Thirteen Entombed in a Mine
The Lowell Sun, Massachusetts
May 1, 1905
Wilburton, I. T., May 1. (AP) -- Thirteen miners were entombed and probably killed by an explosion early yesterday in the Missouri, Kansas and Texas Coal Company's mine near Wilburton. Their bodies may not be recovered for several days.
The entombed men are:
B. F. Steiner
Mike Wynn
Ralph Fisher
Ben Smith
William Atkinson
O. Golden
Joe Morino
Gus Phillips
Knox Lynch
W. D. Byrd
Mike Duvall
R. F. Cates
William Edwards
The men went into the shaft at midnight. Foreman William Ray, of the shift that left the mine at that hour, says that the mine was in good condition and a gas explosion was hardly probable. His shift left a shot hanging and this new shift may have fired.
The shaft is 350 feet deep. The men were supplied with air fanned from the shaft and by means of compressed air tubes. It is thought that the air pipe was burst by the explosion, but air has been steadily pumped all day with the remote hope that some of the entombed men may have escaped, the force of the explosion and the after-damp.
Rescuers began work within a few minutes after the explosion. At dark last night the workers were still thirty feet from the bottom of the shaft.
