The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-12-10

is being forced into the channel as fast as it is possible to remove the debris.
 Three Theories
 There are three theories as to the cause of the explosion which occurred this morning. One theory is that in some manner powder or dust exploded. The second is that an elec1ric wire came IT contact with explosives and the third is that the explosion was caused by poor tamping of a 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 stayed in the mine nearly al Of Friday night, He claims that there wa: no trace of gas in the mine when he | emerged.
 The mine was inspected recently by sr inspector under George E. Sylvester, state l mine inspector. An employe of a casualty company which carries insurance on the employees of the company, also inspected the mine recently and is said to have re- ported that it was in excellent condition It was reported this afternoon that Syl- vester's report was unfavorable. This however, cannot be confirmed.
 Hugh Larue. a miner employed in the Cross Mountain mine, believes he owes his life to a dream his wife had last night. When he awoke this morning and prepared to go to his daily task in the mine, Mrs. Larue told him she would not prepare dinner for him to carry to the mines, as she did not want him to work today. She then recited dream she had, giving this as her reason for asking that her husband stay out of the mine.
 Mrs. Larue's Dream
 Mrs Larue said that last night she dreamed she saw scores of miners with their heads blown off carried from the mine. and that she and her little children mouth watching the unfortunate coal dIg- gers being carried out. She feared for the life of her husband today, she said and despite the fact that he had not missed a day from his work for many months he was prevailed upon to remair at home. a 'sg | > A short time after Mrs Larue recteC her story the explosion was announced 1 With tears of joy streaming down hel face, she embraced her husband ant thanked God for her dream last night.
 President Stephenson of the Knoxville Iron company which operates the i!l fated Cross Mountain mine. made the fol lowing statement this afternoon:
 CT deeply regret the accident in the mine. and l am bending every effort tC rescue the men who are entombed. am in hopes the men will be reached by mid. | night. According to topography of tho ! mine the dusts go generally into the entry in which the explosion took place. Most of the men in the mine must have gone into the cross sections, where they art l employed in mining, and this. therefore causes me to believe that many, or al least some of them, escaped death" l Volunteer rescue parties were organized soon after the explosion but were forced l to return at noon. They did not com' across any of the entombed miners. noI the bodies of the victims. The rescuery l found the mine filled with smoke anC the cayein obstructed further progress. Fire Begins
 At 103O o'clock flames began pouring out of the openings to the ill fated mine l This checked effectualy the work O rescue. The rescuers were driven back
 Such fire fighting apparatus as was avail
 able was put to work at the openings.
 Shortly before midday rescuing partie l who had entered the Cross Mountain min, 4 earlier emerged from two entrances ant | reported they had gone in about a mile They were unable to proceed further ol
 account of having encountered a cave-h | in each of the entries The cave-in wa of such a nature, according to the re
 turned rescuers, as to indicate that tn
 explosion was caused by dust ignition
 It is averred the mine has always beei
 free from gas and was also dry, an,
 this leads to the belief that tue acciden
 must have originated from a dust ex
 plosion.
 Three men who were in -one of tn
 lateral shafts at the time escaped safely
 They were John Long, Sam Farmer an Bert Hatmaker. They came out almos
 simultaneously with the concussion tha
 was felt from the explosion. They repor no unusual conditions were discovers by them in the interior before they left The exact location of the explosion 1 l thought to have been two miles in tn interior and about 800 feet beneath tn crest of the mountain.
 On account of the cave-in and th smoke it was impossible for the volun teers of the rescuing party to procee further without the aid of the min rescue equipment.
 Other Mines Suspended When the explosion occurred all othe mines suspended operations and dis patched their quotas of men to th scene. Several rescue parties wer organized and bodies of men were sen
 To each of the three entrances to tn mine.
 The horrors of the Fratervlle disas ter of 1902 were instantly remembere by the explosion of this morning an the terrible death and suffering pre- cipitated by that accident intensifie their fears and anxieties.
 Officials of the company minimize the extent of the disaster and OK pressed themselves as being hopefu 4 They declared that they believed man, if not all. of the miners would be res cued by the Knoxville rescue static crew under President Stephenso, ! They said everything would be done q speedily as possible.