Year: 1869

the fire, the clouds of gas that came up the |
shaft being meanwhile SO awful that wOrkme |
at the mouth were removed insenslble. Be- |
tween and o'clock on Wednesday morning
two bodies were found, both fearfully disfgur
ed and unrecognizable About 6. 80 party of
four succeeded in penetrating some distance
into one of the principal galleries, and came
upon the bodies of over sixty more where they
had met their fate together. They had con-
structed two barriers of cars and refuse coal,
and stripped off their clothes to stuff the crew.
ces. One poor fellow, whose duty it seems to
have been to close to the last aperture after all


had passed beyond it, had fallen dead on tae
outside, his work not yet completed. Fathers
and sons were found in each others arms
Some lay with their hands olenched as if i'll
agony, some with their faces buried in the
ground, some in the attitude of prayer


The eastern gangway was penetrated l POO
feet from the bottom of the shaft, and the ex-
plOrers came to barricade that had been Sc
curely placed across the gangway. Tearing
| this down, a horrible sight was encountered
The lamp shone upon a heap of dead. A pile


OF human beings chOked the passage, as though


they had fallen together in the last agony,


Even Hughes, the inside Superintendent, lay
| but little apart from the mass He had been


resting on his hands, aud there was look of


placid content upon his rigid features. This


was true, too, OF nearly all in the great heap.
Some few had abraSions of the skin, as though


they had been Injured in falling down. and


some had an expression of Mortified supplica-


ton, as though their last of earth had been an


agonized protest against their fate. These


were exceptions. The vast majority looked like


men who were rather sleeping than dead, or


like men who accepted the inevitable with dig


nihed resignation but none had died until


they had exhausted all means of saving life


As had been promised, it was found that al


the first alarm of danger these brave men had


not been appalled,, but, taught by instinct anC


experience, and knowing the horrible fact tina
there was no means of egress from the mine


except by the shaft, then chOaked with fire
they had fled to the furthest parts of the mine


When this mass of dead had been CAREFUL,


examined it was found to contain sixty thre,
!. persons, and without exploring the mine t.


discover the spots where the others met thei
i fate, the work Of removing them to the surface
: was begun. The actual raising of each corp
It from the bottom of the shaft to the tunne
!, consumed eight minutes, and the horse in win
n ding the rope upon the drum travelled some
# thing over a mile. Only one body could
J. brought up at once.


!, The scenes outside the shaft were scarcel
:, what were anticipated. The crowd was great
o As each corpse was brought out upon a stretcE
h err and covered with coarse canvas cloth,
IT was placed under tree, and the cloth remoV
n ed. Mr.. Philips, the outside Superintendent
st Of the mine, then stepped to identify the deaC
le The COrOner's jury viewed the body, and
le was carried to the temporary dead-house. III
ID name and residence of the deceased was the
,h announced to the surrounding crowd by ia
s, George Very rarely did violent outbreak
n, feeling follow. The friends of the dead can
"a forward, claimed the body and it was removes
a. In some cases wall of womans anguish W
&, heard in others a low cry of woe ripple
a through the crowd, but generally the dead we
lg received without audible sorrow and hurri,
m away with decent ceremony. In every case
We coffin was on hand, provided by the Deawar
n Lackawanna and Western Company, and it W
rk decent, being polished wood and mounted
ut imitation silver