NO HOPE FOR MINERS.

Not One of the 200 Men Entombed is New Alive.

RESCUE PARTIES PERISHED.

Brave Men Urged On by Scenes at Mouth of the Shaft Die in an Attempt to Save Lives of the Unfortunates Below.

PITTSBURG, Jan. 26. -- The mysteries of one of the most dreadful mining catastrophes in the history of Pennsylvania, or of the world, for that matter, are yet unsolved – Harwick mine, at Cheswick, has not given up its secret or its dead.

Nearly Two Hundred Dead.
It can be reliably stated that between 180 and 190 miners were in the pit when the dread fire-damp ignited, blowing the cages clear out of the shafts and burying the inmates. Of these miners but two have come out, one dead and one half dead from injuries and effects of the deadly after damp. Even the rescuing parties have not escaped, and SELWYN M. TAYLOR, the eminent mining engineer of this city, who platted the mine and led the rescuers into the dark depth, is lying dead, while his companions escaped with their lives only with the greatest difficulty. The work of attempted rescue was signalized by instances of the greatest bravery, and the scenes around the pit mouth are tragic in the extreme.

An Inspector's Statement.
A long distance telephone message from Cheswick, received in Pittsburg at 5 a. m., says: F. W. CUNNINGHAM, mining inspector of the fourteenth district, came out of the Harwick mine of the Allegheny Coal company this morning and stated that he had gone about one-fourth of a mile from the mouth of the pit, and did not think there were any living persons in the mine. He went into the left wing between the sixth and seventh headings and saw several dead mules, a number of demolished cars and about sixteen dead men. He said he thought the great majority of the men met death through the after-damp.

Must Remove Obstruction.
Investigation between the sixth and seventh headings was abandoned when Inspector CUNNINGHAM came to a big cave-in that could not be passed. Until this obstruction is removed there will be no means of discovering what may be the conditions in a large part of the mine. Several men were placed at work removing the obstruction and the work of rescue was abandoned until daybreak. The fans are all working in the mine, but at one of the cave-ins it was impossible to pump the air in properly. The water pipes of the mine are all blown in and the mine was left dry, and there will be no danger from a flood.

Scenes Are Heartrending.
Scenes at the shaft, where all the life and hope of many spectators was centered, were pathetic. These heartrending scenes are what inspire brave men to noble deeds. The saddened sights influenced SELWYN M. TAYLOR, the distinguished and wealthy mining engineer of Pittsburg, with three others, to descent to the bottom in a bucket. He was reported to be dead an hour after he made the descent, and in the early hours of this morning his lifeless body was hoisted to the surface, placed upon a stretcher and carried to the village school house, that had been arranged as a hospital, but will doubtless serve as a morgue. It is not now thought that the services of physicians or nurses will be required in connection with this horror.

Rescuer's Narrow Escape.
MR. TAYLOR'S companions narrowly escaped a fate similar to his. SELWYN TAYLOR was one of the best known mining engineers of western Pennsylvania. Of late years his work and investments had brought him rich returns and he was rated a very wealthy man. As soon as he heard of the accident at the Harwick mine he hurried there. He had platted the mine and knew it thoroughly, and hoped that this knowledge would be of great help in the work of rescue, as he believed that not all of the miners had met instant death. In his attempt to save the lives of others he lost his own. MR. TAYLOR was 43 years of age.

Relief Party Exhausted.
Word received in Pittsburg at 9 o'clock this morning states that since 5 o'clock this morning no attempt has been made to enter the Harwick mine. At that hour the last rescuers came out and on account of the scarcity of men with enough experience to permit of their going down into the dangerous mine, the work of rescue is much hampered. No bodies have been recovered since that of SELWYN M. TAYLOR, brought up early this morning. There were this morning only a dozen experienced men who could do relief work, and they were exhausted by daylight.

In Temporary Hospital.
In the temporary hospital which has been made of the school house nearby are two men, ADOLPH GONIA, the only miner of those caught in the explosion who has been rescued. Should he survive he will probably be totally blind from the injuries he received. His face and the upper part of his body is badly burned and it is yet impossible to learn the extent of his injuries.

