The dispatch-news. [volume] (Lexington, S.C.) 1919-2001, 1922-11-08
pSsaEiAvY LOSS OF life
IN NINE EXPLOSION

4 :
being continued tonight. None of the
dead had been brought to the surface
at 1890 o'clock.
Thirty survivors of the explosion,
most of them young men. lay on a
double row of cots in the miners hos
pital here tonight anxiously watching
the entrance to the big room. They
were the known survivors OF the "a
miners who went into the mine this
morning "a few minutes before ter
rifle explosion. The exact number of
dead was still undetermined although
II was the opinion of trained rescue
leaders that perhaps so or so had lost
their lives.
Their vigil began when the first
eight We're brought to the hospital. ;.
The entrance OF the stretcher bearers
meant that another comrade had been
dragged from an underground sea Of
gas.
At 1920 O'clock this morning the
explosion occurred in the heart of
I
neighboring pits could reach the mine
preliminary work Of rescue began and
! It was supplemented later in the day
by trained engineers from the United
States bureau of mines in Pittsburgh
and the rescue crews OF neighboring
mines.
The rescue men all told the same
story as they came to the surface.
They declared bodies We're scattered
through the workings for more than
\ 500 feet.
Many Near saaety.
"The sad part Of it, said one sturdy
miner, ''is that at least 90 OF the vic-
Tins were within 100 feet OF fresh air
when they were overcome by the gas.""
Every effort tonight was 49,. Z
made to locate all Of the living. AS
soon as that has been done the work
OF removing the dead will commence.
Men. women and children by the
! score crowded the police lines near
|. the shaft. Many OF them had been
4 there since they heard OF the explo-
sion early in the day and there was no
Indication they would leave their post
until the last body had been brought
out. On the ''cot of honor at the
hospital rests youth of 90. His
name is Abe Craig. His coolness
saved at least dozen lives.
There IS not much to tell. said
& Craig. 'sWe went down at o'clock
and entered heading No. 1e on the
left. A few. minutes later there was
crash. I told the boys that meant
a cave in, and We had better getiout.
Then there was a rush OF gas Luck
iiy our door was open, or the ex-
plosion would have knocked it down.
slammed it and about 25 of us wait.
ed to see what would happen.
Outside there were yeils, and one
of our gang shouted to tell them there
1 was fresh air in eur place. opened
! the door and three or four men stag
gered in. The boys rushed out and
dragged in others. We revived them.
Nothing to Do hut Wait
"Then / looked out again. All
could see was bodies. The after damp
was rolling through the heading. L
jumped inside and closed the door.
There was nothing to do but wait for
fescuers.
From 1880 until about o'clock
we stayed in the chamber. Older men
were gettina faint. Young fellows
Z We're holding out pretty well. Nobody
had very much to say. Some Of the
boys were praying.
Finally the after damp worked its
way around and under the door.
There was only one thing to do. told
them we would have to run for it j.
We opened the door and ran down the
heading. 1t was tough dash, STUN
bling over bodies. We began to
choke. Some OF the boys fell, but
those of US who had any fight left
kept on.
I'VE ran into fallen rock between
the seventh and ninth heading. That
probably was where the explosion
took place.
II had hunch that If we got to
the sixth heading we would get fresh
air. but you can believe me that the
last hundred yards was something aw-
ful.
Coughing and strangling, we kept
on, and finally ran slap bang into
the air. was dizzy. but screamed
to the boys. Most of them who got