The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1911-12-12
They Had Saved Them
selves From Deadly
Afterdamp.
THEIR RESCUE
GIVES NEW HOPE
Twenty-Five Bodies Have Beer
Recovered From Cross Noun
tain Mine, in Which Explo-
sion Cost Scores of Lives.
Briceville Is Scene of
Desolation.

Briceville, Tenn. December Ii
Five mon have been rescued alive from
the Cross Mountain mine. Three
were brought out at o'clock to night.
They were William Henderson, aged
hfty-hve; Milton Henderson. aged
twenty-five, his son; Irwin Smith,
aged thlrty-tivc.
All OF the men are married. They
were found In left cross entry No. 10.
| and had escaped death in the cxploaion
OF Saturday morning by erecting u
brattice cutting or tho deadly after
damp. All were in good condition and
will live. In fact, the elder Henderson
was so strong that he wanted to walk
TO his home.
Two more were brought out alive
shortly after IL o'clock. Rescue men
are now digging for three more men
who are reported to be alive.
The last TWO men are Arthur Scott
aged thirty, who has wife and two
children, and Dore Irish, aged thirty.
who is also married. irish Is badly
burned about the face and hands, but
! probably Will recover. Scott is prac-
uoally uninjured.
The finding OF these men alive has
created new hope In the breasts of the
| rescucrs.
Twenty-Five bodies Rccoscred.
At nightfall twenty-five bodies had
been recovered, and more than twenty
cross entries to the mine remained to
be explored. 1t Will be days before
all of the entries are penetrated.
| a day more gloomy or more in keep
ing with the feelings of the surviving
Inhabitants OF this stricken village
would be difficult to imagine. a cold
rain began falling just before day
| break and continued until late in the
| afternoon. converting the ronds which
| comprise the streets of Briceville into
/ mud puddless---..-.--l.-ssa
From the little Stacks in which the
miners live came wailing SOUNDS from
women and children. thereby adding
| to the general gloom. For the most
part. the women renamed in their
| homes. but q few of them stood In the
| rain outside the mine entrance, wait
! ing for their dead to pe brought forth.
! The rescue work has gone relent-
lessly on since the explosion. occurred
early Saturday morning. Or. ]. a.
| Holmes. head of the United States
Board of Mines, took personal charge
| OF the government rescuers to-day,
and directed his men into tho uneX-
plored recesses. Wearing oxygen he'll
NETS, they We're able to penetrate to
corners in which the miners them
selves darned not venture for fear OF
the dread afterdamp.
| Practically all of the men who arc
believed TO have persisted are Ameri-
cans, born and reared in this valley.
Many women have been deprived not
only of their husbands. but also OF
brothers and some of sons The
stricken ones seem to have cried them
selves out. and apparently are in q
| sort of dazed condition unable fully
TO realize the extent OF their loss
! a new graveyard was established
to-day at Laurel Branch. near ne
| TO take care OF the Cross Mountain
dead. The graves are being dug in
| a circle. the plan being eventually to
! erect monument in the centre In
! memory of the explosion victims.
Digging New Graves. :,
Volunteers were called for to-day
to perform the seXton's task, and
twelve responded. All afternoon they
could be seen plying pick and shovel
on the mountain side under an I'm
proVised shelter TO protect them from
! the rain.
undertakor's corps TO do. and clad in
oilcloth aprons, they presented a grue-
some sight as they stood about the
mine waiting for bodies to be brought
! forth. 80
/ Many are the theories advanced rs
to the cause OF the explosion. Presi-
dent Stephenson, of the Knoxville Coal
| Company. which owns the mine, said
to-day II probably had been caused by
n windy shot" which is sort or
| bareback of powder inserted in a
| hole bored In the coal to be dislodEed.
This powder might have ignited gases
accumulated IN one of the many
rooms in the mine. or might have
set of the coal dust on the floor OF
| the room.
Cross Mountain mine is moro than
| twenty years old, and contains some
OF the richest coal deposits i'm this
region. IT has an average output OF
| 600 tons day. Never before in its
history has II had IA serious accident.
| The coal company Is supplying the
immediate needs of the stricken faml
| lies, but later there VIII be need OF
funds to care for the widows and or
phans. Indications are that there vii.
be more than fifty of the former and
about leo of the latter. Knoxville
baker distributed 600 loaves of bread
among the families to-day, and there
was no shortage Of food.
|