Jasper County Democrat, Volume 9, Number 44, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 2 February 1907 — MINERS KILLED BY THE HUNDRED [ARTICLE]

MINERS KILLED BY THE HUNDRED

Most Terrible Colliery Disaster Takes Place in Europe Due to Explosion. Saarbrueck, Prussia, Jan. 29. —A fire damp explosion occurred in tlie Reden coal mine at St. Johann-on-Saar, opposite Saarbrueck, and caused the loss of from 150 to 300 lives. The Reden mine is owned by the Prussian government. Up t.Q this writing seventy-sev-en bodies have been brought to the surface, and fifty-six corpses are known to be still under ground. Only fifty live men up to the present time have been brought out, and of these the doctors say at least thirty-live will die, as they are frightfully Injured through having been hurled against the walls of the gallerie# by the force of the explosion. An official rei>ort says the number of dead cannot exceed 160. Immediately after the explosion rescue workers were hurried from all the adjacent mines and boldly entered the Reden shaft in great numbers. The work of rescue was greatly hampered by the poisonous gases resulting from the explosion, and by a fierce fire that broke out immediately afterwards. During tlie afternoon the efforts at rescue had to lie suspended for these reasons, and tlie rescue workers had to be ordered out of the mine. After all the rescuers had readied daylight, according to one version, a second terrific detonation was heard underground. Rut according to another report many of the rescuers were still below when the second explosion occurred. and It is estimated that the casualty list from tlie two explosions reaches a total of 300 men. It Is regarded as certain that the lowest levels of the mines are completely wrecked, and the inspectors are deliberating upon further measures to get control of the fire. The managers are discussing the advisability of flooding these levels as the only means of extinguishing the flames. It is believed that ail the men who were In the lower levels assuredly are dead. It will take a full week to enter and explore the mine. •