The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1931-01-30

the disaster which will include an
inquest by the Sullivan county
coroner.
The cause of the explosion doubt
less never will be determined
Those who might have been able
to reveal it are dead Theory most
often expressed is that gas liber-
ated when some abandoned work
ingS were opened became ignited.
AS miners here discuss the ex-
ploSion, many are bitter in their
declaration that wood brattices
were permitted to remain in the
mine. They assert that had brick
or concrete been used, the force of
the explosion would have been
checked within small area.
If their contention is we'll found
ed, an official of the operating
company, Peter DOME, vice-presi-
dent and superintendent, has, like
the workers, paid with his share of
sorrow. His brother, Martin DOME.
is among the dead.
Survivors Not to Quit
OF the thirty eight men in the
mine at the time of the blast, the
nine who were brought out alivs
are not expected to suffer any i'll
effects, from burns and minor cuts
and bruises. Don Burris is in the
Freeman hospital here and Joe Wal
lace is a patient at the Mary Sher-
man hospital in Sullivan.
The other seven men were Lotus
Hale, Ben Snyder, William Bed
well, Jesse Grouse, Herman Brown.
Charles Love and Jewie Wellington.
Hale'S hands were burned severely
and the same injuries were suffered
by Brown and Wellington.
Burris, i'll from the effects OF gas.
will remain in the hospital a short
time to guard against contracting
pneumonia. He and Earl BedWell.
who died in the local hospital, were
first men removed alive from the
shaft.
None of the nine is disposed to
quit miners life as a result of
their experience. When asked about
their plans for the future, they
reply almost resentfully, what's q.
man to do? He must work for liv-
ing"
Town Is Grief Stricken
The hundreds of visitors 10 Lin
ton Thursday were greatly i'm
pressed with the able manner in
which a trying situation was
handled. Everywhere there was
order and quiet Nor was courtesy
forgotten.
That's coal mining-eyery 100000
tons wrested from the earth takes
so many human lives and the min
erS and their families are resigned
to the situation.
But grief is none the less poignant
because Of those cold statistics. In
Linton Thursday you heard no one
whiStling or humming snatch of a
song.
In the yards of schools, children
we're standing about silent. There
was no play. Children of men who
work in mines learn early of the
danger in the bosom of mother
earth.
Otto Hale's death left several chill
dren fatherless. Less than six
months ago, the family home and
all its contents burned. The family,
helped by the community, was just
getting back to comparative com
fort when the disaster plunged them
deeper in despair than ever.
Many Widows Left
Among the others who left widows
and children are Earl BedWell, six
children; Lotus and James Mitch
ell, brothers, three each; John and
Julian Letot, brothers, two each:
Henry Metz, four; John McPhail
and Don Newkirk, three each HON.
er Robertson, Dean Phipps, Hubert
Butler. William Brown and Clar-
ence Cooper, two each.
Bobby, 5, son Of Ionic Hale, who
came out of the mine unscratched,
was not much impressed by the de-
sire of The Times photographer to
take his picture. He scampered out
of the house to play, then went to
a neighbor's home. He wouldn't
heed his mothers calls.
He refused to return with boy
sent to bring him home. His father
finally persuaded him to face the
camera.
But Bobby's sister, Rosemary, a
pert little miss of 9, is different.
Summoned from school near by,
she ran all the way home to get
her picture in the paper.
Hale was one of a group Of seven
who were in the mine for sixteen
hours after the explosion.