Evening star., 1922-11-23
"a DEAD REMOVED
|NM|NE DISASTER
AS TOLL MOUNTS
Injured List Increased to
Sixty in Birmingham, Ala,
Explosion.
ATS MEN were TRAPPED
WHEN CABLE FIRES DUST
Many Acts of Heroism Mark Res
cue Work-Pathetic Scenes
at Shaft.
BY tie Associated Press.

BY tie Associated Press.
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. November %.
-Eighty-four lives were lost and
sixty persons were injured as a re-
suit of an accident and explosion yes
terday in Dolomite No. 3, coal mine
of the Woodward Iron Company, ac-
cordfng to a statement issued at noon
today by Frank H. Crookard, presi-
dent of the company.
OF the injured thirty-five were re-
moved to their homes and twenty-five
were in hospitals. Work OF tdenttn-
cation at that hour had not been COM
pleted, but it was believed there were
rhirty-eight white dead and twenty
nine white injured.
Explosion Felt for Miles,
At least fifty men who are listed in
tho casuals were either killed or in
jured when q train Of trip cars rum
ming wild from the tipple crashed
into the mine 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. Tho concussion rocked the
so nearly simultaneous with the ac-
cident which produced 1t that the VIC
. tins were not aware what was hap
pening.
At dawn the weary watchers about
tho pit appeared to renew hope that
the missing might be found. despite
sons" had been removed. White and
black huddled in the biting cold
about the pit. Many children refused
to be comforted. They stood through
the long night watching every crew
that emerged. Joy occasionally re-
warded women and children by work.
ers turning up from out of the night,
following their escape from two other
exits. The other exits were miles
from the main entry, and this caused
rescued for several hours in some in
stances.
Doctor IL Hero.
Despite the fact that he already
was feeling tho effects of the dread
ed black damp. DR.. Edward Wright,
physician for the American Steel and
Wire Company, a member of the first
volunteer rescue crew to enter the
Inflated No. 3 shaft, battled des-
perately throughout the hours OF the
night. and did not cease ministering
to the dying until he himself had
fallen unconscious by their side.
DR.. Wright arrived on the scene
shortly after the blast, prepared to
assist in the rescue work. Entering
tho mine without an oxygen mask.
with members Of the T. c. I. mine
rescue team, DR.. Wright did not leave
until he was carried out on
stretcheE.
Party of Sixty Rescued.
Along with George Brown, D. w.
Ewing and Matthew Morton, DR..
Wright explored all the wings of the
mine where the injured were to be
found. Brown, one of his teammates.
was the first to reach the side of the
fallen physician. He shared oxygen
from his tank until DIR. Wright was
hoisted hundreds of feet to the sur
face and rushed to the emergency
for three and one-half hours, sixty
miners pocketed in the forty-second
west entry of the mine were rescued
after they had been given up for lost.
The sixty men working in the en-
try leading directly from the yard
following the blast. Fearing to PEN
citrate the shaft, all of the imprisoned
men waited patiently for develop
Ipents.
As minutes ran into hours the
after damp began to affect the
trapped men, A brattice, or protect
ing wall of coal dust, was then piled
up to shut off the bad air. The gas
soon penetrated the temporary bulk
head. but when members of the res
rue team arrived they found all the
men still conscious and the group
was conveyed to the surface in
state of nervous exhaustion.
Pathetic Scenes.
Throughout the night joyous re-
union occasionally relieved the sor-
rowful scenes.
Stories of heroism, common in coal
mine disasters, began to trickle to
the outside world early this morning
as begrimed rescuers came to the sur
face after long hours of work in the
mine.
Many Injured May Die.
1t probably will be late today be-
fore a complete official check of the
dead and injured will be available.
according to company officials. who
remained at the mine all night in an
effort to relieve the minds of anxious
relatives.
Many of the more seriously injured
may succumb. it was said at the hos
pital inn Bessemer. where they were
taken after they were brought from
the mine last night.
1t was after midnight before the
state militia at the scene of the
disaster was able to clear the district
about the mine entrance Of the hun
dreds of curious who came to watch
the rescue work.
Fourteen men were working within
the mine about one mile from the en-
trance when the explosion took
place. All felt the force of the blast.
entered pocket in the walls of the
mine and were rescued uninjured at
40 o'clock last night