The Hartford republican., 1913-05-09
FIVE men enter
SHAFT OF Death
At Taylor Mines Tuesday
Morning.
Four Men Die Heroes to Save Lite
Of John Veller-I.P. Barnard
Witnessed Tragedy.


Showing heroism almost unbeliev-
able, five employees of the Taylor
Coal Co., at Taylor Mines, followed
,~ch other into a death trap filled
Nth black damp Tuesday morning at
1890. When the men were brought
out they were all beyond the power
of resuscitation. The dead are:
C. +. FRAZIER, General Mgr.
: JOHN F. WELLER, Mine Boss,
JAMES PORTER,
j. p. RAYMER,
ED BURKE.
In company with Mr.. !. p. Barnard,
OF Louisville. General Superintendent
OF Taylor Co., and Assistant g. neral
Manager Guy Statler, Manager Fra
xier and Mine Boss Weller went to
an abandoned shaft about two miles
from the main entrance of the mine.
Work was being done near this
shaft to drain a portion to the old
works Men we're working near the
shaft, excavating for drainage lead
ting to the shaft. The shaft is about
fifteen feet deep, and was filled with
about five feet of water. AS the in
specting party passed the shaft, MIR.
Weller said he would go down the
shaft and see how the water was
standing. He went down by means
of cross bars In the center OF the
hhaft, placed at a distance Of two
feet apart. and used to hold the
fYmber In place. The remainder Of
tho Iarty went on. but had gone only
short distance, when splash in
, ne shaft was heard. MIR. Frazier ran
back, saying he believed Weller had
fallen in the water. He ran down as
quickly as possible and soon encount-
cred the deadly black damp, but was
still able to catch hold OF Mr.. Weller.
He yelled out for assistance, saying
he could hold out no longer.
Superintendent Barnard hearing the
cries for help ran to the ditch where
Potter, Raymer and Burke and a
negro, Joe Berry. were at work call
ing them to come quickly. Each Of
the three white men went down one
after the other, only to meet his
death trying to save the fellow who
had gone before. The negro started
down, the others having taken the
lead, but he soon saw that 1t was
useless to go farther. and his head
began to swim and he came out. Mr..
Stateler also started down, as did
Supt. Barnard, but both saw the
folly of entering for 1t was then
clearly shown that 1t was death to
enter. Each of the five men that did
go into the shaft fell into the water
and all the time two men could be
s,Nn at the top of the water. Mr..
Barnard went to telephone and had
a special train sent from Central
City with the pulmotor, with which
he hoped to revive his men.
Mr.. Stateler hurried in buggy to
tie main mine for assistance and In
a few minutes several hundred miners
were at the scene, working with all
their might to get their comrades
out of the shaft. hoping to yet be
able to save them. The mines were
not running Tuesday and all OF the
employees hurried out to the shaft. /,
Graphing hooks we're let down the
shaft and 1t was about an hour un-
til all OF the bodies were recovered.
DIR. Oscar Mckinney was the first
physician on the scene and he did
everything possible to save the men.
The first aid team of Taylor Mines
did valiant work also. There were
six members of the team, and Mr..
Frazier and MIR. Weller were mem
bers of the team. Mr.. Frazier being
the leader. ..e. t...s :tt
The bodies were taken to the main
mine and In a room adjoining the en-
Sine house DR.. A. b. Riley. Of this
city, held the inquest over the. bodies.
The examination was conducted by
County Attorney C. 4. Smith, OF
Hartford. Supt. Barnard. Guy State
.ler, Albert Leach. o. P. Miller and
Joe Berry. colored. were placed upon
the witness stand to tell Of the acci-
dent and of the recovery Of the
bodies. The jury returned the fol-
lowing verdict:
"We, the Jury. find that John
Weller, I'd. Burke, James Porter. c.