Salt Lake Tribune | 1915-11-17 | Page 1 | 31 Miners Die in Coal Mine near Seattle

31 MINERS DIE IN COIL MINE NEnRSEnTRE Only Three Living Brought Out of Works, Which Catch Fire Following Terrific Explosion. NO HOPE FOR MEN LEFT IN TUNNEL Rescue Crews, With Oxygen Helmets, Forced to Abandon Aban-don Work on Account of Intense Heat. S F. A 'lTl , I ; , Nov. 1 ti . T h i r ty o n r in o n we rp killo.I UmIuv hv so rxplghiot) of eoal iln.it in tho NfTt hwchtrrn Improvement Improve-ment C(jinjan b foul min'- Ht Ravenv -iHi's, niiK-s f-nulh."! of rM-attlo. Tonight tin' mine with burning, and there was little liojn of MVovprinjj twenty-ei'ht twenty-ei'ht ho. lies retimmin in the mine fore tomorrow. The 1 iodic of th reo men h;i e Vu .'ii , reovt'ir-i itnd three injured have been brought safely to the u r f a r , wht're they were i eu-it ntr.l by the uv" vi pnlmotors. The body of P. .1. Kane, foreman of the third h'el, ITju-I f-'et below th ur-tace, ur-tace, where the I'lpluMon ojni.-roi, wss found ?ent ed fn the chair bef or his desk, jiift within tho onran-'e to the third Ie el. He hal t"?en 1 nn:e-l to death. The reeuen were .niHbl. to rc-mo rc-mo c his bod bT.nic of t he intense heat in the U-vel, whieh was or. fue. Trained r'.-tie men riMid in tho t.:-ne from S'-aIt!. anil from Koslyn and rle fum were al!e. by wearing oxygen helmets, hel-mets, In inetratc far enuugh into the mine to ee the holies of the entombcl tnen lying in the mine, but eouM not get to them bevause of the wreckage and the heat. It whs thought certain, mine oihViuls aid. that were dead. Iate tonight, nfter the rescue teams had ascertained that all remaining in the mine were dead, Superintendent B. D. ott ordered that efforts to penetrate the mine further be abandoned, temporarily, tempo-rarily, and crews were put to work clearing clear-ing awav the wreckage, so fire could be extinguished and the bodies recovered. Worn the time the explosion occurred until late tonight, scores of women and children who had relatives in the mine crowded silently around the blackened shaft, awaiting word from those laboring within to reach the entombed nien. Even after word was passed around that all were given up for lost, the women waited, hoping that tbe next trip of the cage would brinx up the bodies of their loved ones. Tho cause of the explosion is unknown. un-known. The mine was well equipped with safety appHanees. nnd was considered consid-ered one of the safest in the state.