Pray for the dead
And fight like hell for the living.
-Mother Jones
Hellraisers Journal, Saturday April 28, 1917
Hastings, Colorado – 120 Coal Miners Trapped in Victor Mine
From the Spokane Daily Chronicle of April 27, 1917:
FIRE TRAPS 120 IN VICTOR MINE;
HINT WAR PLOT
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Rescuers Rush Into Smoke-Filled Shafts-
Fear Every Man Is Lost.
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—–TRINIDAD, Col., April 27.-Fire in the Victor American Fuel Company mine No. 2, at Hastings, near here, is believed to have trapped 120 coal miners.
Reports were in circulation this afternoon that the fire was the result of a war plot, Austrian miners being suspected. A company of troops has been guarding the property for some weeks.
Fire was first noticed coming out of the mouth of the mine shortly after 9:30 this morning. Helmet crews which entered had made no report this afternoon as to whether or not they had reached the entombed men.
Heavy smoke was pouring from the mine at 1:20 o’clock and it was feared there was little hope of rescuing the men.
Rescuers are being hurried into the workings. At 1:50 o’clock this afternoon 50 men had descended to aid in the fight to save the entombed workmen.
A messenger who reached here from the scene said:
The fire broke out shortly before 9:30 o’clock, when smoke was seen coming from the mine. We think there was an explosion also, but there is no sign of it on the outside. Heavy smoke is pouring from the mine.
Not a word has come from the inside since the fire started.
Mine officials answered all queries as to safety of the men inside by saying they had no knowledge of the fire or its proximity to the entombed men. Groups of workmen of the Colorado Fuel and Iron company from camps at Sopris, Primero, Starkville and Frederick also are hurrying to Hastings to aid in rescue.
A force of more than 150 rescue workers will be in the mine this afternoon.
Inspecter Rushes to Scene.
DENVER, Colo., April 27.-James Dalrymple, chief inspector of the state mining bureau, left Denver this afternoon for Hastings, Colo., to take charge of the rescue work. Word was received at the capitol that the Victor American Fuel company’s rescue car and crew from La Junta had reached Hastings and had entered the mine.
The Hastings mine is one of the largest of the Victor-American Coal company. It is near Ludlow, about 20 miles from Trinidad.
At 2:30 o’clock a mine rescue party, headed by Superintendent Cameron, was driven from the mine by the dense volume of black smoke. The party penetrated 1200 feet feet of the workings. The entombed men are 2000 feet beyond that point.
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[Photograph added.]
SOURCE
Spokane Daily Chronicle
(Spokane, Washington)
-Apr 27, 1917, page 1
https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1338&dat=19170427&id=5sJXAAAAIBAJ&sjid=MvQDAAAAIBAJ&pg=4339,1182938&hl=en
IMAGE
Hastings Colorado Victor American Fuel Company
http://hastingsmine1917.wixsite.com/minersremembered/photos-newspaper
See also:
1917 Hastings Mine Disaster
Colorado’s Worst Mining Disaster
http://hastingsmine1917.wixsite.com/minersremembered
Victor-American Fuel Company Hastings Mine Explosion
April 27, 1917 – 121 killed
http://usminedisasters.com/saxsewell/hastings.htm
Mine Rescue History
https://www.msha.gov/training-education/mine-rescue-training/mine-rescue-history