Cheswick, PA Harwick Mine Explosion, Jan 1904 - Ghastly Work in Shaft

GHASTLY WORK IN MINE SHAFT

Bodies of the Two Hundred Victims of the Explosion Being Brought Out.

SCENE BEYOND DESCRIPTION.

Improvised Morgue Has Been Filled and Work of Rescue Has Been Postponed.

EXPERIENCED MEN ARRIVE

New Force of Willing Miners to Relieve the Exhausted Rescuing Party.

CHESWICK, Pa. Jan. 29. -- Work in Harwick mine was slow last night so far as the recovery of bodies of victims of the terrible explosion was concerned, yet much was accomplished in the clearing of caves and debris, making possible more rapid progress in concluding the gruesome task today. At 9:30 o'clock this morning the hoisting cage again became wedged in the shaft by reason of the accumulation of ice, a condition similar to that of yesterday morning. The removal of this obstruction is slow and dangerous, but the hoisting cage will soon be in operation. Eighty-five bodies have been brought to the surface. Fifty-three have been prepared for burial and the bodies placed in caskets. Twenty-seven lie in a blackened heap in the little school house awaiting the attention of the undertakers who at a late hour last night were thoroughly exhausted and stopped work until morning. Five bodies are at the bottom of the shaft and they will be brought out as soon as the cage can again be started.

Volunteers Are Arriving.
Before noon today 125 volunteers, middle aged and experienced miners, all of whom have passed through similar scenes, will reach here from Monongahela City and will immediately assist in the work of rescue in the mine. They are picked men and eminently fitted to assist. The gallant little band of rescuers that is now working with heroic effort to get the work completed is fast becoming exhausted, but they work on uncomplainingly. The dead bodies have already been in the mine 72 hours and the need for the utmost haste is readily apparent.

Stop Bringing Bodies.
The bringing of the bodies from the mine has been temporarily stopped. There is no longer room for them in the school house – dead room until at least some of those already there have been prepared for burial and removed. The cage was operated a few minutes this morning and again stuck fast in the shaft. One body was brought out on the first trip. The latest statement is that eighty-six bodies have been brought to the surface and twenty-six are at the bottom of the shaft ready to be brought out. The embalmers resumed their work at 10 o'clock this morning. Crowds are again flocking to the shaft and to the morgue houses.

Little Demonstration.
The throng seems to have become accustomed to the horrible environment and today there is less demonstration of emotion. This will probably break forth afresh, however, when the bringing of bodies from the mine is continued. The north entry of the mine has been explored to the end. The bodies found there have been piled along the passage and can be brought out as soon as the shaft is cleared of ice. The searchers are now in the south entry and sights awful to behold will be found there for it was in this entry that the explosion occurred, and bodies already found in this vicinity were in horribly mutilated condition.

Cage Again at Work.
At 10:30 a. m. the mine cage was again in operation and five more bodies have been brought out. Some of them are much swollen. Fourteen identifications of bodies in the morgue were established this morning. Inspector ADAMS came from the mine shortly before 11 o'clock and has ordered all possible haste. He says that conditions are such that it will be much better to have the bodies lying outside in the cold than within the mine entries, where the temperature has become very high and stifling.

Funerals On Sunday.
Sunday has been set as a day of funeral services. Definite arrangements have not yet been completed. Twenty men are digging graves on the hillside near the shaft and a cemetery will be made in a day. A report is current that the searchers have reason to fear the presence of after-damp in the unexplored south entry and volunteers are becoming very scarce. At 10 o'clock a call for volunteers was made. One man, an Irishman, from a crowd of a hundred or more was the only one to offer his services. Four more bodies have been identified, making a total of eighteen identified this morning.

In Great Confusion.
The bodies are now coming from the mine much faster that the limited space in the school house and morgue will accommodate. The bodies lie on stretchers in the snow near the pit mouth and at the road side. Approximately one hundred and eleven are now above ground, but in the indescribable confusion, excitement and frenzy, the accurate count has been lost. The morgue holds no more caskets and the late unidentified arrivals from the embalmer's room are being placed outside of the building upon the snow covered ground, while an almost uncontrolable [sic] throng surrounds them.

The Fort Wayne News Indiana 1904-01-28