
BY Associated Press.


Briceville, Dec. 11.-Three men were
| brought out of the Cross Mountain
| mine alive at o'clock tonight. All
married. They were found in the left
entry to No. 19 and escaped death af-
ter the explosion by the erection of a
| brattice, thus cutting off the deadly
after-damp. All are in good condition
| and will live. The finding of these
men alive created a new hope in the
| breasts of the rescuers.
At nightfall twenty-five bodies had
been recovered, but more than twenty
| cross entries to the mine remain to be
| explored 1t will be days before all
| the entries are penetrated.
THE DAY GLOOMY
The day was gloomy in keeping with
the feelings of the surviving inhabi-
tants of the stricken village. A cold
| rain began falling before daybreak
and continued until late in the after
| noon, converting the streets of the
tow into puddles. From the little
shacks in which the miners lived came
| the wailings from women and chill
dren, adding to the general gloom.
| The rescue work has continued re-
| lentlessly since the explosion occurred
| Saturday morning. DR.. ]. A. Holmes,
| head of the United States bureau of
| mines, is in personal charge of the
government rescue force. Wearing
oxygen helmets, the rescuers were able
| to penetrate to corners in which the
miners themselves dared not venture
for fear of the dreaded after damp.
They worked as rapidly as possible,
leaving. the miners to take out their
dead while they searched for any who
might be alive. Practically all who
are believed to have perished are
American born and raised in this val
Iley Many women have been. de-
prived of husbands, brothers and sons.
A new grave yard was established
today at Laurel Branch to take care
of the victims. Graves were dug in a
circle. the plan being eventually to
erect monument to the memory of
the victims of the explosion.
President Stevenson, of the Knox
Vile Coal Company, which owns the
| mine, said today the explosion proba-
bly, had been caused by a windy
shot" which is a sort of flare back
of powder inserted in hole bored in
| the coal to be dislodged. The powder
| migth have ignited the gases ac-
cumulated in one of the many
rooms" in the mine, or might have
set off coal dust on the floor room.
No shortage of food exists.
WHERE VICTIMS WERE FOUND.
The men in the cross entry were
| reached by the helmet men of the gov
eminent rescue crew who were able
| to proceed that distance, considerably
beyond where the miners of the first
| rescue force could go.
1t seems that the victims were over
taken by a wave of after-d damp after
the explosion. The body of John
White, like those of all the others
found in the main entry, was terribly
mangled and burned.
Having reached a point so near the
end Of the mine, three miles under
ground, it will be the work of but a
few hours before all the cross entries
are bratticed. Then the work of ex-
ploring these entries will begin and
the finding of scores of bodies should
be an event of today, for not a
physician in Briceville now believes
that living creature can ever come
| from the underground tomb.
Daylight had hardly come this
| morning when crowds again began to
gather around the mouth of the shaft.
The news has spread through the little
mining town that bodies had been
found during the night. The finding of
| the eight meant to many that the day
would be prolific of finds and a heart
| rending scene when the living meet
their dead as the are brought forth by
the workers.
MEMBERS OF SECRET ORDERS.
Secret orders with which many
| miners are allied are heavy losers in
the catastrophe. Living members are
| helping to care for the widows and
orphans of deceased brothers and are
aiding in the rescue work, the recov-
/ cry of bodies and the burial of their
dead. Communications from state
and national headquarters have been
| received by some local lodges
| The membership of Stone Slate
| Lodge, Knights of Pythias, is almost
| completely wiped out 1t lost seven
| teen members, including all but one
| officer. Two Masons were killed, one
Red Man, and twelve Odd Fellows.
In the work of rescue, members of
| these fraternities were among the first
| to volunteer. They were quick to ex-
| anime bodies as they We're brought
/ out. searching for lodge pins and en-
| blems, as means of identihaction
| Charles Kesterson, one of the miners.
whose body was among the first to be
the telephone, back in the mine, by
| the rescuing crew. Evidently Kester-
son had been trying to telephone the
news of the conclusion TO the office of
the mines when he was struck by fall
| ing debris.
| His skull was badly mashed and his
| body was cut. On his person was
| found a key with No. so attached to it.
| His body was taken to the little school
house nearby which was pressed into
| service as a morgue, where it was
prepared for burial
WILL NOT HOPE.
| President 7. I. Stephenson, of the
Knoxville Iron Company, made this