DEATH IN A MINE.

Auckland Star, Volume XIX, Issue 100, 28 April 1888, Page 5

DEATH IN A MINE.

FIFTY MEN KILLED BY AN

EXPLOSION

FEARFUL SUFFERING IN A MISSOURI" PIT.

NEARLY A HUNDRED WORKMEN ' SUPPOSED TO BE ENTOMBED. The Kansas city " Journal's " special from Rich Hill, on March 29th, say.".: One of the most horrible disasters that have over oc. cun-ed in the West happened at noon today in Keith and Purry'sNo. 6 mine, and as a result a large number of men are entombed and thousands of dollars' worth of property destroyed. Jusfc at the dinner hour, when men were ascending eight; at a time on the cage, a terrible gas explosion occurred, filling every entry with flames, which ahot out or the shaft. It cannot be ascertained to-night just how many :nen are yet in the mine, but at 11 o'clock one man had been taken out dead. The work of removing the debris and cleaning out the shaft ha,s been going on all the afternoon, but it will bo several hours before much can be done toward entering the mine proper. A" Journal" reporter called atthoresidence of the superintendent at 11 o'clock and found him propped up in a chair .with his face and hai>d3 bandaged, and he was scarcely able to talk, but he made the following statement: "At just seven minutes after "noon I was telephoned that an explosion had oocurred at No 6. I went out as soon as possible and found the south cage, on which the men always ascend, stuck in the shaft. I wenD down.on a tub lowered with ropes, and found all badly burned and in a frenzy. In fact, they were crazy, some shouting and others singing. " We finally- managed to be hoisted by means of ropes and pulleys in a fainting condition, and it was then ascertained that the north cage could be worked. I then called for volunteers to go down, with me to see if any poor follows at the bottom could be got out. Robert Brick, George 1 Henry, Charles Sinallwood, and Mat Dulehand responded. When v/e reached the bottom I looked through into the entry and saw a light. I asked who was there, and a voice responded ' Gray, 1 and I told him to put out his light, I then asked him to crawl to ma, put he was exhausted. He couldn't do so, and I reached through the small aperture and dragged him in the cage. Just as this was done the wind rushed with the, velocity of a cyclone up the entry, putting put all our lights but one. This, was. followed by two loud reports and a seething flame of fire, which came with a deafening roar, completely enveloping us, and went shooting out the mouth of the shaft 240 feet above our heads. We were all horribly burned, and thought pur time had come. The flames ceased as suddenly as they had come, and we had to abandon the attempt to save the others. I yelled to the men on top to hoist away, and after what seemed hours we were started up and taken out in safety, though badly burned and greatly exhausted. " Probably all who were in the mine at the time of the first explosion are dead. About eighty-five minors are employed in this mine. ' They are mostly negroes, who came from Springfield, 111., when the mine was opened, less than a year ago."

| Later despatches state that; over one hundred miners were buried. Ebrty bodiesJ had already been taken out.