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Show Half an hour before No. 3 on the j Rio Grande Western was scheduled to arrive in Salt Lake last night, there was a sorrow-stricken little knot of anxious men and women collected upon the platform of the depot. Despite the fact that the connecting train left Scofleld Sco-fleld twenty minutes before the mine horror occurred, the anxious watchers hoped against hope that there perchance per-chance might be some one upon the ' train who could bring tidings of their j loved ones. Upon the arrival of the ! train forty-five minutes overdue, the hope was shattered, a round-up of the passengers failing to produce any one from the scene. Then as it was announced that a spe- cial had left Colton bearing the wound, j ed, and would arrive at 12:30 a. m.. the I crowd melted away to besiege the of- j hces and Paymaster K. L. Carpenter j and the newspapers uptown for fur-l fur-l ther particulars, with the oft-repeated epuery. "Have no lists of killed come I in yet?" Among the numerous calleTs at The Herald was one pathetic case in particular par-ticular in the person of T. I. William. of til7 South Fifth West, who, having just heard the news at 8 p. m., drove up to the office in a light cart which conveyed his wife and three little mites of children. Williams said that he had two brothers and a like number num-ber of brothers-in-law employed in No. 1 mine. At 12:30 Williams and ii:? family were upon the depot platform awaiting with that silent knot of peopie for the advent eif the special with its I gruesome load. Owing to the failure of the electric lights in the vicinity of the depot, the place was practically in total darkness, dark-ness, lighted up with the occashmal lantern of the switchmen and the lamps of the St. Mark's ambulance and the patrol wagon, which had been summoned sum-moned to transport the living victims of the di;astor to the hospital. As soon as the whistle of the special was heard the crowd of some hundred people surged down to the track, and before the engine with its two cars had come to a standstill, the train was boarded by as many as could grasp the hand rails. Despite the firm attitude- of the pe-lice pe-lice officers who were presc-nt. several men had entered, the car before the doors coulel be locked against them, I while women stood wringing their i hands upon the platform, asking in tearful voices whether Tom or Will was among the injured. Inside the car an appalling sight was In evidence. There stretcheel upon hastily has-tily prepared pallets lay four coal dust-begrimed dust-begrimed forms, attired in their reugh shoes and clothing, which they wore at the time they were stricken down by the fatal blast. Over in the northeast corner lay William Eoyter, jr., with his head and face, save for a hole cut through which to breathe, swathed in bandages and oiled silk. He was badly burned and suffering from bruises all over his body. Next to him lay Harry Taylor in nearly as bad condition. Across the aisle lay father and son in the persons of Alex and John L. Wilson. The former for-mer at the time of the explosion was standing thirty feet distant from the mouth of the shaft. The elder seemed to be the only man who was conscious' of his surroundings, although suYfer-, suYfer-, ing from a broken leg. severe contusions and possible internal injuries. John L. Wilson, the young, man, was the most seriously injured of the quartette, quar-tette, having borne the full brunt of the explosion at the mouth of the tunnel, and being blown 200 feet down the canyon, can-yon, with the resuit that the back of his skull was crushed like an eggshell, so much so that Drs. A. J. Holnquist of Helper and Bascom. who accompanied the injured men to town from the scene of the catastrophe, entertained grave doubts as to his recovery. Owing to te limited ambulance ser-i ser-i vice at the command of the doctors but two men were taken to the hospital in the ambulance and the patrol wagon, under the direction of Dr. Bascom, while his colleague remained in the car with Boyter and the senior Wilson for the space of seventy minutes until the return of the conveyances. "My God!" said Rob Beatie, the manager man-ager of the Winter Quarters mercantile mercan-tile establishment, as he stepped off the special. "I-cannot bear cven to think about it. It is an awful thin? and affects everybody at Scofield. Not I only are fathers taken away, but whole . families, for the boys, as soon as, they are old enough to work, earn a living in the mine. I can't say just how it happened. I heard the roar distinctly down at the store, and knew at onee what had taken place. When I left Scofield they had just started to take out the dead, and it was an awful aight." Mr. Beatie, after a pause, proceeded tc .give his opinion as to the cause of the accident. He said: "As far as I can make out. it was caused by an explosion ex-plosion of coal dust, which had become ignited by a blast. If it had been con-been con-been so bad, but it extended to No. l, with the result that both ends of the tunnels .caved in. entombing all those who were inside." When asked to give an estimate of the number of men who were shut un in that awful death trap, he said that he was not prepared to do so. but that he would not be at all surmised if ih death roll exceeded 200. In the course of a conversation with E. L. Carpenter, who met the special at the depot, he stated that the accident acci-dent was the last, thing looked for, as the mine had never been considered in a dangerous condition. i ne oojeci or Jieatte s visit to Salt Lake was to purchase g?.mo 175 uitn I for the bodies of the dead men. Mr Beatie. who has at one stroke lost numerous nu-merous friends and relatives in the awful aw-ful catastrophe, was too much overwrought over-wrought with the trying experiences of the day and the trip up to Salt Lake in company with the mangled men to give a- consecutive and concise statement state-ment of the terrible affair. Dr A. J. Holmquist of Helper, who had been summoned to the scene of the mine horror shortly after the calamity and subsequently aecotnuanied the injured in-jured men to St. Mark's hospital, when seen this morning stated that all the medical assistance that it was possible to summon to Winter Quarters was arriving ar-riving on the scene when he left therp yesterday. Prior to the time of his departure, he stated that, including Dr. Bascom and nimself, there were Drs. Fisher H B Assadoorin of Castlegate and Dr A la-treen la-treen of Scofield,. upon ihe scene "Unfortunately," he said, "there was I no chance of caving lives. With but very few exceptions life was extinct in the I bodies of the men when taken :r"i j their death-trap, .'Those who still . breathed succumbed a few minutes af-i af-i ter they had been taken out into the I open air. I He estimated that among the list of casualties there were but ten men suf-j suf-j fermg from injuries from which they j would recover, with the possible excep-! excep-! Hon of John L. Wilson. The doctor ! stated that, the . cause eif death was from the fatal after damp which fol-! fol-! lowed the explosion. The ignition of I the coal dust consumed ail the oxveen In the air in the confined space of the tunnel, which brought a speedy and painless death to the victims. y This statement was concurred in bv Dr. Critchlow, who was at the depot to meet the special and convey the injured men to the hospital. Dr. Critehlow said that death under such circumstances was similar to biting consciousness under un-der the action of anaesthetics. |