The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1926-01-14
Mine YIELDS UP
TWO MORE men
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covered with debris in remote pas
sages cannot be reached for week.
it was said.
No Hope
Ii is Impossible for any more
miners to be alive, officials said.
Sixty State troopers are on duty
around the mine.
Dawn found Wilburton able to
count only six OF her dead. Fire
and water threatened to rob the rest
of even a human burial.
A recheck established that 101 men
had entered the mine just before the
blast, twenty-five white men and
seventy-six Negroes. Eight Negroes
emerged late Wednesday alive.
Six bodies were recovered late
wednesday night-three whites and
three negroes. Rescue workers al
ready have counted sixty-seven bod
les.
"SOme one took a chance and
paid with his life," this was the
verdict of John Almond, Henry
eta, district mine inspector, after
ne had spent nearly eighteen hours
In the mine.
Almond was in charge of rescue
work during the night.
He reported that the mine had
been checked up by the fire boss
es." The fire bosses" go into the
mine every morning three hours be-
fore the miners and s<est for gas. If
they find any appreciate evidence
of it, they are supposed to close the
mine while they take immediate
steps to eradicate it.
Almond reported that the fire
bosses" had okehed the mine
Wednesday morning, but had left
warning notices for the miners.
The fire bosses" were both expe-
rienced and Almond believed they
just took a chance on the ventilating
system sweeping the gas out of the
mine.
Both Dead
Both "fire bos.,es were found
dead.
State officials, headed by Ed Boyle.
state mining inspector, will
thoroughly probe the accident today.
The United Press correspondent
descended with grimfaced rescuers
to the sixteenth level. Dead,
scorched men, some black, some
white, were strewn in the narrow,
sinking slope. The body hunters at
times were forced to crawl on their
stomachs, wriggling and hoping for
signs Of life.
The body of A. B. Thomas. 81
white, engineer, lay crumpled
burned beyond recognition. his
watch stopped at $3.50 a. m. Thirty.
one other bodies, scorched and
grimy, lay scorched on the same
| level.
At the surface, women In hysteri
cal grief, shrieked and moaned tn
their fear, waved their arms wildly
and called on God to bring back the
lost.
Survivors, Story
Roy Gray, one Of the eight Negroes
to escape alive, told his story Of the
disaster today.
IL had just gotten down to the
thirteenth level west and pulled OF
my coat to go to work." he said. Il
didn't notice anything unusual;
was tn one of the rooms.
Suddenly the ground seemed TO
rise up and hit me. don't remem-
Der hearing the explosion. knew
vaguely what had happened and
started to get out like anything.
Just then, a little after damp
came into West 10, forget what l
did, but remember crawling toward
the shaft and yelling. 1t must have
taken me forty-five minutes TO get
there. for 1 was unconscious part of
the time.
They told me later 1t was my
yelling that let them know the
eight of us were alive. 1t was all
sort of blur to me. I didn't know
what all had happened until I got
out and they told me there had
been an explosion on the level 16,
which is the bottom level"