The mine has a slope driven 5,000 feet with seven pairs of entries turned left and five right.  The mine is gaseous and dry.

Locked safety lamps were used, and holes were charged with permissible explosives by shotfirers and fired after the men were out of the mine.

About 110 men were in the mine on day shift, and at 4:30 p.m. about 35 had come out when the explosion shot out of the slope month.  Black smoke, flame, and dust caught 4 men at the mouth of the slope and hurled them against a moving trip of cars, killing 3 and burning the other.  The mine was badly wrecked.

Rescue workers reestablished ventilation with great difficulty.  One man was recovered alive.

The last of the bodies were found May 19.  The source of the ignition was not determined but may have been the detonation of detonators and explosives by a fall of roof, igniting dust and carried through the mine by gas and dust.

Source:
	Historical Summary of Mine Disasters in the United States, Volume I