The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1922-11-24
Tive Enter Guilty Plea In 9S1==7":2ggling Case
i84 LIVES ARE LOST
IN MINE DISASTER
Explosion Which Took
Awful Toll at Bir-
mingham Is De-
clared Freak.

D1ICh14NIIlAN1, 1NON. 20. -
Eighty-four bodies, twenty of
those white men, and sixty-four
negroes, lay tonight in under
taking establishments here and
in Bessemer, the death toll Of a
coal dust explosion yesterday in
Dolomite mine number three of
the Woodward Iron Company,
sixteen miles west of Blrming
ham. Eighty-two bodies were
taken from the mine early today
and of the sixty injured, two
succumbed. Reports received by
officials of the Woodward COM
pany indicated that while sew
eral of those remaining in hos
pitals were seriously hurt, pos
sibly all would recover.
AS a large crew of morticians worked
feverishly all day preparing the dead for
burial, hundreds of persons congregated
in the streets, anxiously seeking news Of
relatives or friends.
Explosion Declared Freak
The explosion was declared by mining
experts to have been freak. and so far
as local records show, only the third of
it's kinds ever to have occurred in this
country. Dolomite number 3 is a slope
mine, opened in 1882 and operated until
yesterday without a serious accident.
The slope opened into the side of hill
at nf degrees
feet before reaching the level of the work.
ings. At the foot of the slope is the mine
railroad yard where dump cars loaded
with coal are assembled and drawn by
cable to the surface and up the tipple.
A string of these dump cars broke loose
on the incline, literally dropped 500 feet
to the yard, where great clouds of coal
dust arose with the impact, and a high
tension electric cable severed with the
crash ignited the dust.
Mine Is Undamaged.
Only 800 feet from the surface, the full
force of the explosion and the accom-
panying flame went up the slope, the
flash of flame projecting beyond the
tipple several hundred feet and firing
wooden construction at the top. The
tipple itself is of concrete and only a
wooden roof erected as a shelter was de-
stroyed The mine and slope were un-
damaged and it vas expected repairs
to the tracks and hoist would be made in
time to resume operations Monday.
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 concussion. OF these, six were fore
men, the blast wiping out all of the mine
bosses
The deadly after damp formed immed-
lately and accounted for the remainder
of the victims Faces and hands of many
of the dead were scared by the flash of
flame while other bodies bore bruises
and cuts, where they had been thrown
against the sides CT the dump cars by
the force Of the explosion.
Lamps Still Burning .
A peculiar feature discussed today by
officials\of the Woodward company was
the fact that When rescue parties entered
the mine, the miners carbide head lamps
on the caps of some of the dead still were
burning.
Safety precautions observed by the
Woodward company prevented an appal-
ling disaster. Four hundred and seventy
five men were in the mine at the time.
The breaking of electric cables with the
crash and blast threw the circuit break
ers and the motors operating the venti-
lating fans came to a standsti1. The mine
is equipped with emergency fans run by
gasoline motors which once weekly have
been operated for a period of eight hours
to keep them in working order Three
minutes after the blast, the emergency
fans were in operation and 80 minutes
later the first miner to emerge from the
slope appeared. The mine was cleared of
the after damp within a short time and
the miners still inside received free air.
Dolomite number recently was in
spected by company, state and federal ex-
perts and declared to be in perfect con-
dition.
1t was the fourth great fatal mining
disaster in the history CT the Alabama
field. In Januray, 1905, 112 miners were
killed in the Virginia mine; 125 lost their
lives in Banner mine April s, 1911, and
50 were killed in the Palos mine May 5.
1910.
Other accidents resulted in death tolls
ranging from nine to 5G. the total to date,
including the Virginia, Banner, Palos, and
Dolomite disasters. being $50