The daily sentinel., 1913-12-17
OF
|. BODIES ARE IN
THE M0RGUE
Mine Inspector DaITympIe Makes
Rigid Investigation Of
Accident.
CARE FOR BEREAvED PEOPLE
CARE FOR BEREAVED PEOPLE
tBy Staff Correspondent

Ss~AAA SSAANSRShANhtsJ
New Castle, Colo. Dec. 17.--Thir-
ty-three bodies had been removed
from the Vulcan mine. tomb OF 81
men. up to 1880 o'clock this after
noon.
Work Of the relief crews 10 made
difficult now by the fact that the re-
naming bodies are entombed in the
chambers shove tho main entry. A
hundred men are working under d.
rect orders from General Manager f.
d shumway digging these bodies out.
The official list OF dead is now Civ
or definitely at 81.
Jsmes Dslrymple. state mine In
spector arrived this morning and
spent four hours In the mine. He
talked to The Sentinel staff CORE
hpondent as he emerged from the por-
tails. but declined to make any state
ment at this time.
Il could not make an Intelligent
statement at this time,' he said. MY
Investigations will require four or
five days
The mine was inspected only a
month ago
General Manager E. F. Shumway
of Denver announced this afternoon
that every care would be taken of
the women and children. bereft of
support by the sad accident.
Coroner Hopkins OF Glenwood
Springs will be here probably tomor-
row In the event that all bodies are
taken out. to hold an inquest. Cot
fins are being shipped In from Glen
wood to care for the dead, the local
supply having run short.
Officials OF tho mine and miners
both ridicule the abatement that the
explosion WAS caused by dynamite. 1t
IL the general belief that 1t must have
been dust explosion.
Mine Inspector Dalrymple Is ac-
companied by four inspectors and will
examine miners and officials to ascer-
tain II possible the condition of the
Vulcan prior to the accident. He Is
also investigating the report that
many of the miners were strike
other professions. Officials state
that ranchmen and others In the vi
entity OF New Castle always worked
in the mine during the winter
months.
Thank God l am farmer" said
A. s. Tibbits at O'Clock this morn
ing to q Sentinel reporter, after hav-
ing spent the day in rescue work at
the mine.
~ was one OF the helpers in the
Vulcan disaster eighteen years ago.
but this explosion wrecked the mine
a dozen times assbad.'
The wreckage in the mine is SIM
ply indeseribable. the victims were
simply blown to death. Timbers are
blown into splinters, clothing was
torn from tho men, the floors of the
entry are piled six feet deep with
debris.
Nothing could have withstood the
explosion In the west entry every
man. from the position OF the body
was killed instantly. In the east en-
try one or two apparently had heard
tho explosion. when II started in the
west entry and were trying to escape.
but the dust cloud overwhelmed them
p,oving as 1t did with almost light
ning-like rapidity.
Although the mine experts say
there Is no fire In the workings, on
my last trip into the mine. it was
very warm. and | am afraid they will
find fire when they reach the rooms
above No. SO.
The dust explosion is the only pos
sible theory for the cause Of the dis
aster. In parts OF the mine. the men
work with open lamps. and probably
the flame from one OF these lamps ig-
nited the dust which always accumu-
lates in the mine and started the dust
wave which ended in the terrible ex-
plosion."
I'VE have been able to Identify ev-
eryone of the victims taken out but
many OF them from their clothing or
teeth or jewelry. Some Of the men
had every bone in their bodies brok-
en-. One man had his head flattened
out 80 as to be hardly thicker than my
two fists. 1t was simply awful"