Great Falls daily tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1895-1921, 1919-06-06
SHEET OF FLAME ENVELOPS
THEM

The train had penetrated the
tunnel about 200 feet, when, Au-
aust Ruddio, one of the survivors.
States, the overhead trolley wire
sagged. and. touching steel pow
der keg formed short circuit. In
an instant there was shower OF
sparks and a terrific blast. A great
sheet Of flame. drawn by the air
current enyeloped the helpless men,
who were huddIed closely together
In the cars, with no possible chance
to escape.
Most of the deaths were caused
hy fire and suffocation.
Some of the first bodies hrot
from the tunnel were burning when
they reached the surface. Clothes
had been burned away and the
tense heat. Water was poured on
these to put out the fire. 1t was
such sights as this that made brave
hearts sick.
DEAD FOUND IN ROASTING HEAP
Owing to the ventilating system, the
smoke and flames were drawn inward
and the first intimation of the disas-
ter to those on the surface. were the
shrieks of the injured. Rescue corps
were at once formed and the dead and
injured were rapidly brot to the sur
face, where the living were given first
aid treatment by physicians and then
rushed to the city and Mercy hospital
in ambulances and vehicles of all sorts
even the fire apparatus being used In
the emergency.
tunnel, they found the dead and dying
piled in heaps in the cars and along
the tunnel bodies of the dead were
burned to crisp. OF the dead 10 were
found in the tunnel and IA others sue
cumbeI to their injuries at the hospitals.
Only 40 have been identified
Binding Flash, Then Hell.
Thomas Dougherty, d miner. one Of
the survivors, was thrown out Of car
by the blast and saved himself by
jumping into d ditch. He said:
I'VE were running along about fifty
feet in the tunnel. There was a blind
ing flash / was thrown from the car.
I saw the water and | hurled myself
into it. Bodies were all about. Some
I know were dead, others were crying,
The flames were terrific. They were all
about We We're in veritable he'll. No
man could possibly hope to escape with
his life unless he got in the water, buri-
ed his face and rolled over and over as
I did There was powder in the car.
There were about ten kegs and besides
there were kegs carried by the men.
Of course I do not know what set them
off, but | believe the trolley wire broke
and that sparks ignited the powder
"Safety First" over Entrance.
Over the mouth of the tunnel in great
big white letters are painted the words:
Safety first.
Identification of the bodies is almost
Many of them are charred
beyond recognition. The limbs Of some,
the heads Of othexs. are missing
As the bodies are removed from the
mine, living and dead, they are piled on
the green about the colliery. Many Of the
of women, men and children gathered
about the tunnel. Shriek1ng and crying,
they lifted the bodies Of the men.
Women tainted, men lost their nerve and
children ran away in freight
The death list was made large by the
flames and the sulphur fumes which
filled the tunnel.
Rescuers got into the mine with hose
and played streams of water on the
flames. While they were doing this the
cries of the dying and the injured were
heard above the roar of the flames.
Among the men killed outright was
James ]. McCloskey, former baseball
pitcher, at one time member of the
Philadelphia National league club.
Assistant General Manager Buchan-
an, of the Delaware and Hudson Coal
company, after investigation at the
scene of the disaster, gave it as his
opinion steel bar or drill carried by
one of the men came in contact with
the overhead wire forming the short
circuit.
According to the company's figures,
143 men and boys were being carried
by the train.