Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1922-11-08
PATHETIC SCENES |
At SPANGLER Mine.
s.or,,s Of HsroIs'n MIngls With
Means and Praysrs After
Disaster
40 DEAD; SOME ARE MISSING

.Pessr sPssSs.SS. .S..ten frame building, the
SSnsrs' Hall, where once they haa
M Minss' '.ctive mart in the deliberations
~. iocai union, the bodies OF eighty
;..rs Yesterday were stretched on pine
Sn.,ds. Tn and down the. aisles OF
.Sst yC. improvised morsue there fled
= never .enling procession OF sie,,
s.ricken relatives and frismds omIa
scenes Of infinite pathos. Inc oou.es .es
vsre those. Of the miners Wno NIL
fiiied in the explosion at the Ne'''y
Colliery No. 1. -,
T.,sst figures on the tragedy. the
at enpaliins In Pennsylvania mining
S;Usory s since the disaster at the Dnrr
nine. % West Newton, in 1907, when
,1nrc than 200 men met death, show
thst the dead may reach more than
sirhty. In addition. thirty two men:
Including four rescuerS. were injured
and several men are still believed TO
be missing.
neeinnine at g o'clock yesterday
mornine rescuers turned from their
ministrotions to the living to the duty
~ caring for the dead. AT dawn the
last Of seventy two bodies had been
taken to the morgue and little later
word came from tho miners hospital
that three Of the injured had succumbed
70 their hurts. Late last, night five
more bodies were brought to the sur.
face.
Identify Their Dead
When the bodies OF the living were
taken TO the mine mouth they were car.
.ssS through the crowds "face down.
vith the faces concealed from the on.
lockers, Each bystander felt that Il
was her husband or son who was being
carried out in this way.
hut today the story was different, for
IN the bodies Of the dead men the rela.
tives recognized their own. Praying,
screaming, moaning and iaugning N .
tie crying of the anguished, men and
women and children passed BY the tenn.
porary biers.
Eagerly they scanned the faces Of the
Head that were in many instances
Scared bt the marks Of the soaring fire,
,bnt in some other. instances unmarked
and smiling even, as II the poisonous
gases had come as blessing to ease the
death agonies. At the feet OF each
corpse was a bundle Of belongings. the
mans clothing, bis pipe, a lockei, per.
haps. with the pictures Of bis wife and
through the building they examined each
face carefully. But when they reached
the body of the man they knew they did
not need to look second time. They
knew, and in many cases they fell to
their knees. wailing or praying and
calling out the name Of the dead.
Carload OF Cofins
All yesterday undertakers' wagons
plowed through the mud Of the main
street. At noon railroad men unloaded
a carload Of collins and those symbols Of
a towns woe wer6 piled high on the
concrete floor Of a garage opposite the
70 assuage the grief Of the livins
and to relieve their immediate neces.
stiles as they arose, physicians and
public health nurses. a corps Of Ameri.
can Red Cross workers from Johns.
town, soldiers and lassies Of the Saliva.
ton Army. and emergency workers
townspeople who had not felt the blow
directly turned in and worked.
The greater part Of the main head.
ing and the lateral headings or mas.
sageways on the left side have been
explored, but there is a small section
on the right that still remains for
examination. 1t Is impossible to reach
the extreme ends of those passageway3,
the mine experts assert, and It is highly
Improbable that any living men are
there. But there may be a few more
bodies OF the dead, the mining Amen
say.
How many bodies will be found In
those remote headings no one will say
definitely.
What caused the explosion has not
yet been determined, although mining
and safety engineers from the Federal
Bureau Of Mines and the State Bureau
have turned their attention to that
phase Of the tragedy. One mans guess
ts as good as another's; but those ex.
perts say at this time, and so far the
suesses have surmised, that the explo.
sion was caused BY an open lamp or q
lighted cigarette.
Stories Of heroism by the trapped
miners are the consolation for many Of
the afflicted. Every man deserved the
name of hero, lin tho opinion Of the
rescue workers, but several names stand
OUT.
Jay Fox. a. STRIPPING Of twenty. set
an example for his fellows. While
others were rushing around through the
gas-tillcd passageways shouting and
praying, young Fox looked death in the
face and smiled. He joked and jested,
cheereed up. the others and found q way
to safety along a current Of fresh air.
., lnen. win the open Qlr IN sight,
i%iio iox fell ts,x;haI;s.tcd. but with the same
slender strand when he was taken to
the hospital. There he met his sweet.
heart, Miss Emma Smith, of Barnes.
boro, who had volunteered as a nurse.
Altoona. Pa, Nov. s.-City Council
has adopted resolution Of sympathy
for widows and children Of tho miners
who lost their lives in the Spangler
mine disaster and offered any assist.
ance possible to them.
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