Describe the Explosion.
GONIA told his rescuers that at the time of the explosion he was between the sixth and seventh headings on the south slope and managed to get to the bottom of the shaft. He did not know the fate of the others in the mine. He may not recover.
GEORGE HORVATH, who was down in the shaft with SELWYN M. TAYLOR when the latter lost his life, is the other occupant of this hospital. He was taken out of the mine at 1 a. m. He is suffering from slight hemorrhages, but it is thought he will recover. The hospital was in charge all night of two heroic women who volunteered their services and kept everything in readiness for expected emergency – MRS. CASSIE MAMALEY, whose brother, A. W. SHANER, is down in the mine, and MRS. MAUDE McGRAW. DRS. W. R. McCULLOUGH, R. MILLS and R. C. JACKSON were also on duty all night at the hospital.

Hunting Her Family.
MRS. MIKE SUMOSKIE, haunted the hospital and the mouth of the shaft all night, just as she had done all day yesterday since the explosion, as she was still doing this morning, looking for her husband and two sons who were buried in the mine and whose fate, like all the rest, is in the most profound mystery. She procured a lantern when night came on and went about with it trying to find her missing ones. During the night, when a couple of the rescuers had thrown themselves down on the cot in the school house, MRS. SUMOSKIE went up to them and, lifting the lantern to their faces, peered into them to see if they were her men. JOE PURCLEY, the lamp-tender at the mine, this morning revised his estimate of the number of lamps he gave out before the explosion, and instead of its being 150, he said this morning that he had given out 180 lamps. Casks of oxygen were ordered from Pittsburg this morning for facilitating the work of purification of the mine.

The body of SELWYN M. TAYLOR has not yet been brought to the city. It was placed in the office of the company near the mouth of the shaft until an undertaker could come from Pittsburg to take charge of the remains. A small cut on the forehead and a few scratches on the face are the only marks on the body, and this was caused when he was overcome by the after-damp and fell on the floor of the mine. Inspector CUNNINGHAM, the last man out of the mine at 5 o'clock this morning, said at 10 o'clock that he had no reason to revise his statement that probably all those in the mine had perished.

Expect the Worst.
That the worst is to be expected in connection with the fate of the entombed men is evinced at the county coroner's office. Coroner JESSE M. McGEARY this morning dispatched three deputy coroners to the scene, and the morgue officials have been instructed to prepare for the reception of many bodies. From an early hour this morning there had been a steady stream of curious people at the Allegheny morgue, bent of viewing the bodies of JOHN WALDMAN and HENRY MAYHUGH, two of the victims of the Cheswick mine disaster, who were brought to the top immediately after the explosion yesterday and succumbed to their injuries during the afternoon.

Try Rescue Again.
At 10 o'clock a volunteer rescue party of eight, accompanied by an inspector, swung down the shaft. An hour later another volunteer eight and another experienced inspector entered the cave of death – while women, children and aged men, together with the anxious throng wait at the pit mouth tramping in the six inches of fresh fallen snow. The creaking of a cable pulley about the shaft is the signal for a rush towards the shaft but although the mine bucket has made many trips not one of the imprisoned miners have come out today. Bodies will soon come, however, rescue volunteers are now coming to the front fast enough. A squad of Pittsburg policemen now suround[sic] the pit mouth and they find a hard task in restraining the almost crazed relatives of the imprisoned miners upon whose countenances is deeply furrowed with agony born of love and suspense.

Last Hope Has Fled.
The last vestage of hope has fled and there will be no hurry now. “Brattice the mine, close up the entries; protect the life that seeks the remains of the dead.” These are the latest orders of the inspectors. The air in the mine is now pure; there shall be no more sacrifices. Word came from Inspector BELL who was in the mine at noon. “The men are dead. They are piled against the north shaft. The explosion occurred near the south shaft. The north shaft is stuffed as solidly as if rammed with a mammoth ramrod, and human bodies form a large part of the wadding. There is no need of haste. The mine must be bratticed. The air must be kept pure. The rescuers must string out for when the barricks to the north shaft is broken through there will be an inrush of after damp.”

Some time will be consumed in introducing the necessary precautions but it will not be long now until the heroic efforts led by intelligent and experienced men will gain its reward. It is possible that other rescuers will soon join those already in the mine. It is now reported that twenty bodies were found between the shaft bottom and the sixth entry; that many others have been located near the bottom of the shaft. A report also has it that none of the bodies will be brought to the surface until after night fall.

The Fort Wayne News Indiana 1904-01-26