Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1922-11-07
55 MINERS ARE
MISSING AF TER
MINE BLAST IN
KEYSTONE STATE
Twenty-Five Have Probably
Been Killed. IA Are
Taken to a Hospital at
SpangIer Badly Injured,
WORKINGS ARE TORN
DOWN BY EXPLOSION
DrizzIing Rain Which Falls
Throughout the Day Has
No Effect Upon Crowd
ReScuerS Suffer,


Spangler, Pa. Nov. g. More
than so miners are believed 10
have lost their lives in an explosion
in Reilly Mine of the Reilly Coal
company, near here, this morning.
Exploration of the workings by
trained rcscuers was being contin-
ned tonight. None of the dead had
been brought to the surface at
1880 o'clock.
Spangler. Pa, Nov. (by the AS
sociated Press.) -Fifty-five Of the
"a miners who went down into the
Reilly mine of the Reilly Coal COM
pany here this morning, few min
utes before the workings were torn
by an explosion, were unaccounted
for when the rescue crews came
UP the shaft at o'clock tonight,
Twenty five, they said. had proba-
bly, been killed and fourteen had
been taken to hospital badly
hurt.
The drizzling rain which fell
throughout the day had no effect
upon the crowd, which included
the wives and children Of many of
the entombed miners. Some OF
them wept, but others stood in
etolid silence closely watching the
cage each time it came up the
shaft and occasionally thinking
they recognized the outlines of
familiar form. They were so far
away, however, and the bodies
were so carefully covered that rec
ognition was impossible. But it
gave rise to tho belief among the
people that all of the closely
wrapped forms were bodies Of the
dead, and fathered reports that no
less than 25 of the dead had been
recovered.
Ministers in the Crowd.
Minging in the crowd were the
ministers from all the churches of
'Spangler and a number from near
by towns. Conspicuous were two
Roman Catholic priests, Father
! James Paulding and Father J. d.
Cochran, who, clad in raincoats
and rubber boots, sought to COM
fert weeping women.
They were among the first to
reach the mine after the explosion
and In a short time were taken
down the shaft to give absolution
to five men near the bottom.
Mike Whalen, eager, was
working with his coupler, a lad
named Cavendish, at the bottom OF
the shaft, when the explosion oc-
Cured. Selling the boy, Whalen
put him on his back and started
hand-oYer- -hand on a water pipe
for the surface. When almost half
way up some one started the cage
from the bottom and waiting his
opportunity, Whalen jumped to the
top of the cage and rode with the
boy to safety.
Fan House Repaired.
j. J. Bourquin, in charge of the
bureau of mines force, took over
the rescue work On his arrival here
this afternoons The fan house,
which had been wrecked by the eX-
plosion, was quickly repaired and
the fans started to clear the work
ings of black damp. Mules were
Sent down on the cage to assist in
the distribution of quantities of
lumber used in the building of
brattices.
Many of the rescuers suffered
from gas and numbers of them
were brought to the surface where,
after receiving first aid. they in
sisted on returning to the workings.
Three of the Cambria Steel COM
pany's crew were among those
most seriously affected. but II. w.
Darr. in command Of the Cambria
car. said all would recover.
sDangler's Location
Spahgler lies in the Allegheny
mountains in Cambria county
about 20 miles north of Johnstown,
and Is the center of an important
bituminous coal producing district
The Reilly mine was closed last
summer by the strike. but resumed
operations earIv in September
Normally it employees about 150I
men, but Monday Is usually what
the miners term a slow day. There
are many American-born miners in
the working force. numbers OF
whom were caught in the eX-
plosion.
On "thc Cot of Honor"
On "the cot of honor" at the
hospital rests youth of %. His
name is Abe Craig. His GOODNESS
saved at least a dozen lives.
There isn't much to tell" said
Craig. I'VE went down at Z
o'clock and entered heading Num-
ber 10 on the left. A few minutes
later there was a crash. | told
the boys that meant a cave-in,
and we had better get out. Then
there was rush of gas. Luckily
our door was open, or the eXplo-
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