Great Falls tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1921-current, 1922-11-23

electric sparks exploded the dust
picked up by the speeding cars.
Practically all of the injured are
now out and are being given every
attention. While the loss of life is ter
rible. we are indeed grateful that more
OF the large number OF workmen ON
duty did not suffer.
Mine Clear of Dead
Al midnight officials of the Wood
ward Iron company summed up the re-
suit of the disaster as follows:
Dead, 20: injured, so; men rescued
uninjured, 345.
Officials of the company said that
the mine would be cleared of dead and
injured by a. m. Rescue crews had
explored every entry nj midnight.
when the official statement was issued.
More than 800 workers, uniniured by
the accident and blast that followed,
We're trapped for several hours A
Woodward Ne. afforded place of
exit for scores, while others were
brought To the surface by the mine
mouth when it was cleared about =
O'Clock Most of the uninjured men
huddied themselves in groups in vari
GUS places of safety, some a mile from
the main entrance.
Fire which followed the explosion
hindered the work of rescue. and was
believed to have been responsible for
many deaths. The injured among the
first men rescued We're removed TO
Bessemer hospitals.
Half of the men are white.
AS the work of rescue progressed,
reports to the surface grew less hope-
ful, One squad of workers reported
seeing bodies "strewn all along the
main paSsaseway."
Relatives Await Word
As darkness came women and chill
dren, white and black, crowded closer
about the mine, anxiously visiting in
common horror, word from the pit.
The injured were being removed hy
Sistants were preparing for removal of
the dead found in. the entries nearest
the manway. No attempt at identi~
fication of the dead or seriously in
jured had been made, the work of
emergency relief claiming tirst atten-
ton. All the doctors and nurses in the
community had been marshalled to
care for the wounded.
The Red Cross sent a corps of nurses
and assistants To the scene of the dis
aster. Ambulance companies armed
with lung meters, Joined the rescue
crews. whose operations were directed
Coal Iron and Railroad cempany's
safety department. and Frank I'll.
Crockard, president of the Woodward
company
Officials of the company directed
that every effort should be made Co
identify the dead and relieve the sus-
pense of hundreds of families in the
camp,
At the company's office, it was stated
that of 4T5 men who checked in for
work Wednesday 400 were under
ground when the explosion occurred
According To mine officials, broken
electric circuit caused by the runaway
of Il train of trip ears, was responsible
for ignition of the dust.
A detail of Alabama national guard
on duty in the railroad strike. area III
Birmingham was ordered to the mine.
Military headquarters announced that
an additional force of % men would
BE- disnatched to the mine Thursday
morning to aid in the general rescue
work ard for guard duty. Assistant
superintendent L. w Trew and four
men were injured when they were
trapped in the top house" following
the explosion while endeavoring to
sound the alarm in the pie when they
discovered the trip train running
Wild
Bureau of Mines Acts
The United States bureau of mines
has ordered rescue car from the Ken
tucky mine field. it was announced at
the local staten. Daniel Harrington.
of Denver Cofr.. is directing the work
of the local station. The Kentucky car
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