The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-12-14
ABANDON ALL HOPE
 OF FINDING MORE
 LIVING MINERS
Rumor of Three More Sur vivors Brings Keen
 Disappointmlnt
FIRE THREATENS
 SERIOUS TROUBLE
Forty-Five Bodies Have Been Brought to Surface-Bricknel Arrives at Briceville-Local Committees
 to Care for Destitute


 to Care for Destitute
 Briceville, Tenn, December 13.-With the passing of another day without the discovery of any more live men in Cross Mountain mine. hope for the rescue of the 50 odd men still unaccounted for reached
 it's lowest ebb. Late today the report spread through the village that three more survivors had been located and practically tine whole population fiocked 10 the mine for news. only to be disappoint- ed in finding that 1t was untrue
 Progress in the search was obstrueted by a smollering fire, which ragged from early yesterday until o'clock this after noon in left cross entry, requiring the efforts of half of the government helmet crew to extingush it. Barrel after barrel of water was relied into the mine in cars and pumred on the Ks For time to- day it threatened to cause serious troll ble. but hnally was asubdued. Whether the fire was staited by the explosion or from a miners lamp is d matter of dispute. | The body of Horace Irish, aged 60, boss | of the gang rescued alive Monday night, | was known to be in the vicinity, and 1t Is said that those with him when he was killed by the explosion left lighted lamp beside the booy when they were forced to another chamber by bad air. Irish's body has not been recovered.
 Forty-five bodies had been brought out of the mle up to o'clock tonight, and several mere had been located. The own CTS officially announced today that thero were S5 men in the mine. Manifest Impatience
 Friends and relatives of miners unac- counted for are manfesting great impa- tience because the rescuers are not mak- ing faster headway. There are about 70 miles of mine way to explore and less than 25 oxygen helmet men who can pen- citrate to all corners. Canary birds arc
 being used tc detect the present of y ous gases with great success, and nilrrers
 who al first were disposed to seoff at them are beginning to realize their value.
 Miner Without helmets are not permitteI
 to enter chambers in which the birds can
 not live.
 Ernest Bicknel1 director of the Amer ican Red Cross, arrived here today to Ill.,
 vestigate the situation He expressed ap- proval of the relief measures taken and indicated he thought the local committees are competent to take care of any-fam- | lilies made destitute by the explosion.
 It was announced that bodies taken from the mine would be hereafter buried in their working clothes as decomposi-
 tior has reached such a state that 1t
 would be impossible to prepare them for | hot moi will be consigned to their graves unrec- ognized and unidentified by their widows and mothers.
 l Traces of men who had wended their way in the carbon laden air of the This | tie mine were again found. No hope Is l held out that John Duff and Arthur | Smith, the men whom rescuers believed l were heard knocking on the walls of the mno Tuesday, will be rescued. The chalk marks on the walls indicating the route the imprisoned men had taken are be- | lieveu to have been inscribed by Duff and | Smith, Because of their knowledge of | this mine and other nearby mines which | head the Cross Mountain channel, IL Is | thought that perhaps they found their | way into one of these far away entries and have died from exhaustion. l It is also pointed out by some that they | may have hemmed themselves up inside | entries. These the men who. it was | reported yesterday, were running amuck | in the mine
 Covers 1900 Acres | Officials state that the Cross Moun- | tain mine covers a territory of about 16Q0 | acres The coal is 1000 acres in area l and many entries abandoned. Some
 of the entries have been closed for years 1 Hope is held out yet.
 | Three more bodies were removed from
 Cross Mountain mine this morning, bring | ing the total up to 46 dead recovered. Those found today are Melville Mckay. aged 26 years, leaves widow; Edward | Oliver, 22 years, single and oscar Oliver. 20 years single. The Olivers were broth CTS. They were found in right cross sec | tion No. g.
 The Knoxville Iron company last night
 posted this notice throughout Brice- yille
 | "Briceville, Tenn, December F.
 "To Whom It May Concern: 1 We regret more than words can ex-- | press the unfortunate accident in our l mines in which so many of our trusted employees lost their lives, and it Is our pur- pose to immediately make a thorough | investigation as to the cause thereof. It | is ou. purpose to deal justly with the rel | atives and representatives of those who ! are injured or lost in the mine, as the | circumstances may warrant, and, inas- much as suits may be brought on any | claim at any time within 12 months, there | is nc need of nasty action for making any contract with attorneys for division of possible recovery against us for payment ] by us. Therefore. waiting little time until our investigations can be completed, 1 will not injure anyone and will save money for those who may be entitled l to 1t.
 If we can assist at the commissary l or otherwise the families and dependents
 of those injured or lost it will afford us | great pleasure.
 | KNOXVILLE IRON CO, "r l. Stevenson. President and General