Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 40, Number 29, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 17 December 1907 — FIVE HUNDRED ARE ENTOMBED IN MINES [ARTICLE]

FIVE HUNDRED ARE ENTOMBED IN MINES

Harrowing Catastrophe Reported in Shafts of the West Virginia Coal Company. HEAVY LOSS OE LIFE FEARED, Earth Bent by Tremendous Shock and Explosion Is Heard Eight Miles Away. Five hundred meh, were entombed as the result of terrific explosions in mines Nos. G and 8 of the Consolidated Coal Compaiiy at Monongah, W- Va. The "mine management did / hOt khdtV'the cause of the blast, -but experienced, miners declare it must have been dust. - Mine .No. 6 is on- the east side of the Monongabela litter and No. 8 is on the west side. The blast was heard for a distance of eight miles. The first explosion occurred in mine No. 6. It was followed by the blowing up of the boilerhouse in No. 8. The entry to No. 8 is caved in and filled. The two mines were connected with each other. Immediately after receipt of the news physicians and special cars were sent to the scene from Fairmont, but the mine was too full of gas and smoke for rescuers to go in. The earth seemed to be rent at the moment of the shock, and an idea of the force of the explosion lhny be gained from the.fact that props from the mine were not only blown out of the entry, but were hurled across the west fork of the Monongabela River. Many Miners Are American. The town of Monongah lias a population of about 6,000. Although the miners are largely of foreign birth, there are many American workmen. Probably the largest steel, tipple in the State is at Monongah. The mines are both shaft and slope mines, being worked with the rope and haulage system. They lie on both sides of the West Fork River and are connected by a steel pier bridge owned and operated by the coal company. . Until about ten years ago only American miners were employed. At that time the miners of Pennsylvania, Indiana, Illinois and Ohio were on strike. The coal company is one of the largest in the country and is capitalized at $20,000,000. It has upwards of 100 producjmg properties. Clarence. W. Watson is. the president, with headquarters at Baltimore. Lee Malone is the superintendent of the properties and is said to be one of the most careful men in the mining industry. No. 8 mine was opened only two years ago and was considered the most modem mine J T& "S&fitf&l West Virginia. It was equipped entirely with electricity and considered absolutely safe. Electric motors were used exclusively, and the shaft throughout was lighted by electricity. Mining machines Were used.