Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1913-04-24
THAT NUMBER MISSING AND ALL
ARE BELIEVED TO HAVE
PERIsHEp.
EXPLOSION OF FIRE DAMP
IN PENNSYLVANIA coLL,ERY
Dead sodi.. of m.S and Mule. Found
BY searehers, Who Are Handle ppsd
in Work Because Of Bad A;-v.n.
ti'ation System Wrecked by Explo.. ;.
ion One Of Rsseusrs Lose. Lite.


ihs OF dawn fresh crews took the
pace of tired workers who had toiled
tnruous the night in an effort to pene-
trate the recesses OF the Cincinnati
hhne OF the Pittsburgh Coal Company
at f1nleyville, Pa. where an explo-
sion OF fire damp yesterday killed
many men and wrecked the mine.
eighteen bodies had been brought to
the mouth Of the principal opening this
morning. That the mine contains many
more dead, even officers Of the COM
pany admit, while leaders of the res
cue party and some of the men who es-
capped are of the opinion that the fa-
taiities will number close to 100.
General Manager George w. schule-
ourg. OF the coal company, early took
charge of the situation. Crews from
the pittsburgh station of the United
states bureau of mines were hurried
to the little town.
Reseuers Held Back.
Already parties of superintendents,
fire bosses, mine bosses from other
mines of the company and miners of in
dependent mines in the vicinity had
been able to make little headway. The
ventilation system had been paralyzed
and before workings could be explored
It was necessary to build temporary
passages thru which air could be
forced. -.t ~
In the meantime parties provided
with oxygen helmets had crawled thru
tho passageways. They found many
dead, and but few living. When the
mouth Of the slip this morning hey
gave it as their opinoin that all the
men not accounted for We're dead.
One Hundred Missing.
The bodies found were not far from
the entrance, among them being. a
miner named McCullough. wh9 had
volunteered as rescuer ana was
known as one of the best miners In the
district. He was one Of the first to
enter the mine, and advancing farther
than his associates became lost. He
is believed to have been killed by
fall from the roof.
Rescuers reported that the bodies of
twenty-one mules had been seen. The
majority Of them were killed by the
explosion.
1t is known that 179 men went into
the mine and about seventy-nine are
known to have made their escape.
Soon after o'clock it developed that
the first rescue party to enter the mine
today had come upon other dead ana
the bodies were being brought to the
opening.
Survivor Tells Experience.
Robert Carten, track layer VINO
escaped last night, told the following
story:
II had been working at the head OF
No. 16 entry. After eating lunch l
resumed work. at 2:30, and had driven
only two spikes when the explosion oc-
Cured. The concussion knocked me
down and I was unconscious for fifteen
minutes. After recovering, I'met Assist
ant Foreman Brown. who told me to
get out of the mine as quickly as pos
sible. Other men quickly arrived where
I was. Followed by about twenty five
men, 1 started down No. motor road
Of the main roads of the mine. we mad
not gone far before we found there
was so much smoke we could go no
farther. We tried No. motor road
and found this also checked with smoke
and debris.
crawIs Out Thru Hole. ;,
81 then told Assistant Foreman
Brown l was going to try No. 16 entry.
He told me l could not make 1t. Fol
lowed by the rest, tried. Less than loO
feet in No. Is entry we found our way
BACKED with debris. We turned back
and had penetrated No. Is entry some
distance when we were again blocked
by debris.
after Investigating fn.ind hole at
the top of the debris. crawled thru
this on my stomach for distance Of
200 feet and the others followed. I
held a small safety lamp as high as
could, so that the light would fall be-
hind me to guide the others.
"Finally reached No. motor road
which was clear. 1 stopped and a
colored man was beside me. We listened
for the Others but could not hear them.
After a time we started for the surface.
Before reaching there We met Tom
Thompson, the night boss. whom we
told about what had happened.
"Thompson started back into the
mine to lead the others out and we
continued on down the slope to the
open air. 5000 feet from our starting
point"
May Not Exceed Seventy Five.
With more than score and a half Of
rescuers working from three different
entries into the Cincinnati mine Of the
River Consolidated Coal
and Coke Company, the total number Of
known dead by the explosion OF gas
Yesterday reached twenty-five this af
ternoon. with strong probability that
the death list will be about seventy
five.
Relay rescue parties are removing
debris and searching for bodies but
little hope is held out that any more
Of the miners have escaped.
Government mine experts are rcfn-
forced by crews from five different
- b L