EXPLOSION OF “FIRE DAMP,” AN INFLAMMABLE GAS GENERATED IN COAL MINES.
The moment the gas comes in contact with the flame of a lamp, its tremendous explosive force is revealed, and it penetrates into every quarter of the mine. In an explosion of this kind everything is shattered far and near. Horses, men, doors, machinery, and everything else lying in its course is overthrown, and sometimes heavy machinery at the top of the mine is blown away. Dense clouds of smoke, and frequently masses of coal, stone, and timber, are sent flying from the shaft high into the air. The very ground shakes as if moved by an earthquake, and the general appearance of the shaft is not unlike that of a volcano in a state of eruption. Streams of water are sent into the air, and not a pane of glass for a long distance around remains unbroken; and to these horrors must be added the great confusion and alarm of the people, the wailing of the women and children whose nearest friends have perished, and even then the terrible picture is incomplete.
The stories of these explosions would fill volumes. In one mine three hundred and sixty men at one time were killed, in another two hundred, in another one hundred, in another fifty, in another twenty, in another sixty, eighty, and so on, through mine after mine, till the deaths from fire-damp could be numbered by thousands. Not those alone who are in the wreck of the explosion are the victims.
At a Pennsylvania mine a few years ago, a dozen men were at work in one of the galleries, and heard an explosion in a portion of the mine some distance away. They rushed to the shaft, and attempted to escape. Before the bucket was lowered to remove them, the choke-damp, developed by the explosion, overtook them, and the whole party were suffocated. Hundreds of stories might be related of explosions in coal mines. One of them will be sufficient for the present.
STORY OF AN EXPLOSION.
At one time, in one of the English mines, forty men were at work. At the mouth of the shaft there were a dozen or twenty men, when suddenly there was a loud report, like an explosion. It was at first supposed to be the bursting of the boiler; but a moment’s observation showed that the fire-damp had become ignited. The masonry at the mouth of the mine, and all the machinery above it, were blown away. At the moment of the explosion, a tub filled with coal was being hoisted up. It was a hundred feet or more from the surface, and it was blown into the air as if it were a bullet fired from a gun. The fragments fell around the mouth of the shaft, injuring several of the men who were there.
When an explosion occurs, the miners, and all attached to the establishment who may be above ground at the time, are ready to go to the relief of their comrades. In the present instance a relief party was organized at once. A pulley was rigged over the mouth of the shaft, and two men entered a bucket to be lowered down. They had not descended fifty feet before their lights were extinguished, and very soon they made a signal to be drawn to the surface, both of them being in a condition bordering on suffocation. They were ill through the night, and one of them did not recover his strength for several days. A second attempt was made, and resulted in nearly the same way. The lights were extinguished, and the men drawn up in a suffocating condition. The galleries seemed to be full of choke-damp, and it was almost certain that no one could be alive in the mine. A hose was lowered, and pure air was pumped into the mine. This work lasted three or four hours, and then two others descended and succeeded in reaching the bodies of some of their companions; but in the attempt one of the rescuers fell dead, and the other was nearly suffocated.
More air was poured into the mine, and it was then twenty-four hours from the time of the explosion before the explorers thought it safe to enter. Every man who was below at the time of the explosion was killed. At the stables near the foot of the shaft a horrible scene was presented. According to the indications, three of the men were in the stables, taking care of the horses, at the moment of the explosion. The stables were thrown down, the men and horses were covered with the fallen debris, and death by suffocation seemed to have ensued in a very short time.
At the end of the gallery, where the explosion had taken place, the bodies of the men were found in some cases hardly scorched, while in others every particle of clothing had been burned away. In some instances the bodies were so baked that they could not be recognized.