Democratic Sentinel, Volume 8, Number 1, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 1 February 1884 — BURIED IN A COAL-MINE. [ARTICLE]

BURIED IN A COAL-MINE.

Fifty-tax Miners Entombed in a Colorado Coal-Pit A Frightful Explosion, Presumably Caased by Fire-Damp. [Telegraphic Dispatch from Gunnison, CoL] A terrible explosion, by which over sixty persons were almost certainly killed, occurred in the anthracite ooal mine at Crested Butte, a small mining village about thirty miles from here. The explosion blockaded the entrance of the mine, entirely wrecked the engine-house, which stood 100 feet from the mouth of the mine, and buried alive fifty-seven miners, besides killing six more. The news was telegraphed this city at once, and two special trains, with hundreds of strong men and all the doctors, started for the scene of the disaster. The cause of the explosion oannot be definitely learned, but so far as can be discovered was caused by the ignition of firedamp, which had giveD great trouble in times past, and against which the Colorado Coal and Iron company, that worked the mine, had striven ■ unceasingly. The explosion occurred either in chamber 1 or 2 just half an hour after the day foroe of sixty-seven men had gone to work. Ten men were working in the first chamber. Three of these escaped unhurt. John August who was in a passageway just outside the chamber, was badly burned, but will recover. The other six and the fiftyseven men who were at work in chambers 2 and 3 are thought to have perished. The explosion was of such force as to completely barricade the main entrance. The appliances for supplying air, located near, were badly wrecked and the roof of the tramway blown Off.

The men working on the anthracite mesa, the night force of the Colorado Coal and Iron company's mines, and citizens generally, worked hard all day to rescue the men, although It is thought none can possibly escape alive. The town hall has been prepared for the reception of the dead. As soon as possible the fan was repaired and put to work pumping air into the mine. The men then set to work removing the obstructions, so as to reach the chambers and get the bodies out as soon as possible. At this hour everything is in such confusion that It Is impossible to give details. Crowds of women cluster about the'entrance to the mine, praying, wringing their hands and crying piteously, presenting a scene the most heartrending. It Is said that at the tlmfe of the explosion ten kegs of black powder were In the chambers and two where the men were working, and where the explosion is supposed to have taken place. The mine has long been considered dangerous by those acquainted with it. While one of the best producing mines in the country its operation has been attended with more or less apprehension and real danger. “ It’s a fire-damp mine,” said Superintendent Cameron, “and seems constantly to generate the most deadly gases in the coal or under it. These gases pour out of seams in the walls of the tunnels and shafts. Fresh air Is forced In along the shaft by machinery at the rate of no less than 56,000 cubic feet every minute. This is quite sufficient to fully supply the wants of the miners and keep the air perfectly pure unless something happens to cut off or Interfere with the supply. We have always sent a mine-viewer through every chamber' each morning before any of the men were allowed to go. in. He must have returned this morning before the workmen started in, and everything must have been all right when he passed through the workings.” John McNeil, the State Mine Inspector, says he has no doubt that every man in the mine at the time of the explosion was instantly killed. [Crested Butte is a small mining town twenty-eight miles north of Gunnison, on the Denver and Rio Grande railroad. It is headquarters for Colorado anthracite coal interests, being on the extreme southeastern or eastern edge of the only anthracite deposits in Colorado. The Colorado Coal and Iron company, who own the mine where the disaster occurred, are the principal operators of the coal mines in this region. This company is closely allied to the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad company.]