Evening star., 1923-08-15
Frantic, DesoIate Little Vii.
age Prepares to Bur,
Those Killed in Blast That
Robbed Every Home.
CAUSE OF BIG EXPLOSION
REMAINS DEEP MYSTERY
Fear of Fire Unfounded; 81 Es
cape With Lives From Gas-Fll
ed Tomb-Relatives Grove
Temporary Morgues in Vair
Effort to Identify Victims.
BY the Associated Press.


kEMMERER, Wyo., August 10
The local /. o. o. F. Hall and a down.
town undertaking establishment to-
day had been turned into the tempo
rary resting places of eighty-sever
miners who met death yesterday
morning as result of an explosion
in the lower levels of mine No. l OF
the Kemmerer Coal Company. Elever
men. known to be in the mine, are
given up for dead.
All through the night. undertakers
were busy preparing the bodies OF
victims for burial and anxious rela.
tives and friends gathered about in
the hope of identifying their love6
ones.
The mine is a mile northwest of the
main section of Kemmerer.
There was no fire in the lower
levels of the mine as was first re-
ported. The explosion occurred about
one mile under ground.
Up to early this morning there had
been no official announcement as tc
the cause of the explosion. The re-
moval of bodies from the mine began
soon after dusk last night and pre-
Sented a Sorrowful spectacle.
Relatives Pour In.
From all sections of Wyoming there
were people here today who either
had relatives or friends working in
the Inflated mine Rescue car No. z
of the United States bureau of mines
reached here yesterday afternoon and
Immediately took charge of the work
of reaching the entombed men.
In the grip of sorrow and desola.
ton. Kemmerer and the little coal camE
suburb. Frontier. one mile away. al
ready have set about the task of pre-.
pairing her dead for burial.
Throughout the hours of darkness
as arc lights shed a pallid illumina.
ton over weeping, grief-stricken
throng at the portal of the mine
rescue workers brought forth the
blast-charred bodies of the victims
who suffocated as they sought safety
from poisonous gases.
"a Emerge Alive.
Thirty-four of the 134 or 13S miners
who were entombed by the blast have
emerged from the mine alive. OF
these, one lies at hospital here in
serious condition as a result of the
inhalation of smoke and gas fumes
1t is believed he will recover
Disastrous as was the loss of life,
the interior of the mine was only
slightly wrecked by the explosion.
and rescue workers. who plunged
into the smoke filed passageways
early yesterday were hampereu but
little by debris. At entry fifteen IL
was necessary to clear away a cave
! in which had buried six mine cars,
and beyond, at entry seventeen, the
workers were forced to relay
stretches of track torn up by the
conclusion.
ened cars found by rescuers at first led
to the belief that fire was raging in
the workings after the explosion, but
! investigation later is said TO have re-
ton.
Relatives Frantic.
AS news of the explosion spread
quickly throughout Kemmerer and
Frontier yesterday, crowd, estimated
to number 1000 persons. gathered at
| the portal of the mine and maintained
| a frantic, fearful vigil throughout the
day and far into the night. wives.
mothers, sisters. daughters. sweet
men pressed against the rope barrier
strung around the shaft, and at times
overwhelmed the small force of Kem-
merer police and volunteers as rescue
crews emerged from the underground
| tomb.
band. father, brother or friend, as the
hours passed and only a few survivors
| struggled from the mouth of the pit.
Children's walls mingled with the
Il art h,~a fnr 1f fni ft.l &ol,
ers when ii became apparent early last
night that no more men remained alive
| in the mine, and rescue workers ceased
| their search for the living and turned
| to the task of bringing forth the dead.
| The eyes of men were wet with tears
as they waited, hoping for the appear
ance of comrades with whom they had
worked shoulder to shourder, but who
never came.
On the streets of the town grim
visaged men and drawn, sad faced
women went about the sorrowful task
of preparing for the last homecom-
ing of &hose they loved.
Many Unidentified.
At the temporary morgue down
| town in Kemmerer, throngs of weep
| ing relatives of men who had lost
their lives in the blast passed slowly
along before the long rows of forms
many still unidentified, or stood in
small groups, assuaging the sorrow
| of those who had been bereft.
The first intimation of the disaster
yesterday was a long tongue of
| smoke which shot from the fans used
! to ventilate the mine. The electric
alarm system had been destroyed by
the explosion, the pumps had been
! wrecked and tracks on which the
"trip" cars operated had been torn
| up.
Relief crews were organized i'm
mediately, and under direction OF
P. ]. Quealy. vice president and gem
! eral manager of the Kemmerer Coal
| Company, and T. C. Russell. super
| intendent of the Diamond Coal and
Coke Company, an experienced mine
| rescue expert, the work of eXplor-
| ing the mine began. Russell entered
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