The Washington Penna, Daily Reporter
Saturday, October 14, 1905
CLYDE MINE IS
STILL ABLAZE
Fate of the Six Entombed Men
Is Not Known—Smoke and
Bad Air
RESCUE WORK CONTINUES
Special to the Reporter.
Brownsville, Pa., Oct. 14.—The fire in the Clyde mine at Fredericktown
is still burning furiously. Whether any of the six entombed men survive is
not known. Rescue parties worked in short shifts throughout the night. The
smoke is dense and the air bad. The entombed men are 1,500 feet back in
the mine. All efforts are making to brattice off the burning portion
and cut a way around to reach the men.
Fredericktown, Oct. 14,--The coal mine at this place operated by
the Clyde Coal company, is on fire and back in the mine fully half a mile
six men are imprisoned by the flames that are raging between them and
liberty. Rescue parties are exhausting every effort to reach the entombed men,
but only a slight hope is held out to the friends of the imprisoned
men that they will be found living should the rescuers succeed in reaching
them. It is the general opinion that the six men are already dead.
The entombed men are:
George Kelly, driver, married.
Homer Harvey, driver, married.
Richard March, miner, married.
Richard Moffy, miner, married.
Ponal Lorenzo, miner, married.
Cesto Benardini, miner, single.
The fire started Friday afternoon at 1:30 and although the origin is
not definitely known, it is believed to have started from a short circuited
electric wire setting fire to a brattice cloth which is placed in the
entries throughout the mine to change the air currents. The fire was soon
discovered and a general alarm was at once given. At the time there were
between 150 and 200 men in the mine but with the exception of the six
entombed miners all were brought to the surface without serious injury.
Six Men Missing.
When the men were mustered at the mouth of the mine it was then discovered
that six were missing and the pit boss bethought himself of six men who were
at work to a room in the furthermost part of the mine, fully a half mile
from the shaft. It was too late to give them warning but hardy miners
willingly exposed themselves in attempting to save their comrades.
Several of them attempted to get back through the entry, but were driven
back by the deadly gases, which had already generated and as a portion of
the entry where the fire had originated was a seething furnace. By lying
flat keeping his head close to the bottom of the entry one of the rescuers
gave George Kelly the warning as he was bringing a car toward the pit
entrance. When given the warning he stated he would bring his horse with
him but by the time he had unhitched the animal the only means of escape
was cut off and it is feared Kelly also met the horrible fate of his companions
because of his affection for a faithful brute with which he had worked for
weeks.
Two Men Injured.
As soon as it was learned that the six men were entombed steps were
taken toward supplying them with pure air, if possible, until a rescue party
would be enabled to reach them. The large fan above ground, used in force air
into the mine, was reversed and used to draw the smoke out of the mine,
as deadly gases were generating and a portion of the mine was rapidly
becoming a veritable hell. Two men were operating the fan and looking
after the machinery at the powerhouse and in attempting to enter the fan
house were badly burned by an explosion.
They were:
Robert Virgin, Millsboro, digger, badly burned about the face and abdomen,
will die.
L.D. Wood, Millsboro, married, burned about the face and back, will recover.
About 4 o’clock in the afternoon something went wrong with the fan and
the two men opened the door to the fan room to adjust it, one of them carrying
a torch. The room was filled with the smoke and sulphurous gases, which
were being drawn out of the mine, and no sooner had the man with the torch
entered than a terrific explosion occurred, caused by the gases being
ignited. The two were hurled across the room by the explosion and soon
the whole interior was a mass of flames and before the miners could
escape they sustained severe burns. Others came to their rescue and soon
the fire was extinguished, but the fan was wrecked.
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