The Miller press. [volume] (Miller, S.D.) 190?-current, 1914-06-25
NINE DEATH LIST
205; FEW RESC0ED
1872 STILL ENToMBED IN Albert.
coLLIERY WHERE GREAT
BLAST WRECKED MINE.
LARGE RESCUE FORCE BUSY
Twenty Taken Out Alive, However,
Mine Superintendent Among the
Unfortunate Men Under
ground.

Hillcrest, Alta, June 22.-The prob
able death list in the Hillcrest COL
liery explosion is officially placed at
205.
About 225 men entered the mine
as the day shift, 20 were rescued
alive and % bodies have been taken
out, leaving 1872 still entombed and
probably dead. q.
A Mighty Explosion.
Lethbridge, ALTA mighty explo-
sion, coming without a moments
warning, entombed $50 miners EN-.
ployed in Mine No. 20 Of the Hillcrest
Galleries. Ltd. OF the az rescued.
only 20 were living. Despite the eff
forts of the two score mine experts
laboring amid the death dealing gases
and debris, hope of rescuing alive
the 1872 men yet in the mine is past.
At dusk silent groups of white-faced
wives and mothers stood at the mouth
of the mine, which had been closed
by the explosion, still hopeful that
the means for help that issued from
the inner workings earlier, might be
repeated and aid the scientifically
equipped experts in their efforts at
rescue. AS the night wore on, many
of the women, their heads bowed,
turned sadly ~homeward. their action
expressing the general feeling that
hope Was lost.
Blast Shook Country.
The explosion shook the country
side for miles around, lifed the roofs
from many miners cabins and de-
molished numerous small buildings. A
moment after the explosion a score Of
panic-Stricken surface workers rushed
from the mine, followed by a dense
cloud of smoke and poisonous fumes.
Appeals for help were dispatched
to many towns and in the meantime,
residents organized an emergency
crew and turned feeble and ineffec.
tive efforts toward the work of rescue.
When the first rescue crew arriver
a large force of men set about TO cleal
the shaft, turning desperately from
one point to another as the means Of
the e~nfeebled men came feebly from
the bowels of the mine. The means
became fainter and fainter and finally
ceased. Thousands of ons of rock
have fallen into the mine and it is
feared that the men, even had they
escaped death from the poisonous
fumes, probably were crushed to
death by the falling debris.
No Cause Ascertained.
No information as to what caused
the explosion has been given. but it
is generally believed it was due to the.
forming of gases.
Thomas Quigley, superintendent Of
the mine, is among those entombed.
Two trains filled with expert mine
workers, doctors, nurses and officials
OF railways arrived at the scene Of
the disaster and the work Of rescue
was begun in a systematic manner.
AS the experts entered the mine they
found, jumbled in a chaotic mass.
horses, timbers, wagons and mining
paraphernalia, the scene being indica-
tive of the force of the explosion.
Fire broke out soon after the ex-
plosion but almost Immediately died
out, dlLlOuSn inc gas fumes q II
impossible for the men to work effec-
lively for several hours. The explo-
sion tore out both ends OF the Dit and
incidentally blocked up the interior of
the workings.
Most of the miners were working
about 400 feet inside the mine.
A majority of the men are foreign
born, but a large number Of them
were English speaking.
Hillcrest a Productive Mine.
Winnipeg, Mantle Hillcrest mine
is a well known and very productive
colliery. 1t is situated on the Crows
Nest branch of the Canadian Pacific
Railway, 1913 miles west of Medicine
Hat and is n of that group of mines
which have been worked for the past
ten or fifteen years and which include
Frank, Blairmore, Coleman and Lund-
brek. 1t is two miles from Frank and
three from Blairmore.