The Washington times., 1929-03-21

eof, negro, New Kensington, who
with five others were on the
ripple when the explosion occurred.
The seven weer thrown OF the
Ripple to the ground.
Grimy men their clothing in tat
kers. fought their way through the
valley Camp entries.
Fire so Feet High
The flaming tipple shot tongues
of fire so feet into the air, as fire
nhnen battled to extinguish it.
SCI The survivors poured into emer-
Gency first.aid camps In q steady
stream. most Of them suffering
from the shock of their expert
knces.
The fact that the Kinlock mine
and the Valley Camp mine meet
underground and have a passage
way connecting them probbaly save
the lives of the survivors, for the
flame apparently was between two
of the three groups and the Kin
toch plymouth.
Graphic Tales Told.
The survivors told graphic stories
Df the blast as they rested at the
emergency hospital cots.
Stanley Palowski, one of a group
of fifteen men who made a success
full two.hour fight for safety, said:
Went went down the mouth OF
] the mine a mile or 50, me and my
buddy. We heard a roar. MY
God! Explosion" my buddie hol-
Tered. There wasn't any gas or
fumes, 80 we turned back. We
Tnada mr. way to the Valley
! Camp entry and out.
William Birbin, attendant OF q
filling station a mile from the mlne'
was first to spread the alarm.
az was. shaving when the ex-
uIosion came with such force IT
rocked the filling station. 1t jerked
my hand with such force cut my
face. / ran to spread the alarm,
The mine, a few miles from Par
: nasstis. is on q bleak hillside over.
: booking. the Allegheny River. .
1t has a drift entrance, but IN
! the last few years it has been
worked through a shaft. Men trap.
ned in the workings would have
J aRresg through the sloping drift
opening, but it might be days be-
Z fore they could make their way to
the entrance.
Mine rubble would bar their way
and they would have to get through
2 . maze Of tortuous, winding tun.
. nels. -t.s
Has Excellent Record.
They might reach the surface,
Through other workings also. The
EEinloch mine has had an opening
into the workings Of the II. w.
Boyd mine since February 81, 1928,
when an explosion broke down coal
barriers between rooms OF the two
mines.
The mine was rock-dusted and had
passed the inspection of the Bureau
. iof Mines with an excellent record.
The explosion today occurred one
hour after the day shift OF approx
! mately 800 miners had gone into the
{ Earth.
Four miners in the Boyd mine
rushed to the surface when the ex-
plosion shook the pit in which they
were working.
several miles from the main head
Eng they were unable to bring word
hs to the fate of the entombed men.
One explanation Of the disaster
which reached officials-was that the
belt of a coal conveyer at the mines
hnouth had snapped, hurting the con-
Weyer down the shaft where friction
!, threw a spark in the coal dust. caus-
! ing the explosion and fire.
Smoke Blocks Rescue
Overwhelming clouds of black
smoke and swervins flames handi.
tapped the mine rescuers and the res
cue squad from the Governments
Bureau Of Mines.
a. The tipple was virtually wrecked
nv the ear-splitting blast that
! awakened residents of nearby towns,
! and what was left standing was be-
hng fast consumed by flames.
The Kinlock mine holds the 100
per cent efficiency diploma Of the
United States Bureau of Mines for