Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1913-10-23
Fire Has Not Broken Out anf
Hopes Are Entertained for
Their Rescue.
AID FROM ALL DIRECTIONS
Will Take Many Hours to Re,
move Tons of Debris--Su.
perintendent Is among
Those EntOmbed.

Dawson. y. NJ. oct, 1.-TWO hundred
and thirty miners, the day shift, were
entombed in shaft No of the Staa
Canon mines here by an explosion thi,
afternoon, according to an unofficial esti
mate
Two men founu on an upper level were
taken from the mine tonight. Rescuers
were called from all parts of the southern
Colorado coal fields. The cause of the
explosion is unknown Fire has not bro
ken out though smoke was seen issuing
from the second level of the shaft 1t
was believed ny rescuers that this smoke
came from the explosion and not from
| fire.
! Immediately after the explosion all
shifts of men We're called to the work of
rescue. and those miners who were en-
ployed in other shafts We're put to work
drilling through the debris which
said to have blocked the mine below the
| second level.
/ The United States rescue car stationed
at Trinidad was summoned and every
aiding in the attempt to reach the en-
tombed miners
Rescuers worked herocally to supply
air to the men. Reports from the mine
did not state at which level the explosion
occurred, simply that the mine shaft
was blocked from the second level
The mine property is owned by the
Phelps-Dodge company of New York
| Five mines are connected in the workings
and it is thought that If any of the min
ers escaped death in the explosion they
should be able to reach safety
f. l.. Miller, superintendent OF the Col
orado Fuel and Iron company. with a
trained crew Of rescuers left Trinidad in
a special car for Dawson with oxygen
| helmets and other apparatus.
EIGHT MEN FOUND ALIVE
Three Italian miners were rescued
alive from the debris at the opening Of
the Stag Canon mine at $50 O'Clock to-
night This makes five miners who have
been rescued. The rescue party is max
ing slow headway against the tons of
coal and debris which is blockading the
mine The five men rescued We're separ-
! ated from the main body of miners at
the time of the explosion and could tell
| nothing of it.
By ten O'Clock tonight the rescuers
had penetrated more than 100 feet into
the mouth of the mine and had reached
five of the entombed miners who were
alive. They had suffered much from gas
and were in no condition to tell what
happened at the time of the explosion
1t is believed that the explosion oc-
Cured a slope deep within the mine.
From conditions which have been met
by rescuers since digging within the
debris, 1t is now believed that the air
supply is plentifed, as 1t has been found
to grow better as the rescuers progress
toward the center Of the mine
Mayor T. l.. Kinney declared o-night
that il was impossible to make any esti-
mate as to the possible loss of life and
that none of the mine officials or
rcscuers ON the ground would care to
make any statement. He said the mine
was so constructed as to permit of the
least possible danger from such ex-
plosons. According to Mayor Kinney, no
cause for the explosion has been learned
WHOLE DAYS WORK AHEAD
None OF the men rescued had been
able to approach the air shaft or any of
the workings within the mine which
would have proved a means Of exit
none of the other entombed miners have
been able to make their way out of the
mine leads to the belief that all have
been cut off from every means of exit
The rescuers believe they will he able
to reach the interior of the mine by TO-
morrow night at the latest
In the relief camps near the entrance
of mine No. : are gathered the women
and children of the entombed miners
The miners families are cheered, by ths
knowledge that Superintendent McDer-
mott is among the main body of miners
cntombed and they have confidence az
have mine officials in the superintendent
resources in such a disaster,
Relief parties from nearby towns are
constantly arriving and by Tomorrow
morning the number of rescuers in Daw-
son will he well into the hundreds all
equipped with the latest apparatus for
combating gases and other evils of mine
explosions. Tonight the rescue work Is
proceeding by shifts As one group o.
workers is driven back for air, another
takes its place, so that the work is CON
tinuous That system is to be continued
until the last of the men known to have
been caught in the explosion are found
/, OWNERS DECLARE NINE SAFE.
New York oct 22-While no direct
word was received here tonight by
Phelps, Dodge K Co. regarding the eX-
ploson in their coal mine at Dawson.
n NJ, ii was stated by officers that the
mine is So nearly perfect in its construc-
tion that 1t was inconceivable that there
would be any great loss of life Cleve-
land II. Dodge, vice president of the
company, said tonight:
The mine has been operated 10 years
without an explosion before to-day anc
has most complete system of rescue
work through corps of first aid work
crs trained To enter the tunnels with,
oNNgcu supplies in emergencies Of this
kind"