Evening star., 1947-07-25
Lewis Inspecfs Scene
OF illinois Mine Blast
Killing II Workers
BY the Assoeioted Press

WEST FRANKFORT, III. July
25.-John L. Lewis, United Mine
Workers chief, arrived here by
automobile today for an inspec-
ton of the mine in which 27 coal
diggers perished from an ex-
plosion yesterday.
The bodies of 26 of the victims
had been brought to the surface to-
day. One of the five seriously
burned and injured in the blast died
today in a hospital.
!, The mile, in the heart of the
Southern Illinois coal fields, is one
of the States largest.
,Twenty-six of the approximately
200 miners at work in the diggings
500 feet underground were found
dead about mile and half south
of the shaft at the main entrance
to. the Old Ben Coal Co.'S No. s
Mine. Removed by rescue squads,
the bodies were placed in an emer-
gency morgue set up at the Central
Junior High School gymnasium.
Relatives who remained at the mine
throughout the night sought to
identify the victims.
Work was hampered by carbon
monoxide gas and the last three
bodies found were buried beneath
coal and debris.
Many Bodies Burned.
Harold L. Walker, Illinois direc-
tor of mines and minerals, said
many of the bodies were badly
burned, indicating, he said, a fire
had broken out after the explosion
The cause of the blast had not been
determined.
The coal company today posted
the following list of the 27 dead:
Carroll Stevens, Benton, Ill.
Curtis Stagner, Arthur Fritts,
John Yattoni, Tom Boyer, Adolph
Nichlevich, James T. (Sparky) Will
son, Gus Gaubautz, J. M. Childers,
Dominick, Pacentini, George Ray
nond, Bob Wicker, Don Griffith, N.
Walton, Clifford Summers, Pete De
Julius, Don Bidwell and Thomas
Palmer, all of West Frankfort.
Willis Hilliard, Hiram Chitwood,
Lewis Owens. John Sedden, Gus
Grant and Tom McPheron, all of
Johnston City, Ill.
Louis NARROW and Celeste Berra,
both of Herrin, ILL.,, and w. r. (Sam)
Smith. Thompsonville, Ill.
William. w. Lamont, manager of
the United Mine Workers Hospital,
announced that the following min
ers, suffering from burns, fractures
and other injuries, were in the hos
pital:
Charles Smith, SO; Thomas Kirby,
Al; John Banicky, 40, and Frank
Casper, 43.
Conflicting Reports Issued.
During the rescue operations
there had been conflicting reports
of the total number of men trapped.
The rescue teams worked frantical-
ly to reach the men in the belief
they had been trapped by rock slides
and might be alive. However, early
today Mr.. Walker said all 26 men
were dead. Earlier Coroner D. j.
Clayton of Franklin said % had lost
their lives.
One of the miners at first believed
among those trapped but who later
was reported safe was Howard
Lewis, underground superintendent
and a brother of the president OF
the AFL United Mine Workers.
.. OF the estimated 200 day shift
workers in the diggings those who
escaped fed through an auxiliary
air shaft equipped with stairways
for emergencies.
The blast occurred within one day
of four months from the explosion
last March Is at the Centralia Qll0
Coal Co.'S mine which cost the lives
of Ill miners.
Hundreds Rush to Scene.
o. News of the explosion in mid
afternoon spread quickly through
this coal mining city of $4,000 and
hundreds of persons rushed to the
diggings on the southern outskirts.
DR.. R. w. Smith, chief surgeon
at the UNIV hospital, said the in
jured miners told him the explo-