The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1919-06-05
eleven OTHERS
REPORTED DYING
FROM INJURIES
Powder Car ExplOdes at Mouth
of Pennsylvania Mine.
Over Forty MiracuIOusIy Es-
cape Death, Badly Hurt.
BRING OUT BURNING BODIES
Charred Almost Beyond RecOg-
milton, Victims Dragged Forth.
PitifuI Scenes at WilkeSbarre-
Little Children Fatherless.
RESlIIT nF law VI0I ATI0N
Pitiful Scenes at WilkeSbarre-
Little Children FatherlesS.
RESULT OF LAW VIOLATION
Statutes Provide Powder Can
not Be Carried on Train.
Electric Wire Falling Into Car
Ignites 1t, Causing Blast.

Wilkesbarre, June 5.-Seven-
ty-eight men lost their lives in
the Baltimore No. 2 tunnel of
the Delaware & Hudson Coal
company explosion and fire to-
day, and thirty-one were in
jured, according toa list given out
by the company officials at noon
today.
Forty-one bodies have been identi-
fled and thirty-Seven remain uniden-
tilted. The company's injured list is
not complete and it is certain that
the number of injured will reach about
forty.
Bodies Were Burning.
Some of the first bodies brought
from the tunnel were burning when
they reached the surface. Clothes had
been burned away and the flesh was
roasting from the intense heat. At
1890 o'clock the company officials an
nounced that seventy-one men were
dead and that thirty-five were at the
hospitals. 1t was stated that the death
list will increase.
Company employees state that there
is a pull of 1856. 600 cubic feet of air
per minute in the tunnel and that the
air pulled in the flames from the pow
der directly over the men. Along the
side Of the tunnel there is a creek and
at the flash of the flames some men
who were walking along the side of
the trip of cars dropped into the water
and saved their lives.
"Safety First at Entrance.
Several employees state that it was
not the force of the explosion that
killed the men. Flames and lack of
air caused all the fatalities. All admit
that the accident was the result of a
violation of the law, but they state
that miners are accustomed to these
violations. Thomas Dougherty,
miner. one of the survivors, was
thrown out of car by the blast and
saved himself by jumping into a ditch.
, He said There was powder in the
car. There were about ten kegs and
besides there were kegs carried by
the men" 1t seems like the irony of
fate that over the mouth of the tun-
mel in great big white letters are
painted the words: safety first"
The accident occurred shortly be-
fore o'clock, a train of empty cars
was sent to the mouth of the tunnel
TO take the men into the chambers
over a hundred men piled into cars,
which were drawn by an electric
motor. Near the end of the train was
a car of black powder. John Nc
GrOarty drove the motor
When 200 feet in the tunnel, the
trolley wire broke and fell. Sparks
ignited the powder and instantly
there was an explosion that sent the
bodies of men flying in all directions.
The force was so terrific that it was
heard thruout the greater part of the
city.
Bodies Burn to Crisp.
Flames caused the greater loss of
life, many of the bodies being burned
to a crisp. other men who were
burned and were trying to reach
safety died of suffocation.
When rescuers reached the tunnel
there were dead and dying scattered
everywhere The injured were rapid
ly removed, sent to hospitals as quick
ly as ambulances could be provided
and the dead were brought out and
placed in tiers on the green.
Doctors and nurses were somewhat
late in reaching the scene. This was
because many of them were abed
when the accident happened. Hos
pitfalls quickly filled and morgues were
massed to overflowing.
Every morgue in the city has been
pressed into service and thousands of
frantic women and children are rush
ing from one undertaking shop to an
other in an effort to learn whether
their loved ones are among the killed
Today's accident is one of the worst
in the history of the anthracite coal
region. The Avondale. in which los
men lost their lives, was the worst.
War Hero Killed.
Among the identified dead is
"Chuck' Connors, war hero. who
returned from France a week ago
Another is John McCloskey. former
pitching star of the New York state
baseball league.
The accident occurred at 6:4O
O'Clock while the men were on their
way to work. The explosion could be
heard for miles around.
By Z o'clock thousands of people
gathered at the head of the tunnel
As the dead were removed they were
placed on a side hill. The scene re-
senhled battle-ground. Mothers,