The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1922-11-23
81 ARE KILLED
IN ALABAMA
Mine DISASTER
Rescue Work in Iron Mine Con-
tinues All Night.
Dust Explosion Traps 457
WOrkmen Near Birmingham.
TO COMPLETE CHECK SOON
Approximately Sixty Men Are
Reported Injured by Blast.
Many Stories of HerOism Begin
to Come to Surface.
TO COMPLETE CHECK SOON
approximately A Sixty Men Are
Reported Injured by Blast.
(Ry the Asrociated Press.l }

10y the Associated ETeesy
Birmingham, Ala, Nov. %
Eighty-four lives were lost and sixty
persons were injured as result or
an accident and explosion yesterday in
Dolomite coal mine No 3, Of the
Woodward Iron company, according 10
a statement today by Frank H Crock-
ard, president of the company. OI
the injured IS were removed to their
homes; 25 were in hospitals. work OF
Identification had not been completed
but it was believed that 80 white are
dead and 20 white injured
Sixty Men Reported Injured
Approximately sixty men were re-
ported injured by the blast. Relatives
and families of miners known to nave
been in the mine when the blast oc-
CURED continued to wait expectantly
for news of their loved ones. many OF
whom it was believed reached the sur
face in safety thru the runway con-
meeting the mine with mine number
and had re-entered the workings 10
help in rescue work
Thruout the night joyous reunions
occasionally relieved sOrrowful scenes.
one small girl gave a cry of delight
as a grimy miner emerged, his race
ol1e-blackened and his clothing
bearing mute evidence of his struggle
TO reach the surface in safety. AS
the man cam out the little girl threw
herself into lis arms and the pair
hurried off
Collapsed AS She Greeted Sons
An aged woman Is SalQ 10 nave SOA-
lapsed as she greeted two sons, VINO
on their way Jut, learned the work
ir-s were safe again from poisonous
gases, and had turned bac,- to AID IN
the search for other men. III they
finally reached the surface o-.-lausted-
.rories of heroism, common in coal
II -.a disasters. began to trfckle In as
belrimed rescuers came to the sur
f after long hours Of work IN the
one rescuer told of an unidentified
II ne foreman who assembled about
Il m thirty workers, soon after the
BIS t took place, and ordered all TO re-
II with him to fix BratCces with
$ ones and canvas to shut Off the
dreaded after-damp gas which ne relt
Sc was to follow the explosion
v -lile this work was going on accoEu-
inc to the rescue worker, one miner
brccted TO remaining. He argued
VIII the foreman, finally saying he
was, determined to try for the entrance
bv himself The rest stayed behlnd
ard completed the bratuce-
VIXEN the fans were started again
md rho air cleared sufficiently to tear
Gown the temporary wall, the oody OF
the man was found only a rev IeeI
away. Tales of other miners who hur-
rie..Iy built walls across inches and
hollows in the workings stopping the
chinlss with parts of their own cloth
ing and thus saving their lives from
the gases were numerous as rescue
squads reached the surface.
To Complete Check Tonight.
It v-ilI probably be late tonight be-
fore a complete official check of the
dead and injured will be available, ac-
ccrding TO company officials VINO re-
mained at the mine all night in an ef-
fort to relieve the m-nds or ANXIOUS
relatives. Many of the more seriously
injured may succumb- 1t was sala a.
the hospital where they were taken
Fourteen men were working within
the mine about enc mile from the en-
trance when the explosion took place.
they entered pockets in the wall OF
the mine and were rescued un.njured-
Shortly before midnight authorities
and officials turned their attention to
caring for the injured, halting identifi-
crt on of the dead. The jam OF auto
mob es about the mine last night
caused several collisions, no one being
badl- injured. but property damage
The arrival of state troops finally
relieved the situation. The force of
the explosion was felt in Birginham,
nine miles distant.
At least fifty men who are listed in
the casua,s were either killed or in
jured when a train of trip cars run
ming wild from the upple crashed into
the m-ne yard in the main entry. This
accident caused the swapping of an
electric cable which in turn set off the
dust which resulted in the explosion.
The concussion rocked the earth for
miles around and occurred so nearly
simultaneously with the accident
which produced IL that the victims
were not aware what was happening
Announcement was made this
morning that "all the live persons
had been removed from the mine.
Doctor i'm Desperate Battle.
Despite the fact that he was already
feeling the deadly effects of the
dreaded black damp. DIR. Z. d. Wright,
physician for the American Steel and
Wire company, a member of the first
volunteer rescue crew to enter the i'll
fated number 3 shaft, battled des-
perately thruout the hours OF the
night and did not cease nlinistering TO
the dying until he himself had fallen
unconscious by their side. He is not
in a serious condition altho he is to-
day confined TO his home
Frantically battling against after
damp for three and one-hslf hours
sixty miners pocketed in the 4,2O0
west entry of the mine were rescued
after they had been given up for lost
The sixty men wOrkin-s in the entry
leading directly from the yard, were
completely cut off from escape fol-
lowing the blast AS minutes ran into
hours the after-damp began to affect
the trapped en-. A bratice of pro-
lection wall of coal dust was then
piled up to shut off the bad air.
When members of the rescue team
arrived with oxygen helmets they
found all the men still conscious. and
rr0,,v, xx-ar cOUNPNed q the