Evening star., 1922-11-24

cline, and the impact created clouds
of coal dust. The crash severed high
tension electric cable, and the fash
ignited the explosive dust.
Eighty-two Of the AIS men in the
mine were killed outright by the ex-
plosion or asphyxiated by the after
damp, and of the sixty burned or over
| come by the gas two died few hours
later.
1t Is believed about forty of the men
| who lost their lives were in the yard
| at the foot OF the slope and were killed
by the conclusion.
All Mine Bosses Killed.
OF these, six were foremen. the blast
wiping out all Of the mine bosses
The deadly after-damp formed imme-
diately and accounted for the re-
mainder of the victims. Faces and
hands of many of the dead were
scared by the flash OF fame. while
other bodies bore bruises and cuts,
where they had been thrown against
force of the explosion.
"A peculiar feature discussed today
by officials of the Woodward COM
pany was the fact that when rescue
parties entered the mine the carbide
miners head lamps on the caps of
some of the dead still were burning.
Safety precautions observed by the
Woodward company prevented an
appalling disaster -Four hundred and
seVenty-fiVe men We're in the mine at
the time. The breaking of electric
cables with the crash and blast threw
the circuit breakers and, the motors
operating the ventilating fans came
TO a standstill. The mine is equipped
with emergency fans run by gasoline
motors, which once weekly have been
operated for period of eight hours
10 keep them in working order. Three
minutes after the blast the emer-
gency Fans were in operation and
thirty minutes later the first miner to
emerge from the slope appeared.
Ihe mine was cleared of the after
damp within a short time and the
miners still inside received free air.
Ihe mine Is connected with Dolomite
NO. /, and altogether there were four
exits to the surface. The miners in
the inner workings sought the three
outlets not affected by the explosion
and nearly all of those uninjured
emerged through those passages.
Mine Recently Inspected.
Dolomite No. } recently was in
spected by company. state and fed
eral experts and declared to be In
perfect condition.
1t was the fourth great fatal mining
disaster in the history of the Ala
bama field. In January, 1905, 112
=
mine; 125 lost their lives in Banner
mine April s, 1911, and So We're killed
in the Palos mine May 5. 1910.
Other accidents resulted in death
tolls ranging from 8 to 81. the total
to date, including the Virginia, Ban
ner, Palos and Dolomite disasters
being SEQ.
NJ. D. Wilson, one Of the most Sc
riously injured men, wrote brk.f
description of his experiences. He
said he knew what had occurred as
soon as he heard the explosion.
Prayed for Death.
4 wrapped my wooden shirt about
my head after l had soused it into a
bucket of water This. l suppose,
kept my face from being burned. |
then crawled about 1000 feet toward
the opening. on the way | crawled
over other bodies, and other men
craWled over me
The gas began to get worse, and we
Cied to shut it off. first by closing "a
door. but it was no use. The gas got
terrible. and all about me We're men
praying. / prayed a little myself-to
die. / tried to choke myself to death
but could not If there had been Il
way to end my life. l would have
done il, for my suffering was SO great
Finally j lost consciousness. When
recovered | was lying. on a cot in
the mine They told me it was 5
o'clock. / was told my partner. Gay
lGus Burchfield, was killed. l don't
know, but he was lucky if he was
The list of dead contains the name
of BurchfieId.