Providence, Ky., Nov. 26. Ten horribly mutilated bodies - the victims of the explosion of mine No. 3, of the Providence Coal Co., were removed from the bottom of the shaft today. All the bodies have been identified, although three were so fearfully mangled that identification could be made only from the clothing and articles found in the pockets of the victims.
The body of Edward Vaughn, one of the white miners who met his doom in the bowels of the earth, was so horribly dismembered that identification could not be made. His head was torn from the body and was never found. One arm is missing and the body from the waist up was shredded. Articles in the pockets enabled his friends to identify it. All the bodies were so mangled and blackened that immediate identification was impossible.
The Government rescue corps under J.Y. Williams and A.A. Samms reached Providence at 6 o'clock this morning on a spcial mine rescue demonstration car from Linton, Ind., where the corps has been on a tour through Southern Indiana coal regions instructing the miners and officials.
At 7 o'clock three members of the rescue party were lowered into the mine by a windlass erected during the night by the coal company. The experts, wearing helmets and other apparatus used in the perilous work, were lowered without difficulty. They found the body of Edward Vaughn near the bottom of the shaft. Ropes were tied around it and it was hoisted to the surface. Two negro bodies were next recovered. These were found several feet back from the opening.
Several miners were lowered in the mine to assist the experts but owing to the foul gases that filled the shaft they had to be hoisted to the surface.
The experts worked like Trojans before recovering the other bodies. Great masses of debris had to be removed before all the rooms could be explored. Twenty feet back from the body of the shaft the passage was completely stopped with slate, mine timbers and debris. This had to be removed, requiring several hours of diligent work with the pick and shovel.
The experts discovered that the explosion was immediately followed by a flow of black damp. To overcome this, all engines were put to work pumping fresh air into the shaft. Before all the bodies were recovered this was allaved [sic] and miners went down and rendered great assistance to the experts.
The cause of the catastrophe was an explosion of gases. Twenty men had been at work on the day shift but ten of them had left shortly before the disaster. All miners had left shots and it is supposed that one of the shots was premature, which opened a vein of gas, or else ignited an accumulation of gases in the entries.
The whole population of Providence and surrounding county flocked to the scene shortly after the accident and began to assist in the rescue of the unfortunate men. Guards were placed around the mine and with much difficulty the crowds
were kept back.
Work at every mine in the vicinity of Providence was suspended today and the miners gathered around the wreckage to assist in the rescue work. The families of the victims are being cared for by officials of the mine and everything is being done for their comfort.
As soon as the wreckage is cleared away the company will start an investigation to determine the cause of the explosion. According to the officials of the company all precautions were taken to prevent a disaster like that of Friday afternoon, and they are at a loss to know what was the direct cause of the accident.
The dead miners are:
-Wesley Fugate, white, 50; married, wife and seven children.
When the bodies were removed they were placed on mattresses and carried to an undertaking establishment where Coronor Dorris held inquests. The verdict of the jury was that the men came to their death in an explosion of mine No. 3, of the Providence Coal Co., cause unknown.
The Crittenden Record-Press
Edward Vaughn's Head Blown from Body; Several Bodies So Horribly Mangled that Identification Almost Impossible; "Windy Shot" The Cause.
-Edward Vaughn, 22, unmarried.
-Cissel Shackleford, colored, 40, unmarried.
-John Woolfork, colored, 27, wife and one child.
-Willis Roscoe, colored, 32, wife and five children.
-George Johnson, colored, 45, wife and five children.
-Coley Johnson, colored, ten years of age.
-Coleman Northfleet, colored, 30, married.
-Louis Ligon, 40, wife and four children.
-Hope Shelton, 42, wife and three children.
Marion, Kentucky
December 1, 1910
S.M. Jenkins, Editor and Publisher