A Breath of Fire-Damp Killed Twenty-Three Blue Canyon Miners

Whatcom, April 8.—Special.—An explosion of fire-damp in the Blue Canyon coal mine, on Lake Whatcom, fifteen miles from this city, at 2:45 this afternoon, killed twenty-three men. W. A. Telford came from the mine tonight. He was at the bankers when the explosion occurred. He went to the incline and found James Kerns at the mouth of the shaft, nearly dead with exhaustion. Kerns said all in the mine were dead. He had carried Ben Morgan as far as he was able and then dropped him. Morgan, he thought, was dead. Kerns and Gellon were the only ones who escaped out of the twenty-five who were at work. Tom Valentine and J. O. Anderson were the incline men, and they escaped. At the switch of the gangway, 300 feet from the mouth of the tunnel, Ecklund and Telford found the body of George Roberts, and beyond were three loaded cars which had been blown off the track. They next found the body of Ben Morgan, where it was dropped by Kerns. Ecklund and others were unable to go beyond room 21, 300 feet from the angle of the tunnel gangway. The safety lamps went out and the gas drove the explorers back. In room 11 they found the bodies of Thomas Conlin and James Kirby.

Engineer J. J. Donovan, of the mine, was notified at his home in Fairhaven, and left with a party of men experienced in underground work. They left this evening on a special train over the Bellingham Bay Eastern and took the steamer Thistle to the mine. Physicians accompanied them.

The Post-Intelligencer correspondent has just returned from the scene of the terrible disaster at the Blue Canyon coal mine, fifteen miles from this city, on Lake Whatcom, and is in possession of all the particulars now obtainable.

In the blacksmith shop near the entrance to the main tunnel lie the blackened bodies of twenty-three dead miners, while only two of all who were in the mine when the explosion occurred lived to tell the story of the frightful catastrophe and their own miraculous escape.

Following are the names of the killed: Mine Superintendent David Y. Jones; leaves a wife, no children. Andrew Anderson; wife and one child. James McAndrews; 36 years old; brother of ex-Marshal McAndrews, of this city; leaves a wife at Blue Canyon. James Kirkley leaves a wife, who is sister of County Commissioner Rogers. Kirk Atkins leaves a wife and four children. All the others are single men, namely: Charles Silverman, C. Ramberg, William Lyster, Samuel Olson, James McNulty, J. A. Morgan, Martin M. Blum, E. T. Chase, Charles Carlson, R. Ravett, of Fairhaven, Philip Binkle, William Evans, J. Williams, Alex Hendrickson, Ben Morgan, George Roberts, Thomas Conlin, brother of Deputy Sheriff Conlin, and Lucas Lotaka.

The two men who escaped are Edward Gellon, of Fairhaven, who was working at the outer switch in the mine in company with George Roberts, and James Kerns. The latter was working with Ben Morgan in room 15, off the gangway, the outermost of all the rooms in which work was going on.

The explosion occurred shortly before 3 o'clock, when the shift would have been changed, and the miners of the new shift were already descending the steep hill from the bunkhouse to take the places of the men killed.

The disaster was undoubtedly caused by an accumulation of fire-damp which was exploded by a blast in the breast of the gangway. The first of the men who were working in the breast are badly burned, but a majority of those who were working in the rooms off the gangway are only slightly disfigured by the fire, and many of them not at all.

Physicians and miners say that the men working in the breast must have been killed by the shock of the explosion, while the others succumbed to the after-damp as they slid down from the rooms to the gangway, then filled with deadly gas.

This gangway is reached by a tunnel, and the distance from the intersection of the gangway to the place where the explosion took place is about 400 feet. The main air shaft reaches the tunnel about 900 feet from the tunnel, and air is supplied by a fan worked by water power and which was not affected by the explosion.

Kerns, the only miner who escaped from any of the rooms, says that he was not stunned or even thrown down by the shock, though Morgan, who was working with him, was killed. Kerns' light was not extinguished and he saw no fire. He slid down the chute to the gangway, losing his light in some manner and making his way in the darkness until he reached the outside. He had to crawl over piles of coal loosened by the explosion. He reached the open air before he reached the entrance; the work of rescue had already commenced. Out in the tunnel he met a party of brave miners working their way inward as fast as the escape of the poisonous gas permitted. His party and others following pushed their way into the mine and carried out, one by one, the bodies of the slain.

The first body found was that of the mule driver, lying beside the dead mule, 200 feet from the mine entrance. Farther on the explorers found other bodies at a distance of about 500 feet. Bodies were seen almost as fast as they fell from the leading gangway. Most of them showed little evidence of the fire, and in most instances death apparently came quickly.

McAndrews' body was buried under a slide of coal, and McNulty was upon his hands and knees about twenty yards from where he had been working, and had his handkerchief tied over his nose and mouth.

When the Post-Intelligencer correspondent left the mine, shortly before midnight, the work of washing the faces and hands of the dead men had just been commenced. J. J. Donovan, the company's superintendent, and Secretary S. H. Bledel were both there, and all that is now possible is being done to alleviate the distress of the families and friends of the deceased. The president of the company, M. E. Downs, now in New York, has been notified by wire, as has also Mine Inspector Edmunds. Coffins have been ordered, and after the inquest tomorrow the bodies will be brought to this city.

Mr. Donovan says he does not understand how the explosion occurred, as safety lamps were used everywhere out in the gangway. The tunnel is 2,000 feet long, and the gangway 1,000 feet long and has twenty-six rooms opening from it. The fans were kept running all the time and the cause of the explosion is unknown.

The Blue Canyon mine is the property of the Blue Canyon Coal Mining Company, composed of M. E. Downs, A. E. Mauser and several other Montana capitalists. It was opened in 1890 by J. F. Wardner, who sold it to its present owners. The coal is of high quality, and is now being used on United States warships. The company had spent much money in opening the mine, and had just got it in paying condition.