Rensselaer Republican, Volume 16, Number 28, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 20 March 1884 — DEATH IN THE MINE. [ARTICLE]

DEATH IN THE MINE.

One Hundred and Fifty Men Meet a Horrible Death-in a Virginia Coal Mine. • • •”', •• - : . i _ ; * ■ _ An Explosion of Fire-Damp or Gas the Cause of the Terrible Calamity. Terrific Force of the Explosion- -Heartrending Scenes of Sorrow Abont the Mine. Located in Tazewell County, at the terminus of the new river division of the Norfolk and Western Railroad, is the village of Pocohontaa, • comparatively new settlement. Here are located the mines of the Southwest Virginia Improvement Company, a joint stock corporation composed of Northern capitalists. These mines were opened about a year ago, and from them immense quantities of coal are shipped to Northern markets. The mines gave employment to some five or six hundred men, mostly foreigners. On the night of the 18th of March a relief of iso men went, to the mines to take their turn at work. Abont midnight the people Of the locality for miles around were startled by a terrific explosion and a great trembling of the earth. The terrible sound wns sufficient to inform every one that a frightful calamity had befallen the midnight laborers. In an instant the streets were filled with a crowd of screaming women, children, and men, all rushing for the mouth of the principal mine in the southern suburbs. Here a dense volume of smoke was found pouring from the shaft, and scattered around within a radius of a quarter of a mile were broken timbers, shattered cars, pulleys, and machinery. On all sides were to be seen fragments of human bodies, some of which were lodged in tree-topis, and others on roofs of houses.and sheds. For more than an hour wild shrieking and tho louder manifestations of grief from desperate men filled the air. No one seemed to have any idea as to what should be done, and all rushed hither and thither, seeking frantically for some evidence of the fate of relatives below. At intervals a more than ordinary shriek of anguish would tell that some searcher had found a token which realized his or her worst fears. The scene was terrible in the extreme. Miners' houses, buildings, and trees several hundred yards away were completely torn to pieces, showing conclusively that the force of the explosion must have been remarkable. It was not until two hours bad passed in fruitless lamentations that any effort was made by the panic-stricken crowd to ascertain the condition of affairs. Then a ghastly faced man, whose night-clothing was not altogether concealed by an immense blanket which he had thrown around bis shoulders, sprang on a stump and cried out: “For God’s sake, men, let's stop this. We all have friends and relations down below, and maybe we can help them. Let’s see about it, and let the women folks do the crying.” Every one of the officials of the camp was below ground, and there appeared to be no one competent to lead except the man referred to, who at once called for volunteers. There was a hurried movement to the month of the mine, and led by the man in the blanket, and amid the shrieking of frantic women, some of whom pleaded with the men to remain out of danger, the little band disappeared in the gloom and smoke around the mouth of the mine. They soon reappeared, however, and It was announced that all attempts to get into, the mine were fruitless. A dense volume of flame soon commenced to shoot upward, and illuminated the scene for half a mile, rendering the ghastly spectacle, which had hitherto been viewed only by torchlight, ten times more impressive. The crowd had gathered, helpless. In little groups, either discussing the situation or lamenting the death of some loved one. It was agreed that the explosion had taken place at Flat Top mine and had been caused by fire-damp. The situation remained unchanged nntil daybreak, when the horrors of the scene became glaringly apparent. The men who still retained their composure began to gather the fragments of humanity scattered about. These were evidently the limbs of those miners who had been working near the bottom of the shaft at the time of the accident, and bad been blown upward. Not one of these unfortunates, numbering about fifty, survived, as their shattered limbs lying around broadcast testified. A party of miners from Coalfield mines under Col. George Dodds arrived during-the afternoon and took charge of the camp. The residents were compelled to retire from the vicinity of the mine, and the new-comers then gathered all the fragments of humanity and placed them in adjoining houses. The collection was a ghastly one, and the l.soo population remaining above ground seemed to have lost all reason. Not one in the crowd but had lost a relation, and all seemed to have little hope of ever seeing any of them alive. Young girls, half-naked, dashed around aimlessly, many of them covered with blood-stains received in their ghastly search. Men sat on logs or lay prostrate on the ground, staring stolidly around, their pole features testifying to the terrible mental strain. Abont every half hour a body of men would proceed tothe mouth of the mine and make a determined effort to force an entrance. Again and again the great pail of smoke and the bursting flames from below would force them back, and some of them would be borne half fainting into the fresh air. At 7 o’clock it was thought an entrance could be had, as the smoke showed signs of decreasing. Aparty of men attempted to get in, and had gone below gronnd, when a volume of flame shot up, and they were hurriedly assisted to the surface. One of their number, an Italian named Carlo Franchi, was misHtng, and had evidently dropped from the cage. All of the party , were badly burned, and this showed how frultless were any hopes of resene. The shaft at Bp. m. was a roaring funnel of flame. All the outbuildings in the vicinity Ignited, and the fan house, which bad been looked to as the salvation of any of the men who might be alive below, caught also. A shriek of despair went up again at this catastrophe, which was regarded as fatal to all hopes of rescue. The men fought manfully to save the building from destruction, but without avail, and It was soon a mass of cinders. It became evident at this hour that the whole mine was ablaze, and it is doubtful whether It can be extinguished for weeks, if at all. This settled the fate of the ISO unfortunates below the ground.