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Show 1 1 a Hi r I Over a Hundred Men , H Caught in a Death H Trap. ; Knoxvlllc, Tcnn, Dec. 9. A dust ex- H plosion Imprisoned about 200 men in H the cool mine of tho Knoxvllle Iron H company at Brlcevllle. 34 miles north H of Knoxville, this morning at 7:30 H o'clock. The explosion is about two rH miles from the entrance to the mine. The federal mine rescue crew Laa ll been summoned. jH It is not yet possible to ascertain ll the number killed, but It Is feared the H loss of life will bo heavy. ,H Brlcevllle as a mining town Jias had a stormy history. It was the scene H in the early nineties of rioting when fl miners struck against working with IH convicts leased by the state. Troopn M wero sent there to quell tho trouble. iH At Coal Creek, near there, on May 19. 1912, ten men wero killed in tho IH Pratorvlllc mlno explosion. '1 There are several big minea at '1 Brlcevllle, known as the Cross Moun- ' lain system. It was in one of these l thai the explosion occurred todav, 'H Special trains wero Font from Knov- H ville lo the scene of the disaster. ll President Stephenson of tbe Knox- villo Iron company was In charge of ijl a train over the Southern railway. Il With him went officials of the local ' mine roscuo station. Tbey carried jl paraphornalia of rescue. '1 President Stephenson said he had jH no specific reporU; of the explosion .H and know nothing of the extent of the H lifo loss. H Tho "dust" explosion In tho main H mine of the Crosa Mountain system H entombed a large number of work- H crs who had Just ontered for the day's H work. The mino 1b usually manned H by 200 miners, but whether all had H entered the shaft prior to tho "dust" H blast has not been determined. Res- H cue preparations were immediately H under way and at 10 o'clock gangs of H miners from othor "works" in tho H district had gone Into tho main Cross H Mountain mine by three entrances. jH At that hour nono 'of. the rescuers j had reported. The mme is owned and H operated by the Knordllo Iron com- H pany and is about 35 miles from H Knoxvllle. H Ab news of tho explosion, spread H about tho Bricevllle' district, throngs H 'Of -womeiL undxihiMreri ruRhed to H tho mine entrances and clamored lo 'H he allowed to mako their vay In- H vside to aid In tho rescue. M Many of the women knew their hus- H bands had entered tho mlno before H tho blasL MoBt of the wives, how- M ever, maintained bravo hearts. The H majority of them had witnessed nl- Jt most similar scenes. Ono woman. H xrhn fathnrpil nthern nhout her. at- IH tempted to cheer her weeping sis- M tors H "Now, I know my old man ain't jl dead.' '6ho asecrted. "It'll lake more H than a. dust explosion to kill him." I At llo'clock it had almost been dof- H inltely settled that 100 men had en- Jl tored the mine before the explosion. H Rescue work was checked hefore It il o'clock. Great billows of flame began to belch from the mouth of tho mine M Rescue parties were hurled back by H the flames. M Hope for the Imprisoned miners ha3 H now given way to despair. M Members of rescue squads, who wero 1 M driven from the mlno by flaraen and 1 smoke, declared they had advanced M a mile Into the main shaft before 1 H they were forced to retire and that ,H thor had discovered no signs of tho H Imprisoned men. Just before these H rescuers were driven" out, they en- H countered a cave-In In each of tho HH entries. It was of such a character , H as almost positively to confirm the H early theory that 'dust" had caused H the explosion. H Of all the men who went Into tho H mine three have escaped. Thoy are H John Lang, Sam Farmer and Bert H Hatmaker. They -wero In one of tho H lateral shafts. Warned by the noise. H they escaped before overtaken by tho H flames. These men observed had ' signs as H they entered the mine. They believe jH the exact location of tho blast Is at Jm least two miles in the Interior and H 800 feet from tho mountain cresL The JH number cf men entombed is now; var- jH iouslv estimated at 125 to 26S. UM Because of the cae-In and the H smoke and flames, It Is Impossible H for volunteer rescuers to proceed In- H to tho mine. They mast await the H coming of tho federal rescuing appar- H atus, due bere about 1 o'clock. H President Stephenson said tho cas- M ualtles would not bo as large 03 at H first reported from Brlcovlllo. He H did not bellevo there were many men H in tho mine at the Umo of tho ex- H plosion. He Bald the mine Is usually m manned by about 200 workers, but M many Tvero late in reporting for work m today. , , Early reports from tho explosion H scene were vague. Tho first Intlma- M tion of tho explosion was a slight con- jH cusslon at tho shaft, - then Hmoke H curled out from the opening. H (Continued on Tngc Sovcu.)- H EXPLOSION IN A MINE (Continued From Page One) Up to 2:30 o'clock this afternoon squads of rescuers had made no effective ef-fective progress in their efforts to reach the entombod miners Cave-Ins barred the way to the point where It is hoped the "hundred or more men are still alive. |