The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1912-03-28
SCORES DEAD IN NINE RORROR.
w. ID. Roper, Of South Carolina,
Among the Missing.

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innate of the human toll taken this
morning, when Mine No. 2, of the
San Bois Coal Company here, was
wrecked by an explosion. Of the
116 men of the day shift, only eleven
are known to be alive, while the 9th
ers are entombed behind the debris.
In the opinion Of government experts
and mine officials, they are dead, and
a special train which brought physi-
clans and nurses from Fort Smith,
Ark, to-day returned tonight. Nve
physicians remained, with the faint
hope that some of the imprisoned
men might be found alive.
w. d. Roper, Missing.
Among those unaccounted for are
a surveying party, headed by W. D.
Roper, of Clio, S. C. Forty-three
Americans were employed in the
mine.
The explosions occurred shortly af-
ter 9 O'Clock this morning. Those
on the surface heard a faint rumble
and an earth tremor. When those
nearest to the mouth of the mines
reached the opening a cloud of dust
and smoke belched forth. Then came
tense moments of waiting for those
in the mine to emerge.
First to Escape.
Frank Fields, a miner, was the
first to stagger out. He was walking
in an entry and heard the explosion,
he said. He jumped into side room
and the explosion passed and he
made his way to the mine opening.
Nine other miners escaped through
a manway.
A systematic search of the wreck
ed mine began early tonight under
the direction of government experts,
and up to o'clock five bodies had
been recovered and 35 others located.
At that hour the rescuers had reach
ed the eleventh level, but here their
progress was retarded by mass of
coal, earth and twisted timbers.
The explosion occurred shortly af-
ter 9 o'clock this morning, and, ac-
cording to an official statement of
owners of the property, about one
hundred men were employed in the
mine Whether gas or coal dust
caused the explosion has not been
determined.
How Some Escaped.
Eight of the men who escaped
alive were at work in the mule
stables and made their way through
the passage used for the cars. The
first party of volunteers to enter the
mine at noon found five others badly
injured in a wrecked entry.
Mayor Bourland, of Fort Smith,
mas issued an appeal for aid for the
families of the victims.
Many Stricken Homes.
Heartrending scenes were enacted
at the mine opening, where hundreds
of women and children had gathered.
Throughout the afternoon, while res
cue work was halted awaiting the ar
rival of mine experts from the gov
ernment station at McAlestcr, Okla,
they remained about the opening.
Practically every home in the camp
has one or more members buried in
the camp. The systematic work of
penetrating the mine began early to-
night and the first of the half hun
dred rescuers, who are working in
relays, brought four bodies out of
the mine. The bearers of the bodies
passed between rows of grief-stricken
relatives who clamored for view of
the dead.
Blackened and Burned.
The bodies were blackened and
burned and practically unrecogniz-
able. Confusion was so great that
it was impossible to determine defn-
itely their identity.
At 8 o'clock is was reported that
the rescuing party had found sixteen
more bodies which would be brought
out by midnight. This would be the
last trip of the rescuing pcrty into
the mine tonight.
Little Hope for Victims.
Superintendent Brown stated to-
night that the force and extent of
the explosion was cuch that only :"
the remotest possibility could any o.
the entombed be alive. The m2Ge
machinery is operated by compressed
air and there are three small pumps
in different sections of the mine.
These pumps exhaust pure air. II
the force of the explosion did not kill
all Of the men, there is a remote
chance that some of them are being
kept alive by these fresh currents.