The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1913-10-24
FATE OF 247 MEN
BURIED IN MINE
STILL NOT KNOWN
Believed to Be Dead Be
meath Tons of
Debris.
RESCUERS SLOWLY
FORCE THEIR WAY
Fight Against Dangers of Gas
and Fire, Which Threatens to
Reach Space in Which En-
tombed Miners Are Trapped.
Only Twenty-Three Are
Taken Out Alive.

Dawson, y. NJ. October 23-Two hun
dred and forty-seven miners are be-
lieved to be dead tonight beneath tons
OF fallen earth, timber, conI and rock
in the cuts and rooms OF mine No g,
OF the Stag Canon Fuel Company here.
hundreds OF miners working In shifts
OF fifteen each are slowly forcing their
way through the rooms and entries,
fighting against dangers OF gas and n
ere which started in al adjoining mine.
and which threatens to reach tho
space in which the cntombed men we're
trapped
Only twenty three men have been
taken from the mile alive At .6:15
o'clock tonight Gie first miner to be
rescued alive within twelve hours was
taken from the main entry lie was
found unconscious not far from the
place where a mule earlier in the
evening had been found alive.
Total of Days Work.
Fourteen dead bodies and twenty
three rescued make the total of the
days work OF recovery. The finding
OF the live mule in the mine late to-
day encouraged officials in charge of
the rescue work to hope that some
live miners perhaps still are entoinbed
in room located more than 1000 feet
from an entrance
Henry i. McShaw son OF Mrs I. y
McShaw. OF New York City, widow OF
former heavy stockholder in the
mine. Is among the known dead. Nc
Shaw. who was but nineteen years old.
had come TO the mine To learn mining
from practical experience
BAl..
states Mine Rescue Bureau in this dis
! trict is i'll charge of the rescue work.
Mr. Roberts said 1t was impossible to
tell what caused the explosion, but
that II was OF such violence as to cause
nm 10 lose hope for the rescue alive
of any more of the cntombed men.
In tho mine at the time of the ex-
plosion were 2S+ miners. and that the
dcath-list VIII reach so great n figure
is attributed TO the fact that the great
fans. which kept the air circulating
within the mine. were rendered use
less by the force of the explosion.
SenIcd In From Gas.
Some Of the rescue parties tonight
declared their belief that party of
the entombed miners had reached Il
room and had sealed it in time to keep
the gas from overcoming them.
DIR. ;. l.. Morris. representative of
this district of the American Red Cross
Society. reached here at noon and at
once made preparations to relieve the
families OF victims
Director General Ernest T. Biclnell
OF the Red Cross In Washington. wired
Governor Mcdonald TO draw on the So
cicty for $1,000 with which to alleviate
the suffering Of miners families here,
but Governor Mcdonald replied that
the mine officials had given him assur-
ance that the destitute would be pro-
vided for, and that the company would
defray expenses of all funerals. Orders
on the company store for an Indefinite
length of time have been issued to the
families Of the entombed miners.
The mine was supposed TO have been
model one and that such a disaster
could befall the men within It had been
considered impossible. Only two days
spector Biddow had examined the
property and pronounced 1t in excel
lent condition.
Great Fans stopped.
General Manager r. II. OBrien, who
was in the office near Mine . at the
time of the explosion. at once sum
moned the men from three other mines
by means OF the mine siren and put
them to work digging the main entry
and the man-way, both OF which. We're
blocked by tons of fallen rock and tim
ber O'Brien with other officials has
tened to the airshaft. which is equip
ped with Il ladder and steps designed
to be used as II means of escape in
such emergencies. There he found tho
air unbearable and knew the great
fans had stopped.
With oxygen helmets he and his fol-
lowers went into mine No. 3. connected
with No . by tunnel, believing they
could connect with the laterals of the
wrecked mine, but they found the
passage blocked Communication was
establihsed with nearby mines and all
available assistance was obtained
The report OF the explosion attracted
practically the entire population of the
town to the mine and women fought
frantically to get to Vantage points
from which they could observe the
slow progress of the rescuers. Soon
they began to interfere with the work
and the entries We're roped off.