THE TOLL OF THE MINE.

Manawatu Times, Volume LXIV, Issue 284, 9 December 1907, Page 5

THE TOLL OF THE MINE.

DEADLY FIRE-DAMP,

OVER 400 MINERS KILLED.

Press Association—Copyright. Received Dec. 8, 4.42 p.m.

New York, Dec. 7.

A mining disaster occurred yesterday at Monongabela, near Fairmo ant, Western Virginia. The scene of the catastrophe was the Baltimore Consolidated Coal Coy's mine, where, through an explosion, two pits mutually connected, and situated on opposite sides of the west forth of the Monongahela River got on fire. Some hundreds of men were at work in the mine, and a number of them were hurled through the ventilating shafts. The actual loss of life is not yet known, but it is feared that 425 have perished. The fumes of carbon monoxide were bo dense that members of search parties who entered the mine were unable to penetrate the workings. Some of the bodies discovered by the explorers were so mutilated as to be quite unrecognisable. All the passages of the mine have been blocked by the fall of debris displaced by the exploding fire-damp, and it will be a miracle if any of the entombed men are saved.

The force of the explosion was so great that it shook all the houses within a radius of eight miles.