The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1911-04-09
DIED IN DARK
FAR FROM HOME;
CONTINUED from page l.)

the center of the ever recurring scene
OF grief that was enacted, and then I
followed the rafting wagons to the
cottages. Half of the homes in
Throop are plunged in mourning for
the loss of friends and relatives. A /
portion of the grim harvest of the
China level is shown in the official
record of nearly 1856 made orphans
and forty-five widows.
One of the tragic occurrences of the
disaster was the death of Joseph L.
Evans. foreman of the government
mine rescue car. Six weeks ago he
became chief of the Kingston rescue
station. Answering the first call to
ly after last night. Downing oxygen
helmets, and equipment the chief
and two assistants went into the
slope. They stumbled over three
dead men a score of feet from the
entrance but before they could pene-
trate further, Evans was seen to tug
at his helmet and tear it from his
head. His comrades rushed him to
the opening, but the fumes he had in
hailed proved fatal and he died four
hours later.
A Chief Engineer Enzian, of Wilkes.
barre, had similar experience, and
4 was taken from the mine in serious
condition.
Rescue Car Leaves,
At three o'clock this afternoon the
rescue car was shunted out of the
Throop siding and started away on
Ia record breaking run to Littleton,
Ala. where more than 100 convict
miners are entombed in the Banner
nine.
TIE officers in direct charge of
the ruined mine today are DR.. j. A..
Holmes, chief of the government mine
rescue corps, and j. w. Roberts, SUI
perintandent of the corps, who arrived
il Scranton on a special train from
Washington early this morning. They
could offer no explanation of Evans
death other that it was caused by a
fault in the helmet.
, Three separate probes of the disas-
: ter are promised by the government,
state and county authorities.
. James E. Roderick, chief of the
state department of mines was early
on the scene. With the Pennsylvania
: legislature still in session it is prob
! able measures will be introduced fol
;, further protection of mines and min
ers. The laws of pennsylvania pro
:, vide that all anthracite mines shall
:, have two openings in all of the levels
This provision was ignored in the
Pancoast mine and as a result tht
men died like rats in trap.
ID Death Comes swiftly.
e. The rescuers found them strewl
at along the floor of the China" level IL
n little groups, face downward as the
died, seeking relief from the deadl
biting fumes. Death came swift
and the men had time only to see
;, for companionship before they wer
v moved down. They We're found clasI
ing hands and with their arms abou
n one anothers shoulders. Three brotl
ers and cousin were picked up i
one pile AS usual in all disasters Q
this kind, the blow fell heaviest o
the foreign population. So man
III wage earners are gone that dire di:
lg tress is certain to follow in many c
IL the homes and arrangements are III
or der wav to care for the unfortunate!
" The Pancoast is owned and operate
er by the Price-Pancoast Coal compan.
e. of which John R. Dryden, genera
VI manager of the Ontario & Wester
u Galleries in the Lalawanna distric
ne is president. The mine was original
81 owned by the Price and Pancoast fan
. lilies of Philadelphia Mr.. Dryden,
" reported to be ill in Atlantic City
ls Southern Mine Horror.
ST BIRMINGHAM Ala, April Swift
r more than 100 miners still impriso
81 ed in the shafts, estimates of the pro
able number of victims of the Bann;
'p- mine explosion. 8 miles from her
y are tonight growing hourly
About 1865 men, who, with the e
&c ception of nine or ten, We're all co
% victs and nearly all colored, were e
~ tombed by an explosion of gas
dust just after daybreak today I'll
fan which supplied air to the shat
). was destroyed and most of the sha1
~ ing of shaft No. 2 was rendered us
= less This was a new CIT and W;
taken to indicate that the explosit
- was far under ground. Rescuers
=. night worked in shifts searching Z
bodies and attempting to reach 81
- yivors Fifty convicts have alrea'
-, been rescued number of whom d
:, not know there had been an explosio
&C. Two dead bodies, both negroes. ha
lar been recovered. Hope for the resc
n. alive of more than half of the i
a. men still imprisoned has been aba
az doned.
~ Number of Dead 115.
,is An official statement tonight ga
~, the number of dead as the result
an an explosion in the Banner mine