The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1913-04-24
Explosion of Fire-danp in
Pittsburg Coal Co.'S Mine
Kills Large Number.
CANNOT EXPLORE :,
INTERIOR AS YET
Until this can be Done, it will be Inn
possible to Make an Accurate Esti.
mate of Fatalities Officials Admit
that Many Bodies are Still in Mine.

Pittsburg, April 24.-With the COM
ing Of dawn, fresh crews took the
places of the tired workers, who toll
ed INCREASINGLY and braved death
throughout the night in an effort to
penetrate the dark recesses of the Gin
cinnati mine of the Pittsburg Coal
company at Finleyville, Pa, where an
explosion of fire damp yesterday kill
ed many men and wrecked the mine.
Eighteen bodies were brought to the
mouth of the principal opening this
morning. and from there we're trans
ferred to Monongahala City to be pre-
pared for burial.
That the mine contains many more
dead. even officers of the mine admit,
while the leaders of rescue parties
and some men who escaped believe
the fatalities number close to 110.
However, it will be impossible to
catastrophe until the main and cross
entries are explored. a difficult task
when it is known that these are choll-
ed with fallen timbers and rocks.
Many men are building brattices to
carry fresh air through the gas filled
galleries.
General Manager G. w. schlueberg
cue. Crews from the Pittsburg sta
tion Of the United States Bureau OF
Mines have been sent to recover the
bodies and rescue such as escaped the
explosion and after damp"
Estimate Loss at Seventy.Five.
Thirty-four men, as many as could
be worked in the mine with safety,
spent the morning clearing the piles
OF debris and searching for bodies.
Up to noon twenty-five bodies had
been brought out.
Rescuers from the bureau of mines
are making headway in an endeavor
to force air through the ruined en-
tries and until this is accomplished
the exact number of dead cannot be
ascertained. The bureau gave out a
statement that the loss of life proba-
bly, will not exceed seventy-fi
Few Known Dead.
OF the known dead all are Ameri-
cans. They are John Green, Thomas
Carter. son of William Carter. super
intendent of the mine; Robert Knder-
son, machine boss; Charles Hager and
John Lake.
The explosion occurred between No.
and No. : right entries. 5000 feet
from the mouth of the mine.
A. V. Brown, assistant mine fore
man. stated that 179 men went to
work in the mine yesterday morning.
An accurate estimate of the num-
0SA VI NOdA 10 1AAPOSStuic lhC
fate of the missing men is known. OF
the 179 men who entered the mine for
work yesterday. IS made their escape
through what Is known as the Mingo
entry of the mine and 3S or 40 miners
also escaped through the Courtney en-
try.
AT least 100 men are unaccounted
for. They are in the mine and are
thought to be dead.
Track Layer Tells Story.
Robert Carten. track layer who
ing story:
Il had been working at the head OF
No. 16 entry. After eating lunch re-
sumed work at $3.50 and had driven
only two spikes when the explosion
occurred. The concussion knocked
me down and / was unconscious for
fifteen minutes. After recovering. 1
told me to get out of the mine as
quickly as possible. Other men quick
ly arrived where l was. Followed by
about 25 men started down No. s
motor road. of the main roads of the
mine. We had not gone far before We
could go no further. We tried No.
motor road and found this also choked
with smoke and debris.
II then told Assistant Foreman
Brown was going to try No. 16 en-
try. He told me could not make 1t.
Followed by the rest. ! tried. Less
than 100 feet in No. 16 entry We
found our way blocked with debris.
We turned back and had penetrated
No. Is entry some distance when we
were again blocked by debris.
After investigating found hole
at the top of the debris. 1 crawled
through this on my stomach for a
distance Of 200 feet and the others
followed. I held a small safety lamp
as high as 1 could so that the light
would fall behind me and guide the
others. Finally l reached No. 4 mo-
tor road which was clear. I stopped
and colored man was beside me.
We listened for the others hut could
not hear them. After time. accom-
panied by the colored man. We started
for the surface. Before reaching
these 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 start
ing point"
. Later the other men reached the
open. All were i'll and dazed on ac-
count of the fumes in the mine
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