The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1869-09-17

Decline Of the Excitement One Terrible
Anietion-rhe Proper Disposition 9th.
Relief Fund-The Miners and Their
Ways-Telegraph Inefilciency-
Visit to the Diamond Mine.

SCRANTON. Pa, Sept. 10. 1859.
The tragic story OF Avondale mine Is all told; the
force Of horrorwrought feeling has expended itself;
the dead are buried and their freshly made graves
marked By humble headboards; the Inquest Is over
and tho verdict has gone abroad to the world.
Work IN the mines 10 resumed. and men will again
60 daily down the single shaft with all their former
Indifference to danger. Across the dsrkened men,
cries OF the widows and orphans the name Of Avon
dale Will long continue to cast lurid light OF hor.
rQE The appalling vision OF those danes, lsaping
with angry energy high into the air above the shaft
will never be efYaoed from the memory OF that
woman who. looking from her cottage door.
beheld the awful doom to which that fire consigned
the husband Of her heart. her three sons, three
brothers and afather Eight strong men. for any
Of whom she would have gladly risked ner own life.
were lost to her forever In the storelouse Of grief
no more bitter potion could abide saw this hor-
ribly afflicted woman the day the dead bodies were
drawn from the mine sitting by the wsyside. re-
moved from the throng Of other mourners. She had
q fair round face and large, lustrous eyes. Her
dress was decent, and in her demeanor nothing I'M
near approach the death-like paor OF the features
the unearthly glare OF the dried up eyes. and the
hxed statueike position OF the body told OF grief
too deep for tears, too large for utterance There
were others left as forlOrn, but welded to 30
sOrr0wful q memory a. hers.
The relief fund, 1t Ia anticipated, will reach the
nelghb0rhOod Of 100000. Its proper distribution
Is growing to be question OF some Importance
and ELECTS variety Of views one OF which Is OBJ
tanning some attention from the committee
namely, to place the money out at interest suicent
to pay certain sum weekly to the widow and each
child. When any Of the widows remarry give them
bonus and cut them Off from further participation
in the flnd the children, however, to be still the
recipents Of the allowance until fully able to earn
their living. II all or a majority OF the widows
should marry permanent fund will be left to be
devoted to the benefit Of the families OF such
other miners as may happen to lose their
lives In the mines. This plan has been adopted
under similar circumstances in Wales and has proved
a complete success. Such q large and In every
way beneficial fund as this promises to be is not
an inert mass but rightly managed, living, grow.
Ing force constantly Increasing IN value and IN Gu.
should be as little nfringed uh6n as possible. The
income promises to be ample Tor ali the actual needs
S Sc vo Sss e. s ss
:sss Z q! ssss!ss ssss
s2s nn s.si luna fo1 sss
f6aiMsd. the widowed ana the orphaned IN
sSs sSs s na and on ,e wa yrb 1 wsss
Dement'S they may receive not as charity reluctant
ao!ea og. u & as 5Rsr ghGu heritage i Is sa
mo- or wo 1S
on the Board of Relief They Know the wants. needs
and wishes OF their class better than any others,
and worthy, Intelligent men are not rare among
them.
The miners generally were never doing better than
they are now. good workman can easily make
i've or six dollars day, and some have been known
to realize as much as $500 month. When miner
succeeds In getting chamber to work where the
earn eight or nine dollars q day without
much labor Of a fatiguing character. The country
has heard pretty fully Of the combinations which
the miners from time to time enter into and of the
frequent strikes, accompanied in many cases by
riots, that have occurred. In this business Of
striking and Of demanding certain conditions from
the mine owners there has always been q class OF
miners OF conservative tendencies who have to be
driven into the ranks OF opposition by threats be-
fore they yield from persuasion In this valley there
care two classes Of miners bearing no very cordial
feeling towards each other and they are stu
ton. Those OF the former town are deadly
foes to the Delaware, Lackawsnna and
numerous in this section The miners Of Hyde PARK
village, near here, entertain such feeling towards
the company. and by reason OF the difference this
head the miners OF the two places cannot dwell in
harmony The recent disaster united all IN
one common expression OF human sympathy, while
gave 10 the miners Of Wilkesbarre opportunity
to turn their wrath with accumulated force against
the mine owners. The opinion now Is that 1t Will be
long time before any strikes occur again. The
operators and miners have both been "bady
burned" as they term 1t here, by the recent strike
preceding the Avondale disaster, and no good has
come OF 1t, but rather an increased bitterness OF
feeling. In time. perhaps. the demagoguss who
make use OF the miners for their own selfish ends
will fnd their occupation gone.
The competition for the control OF the coal trade
OF TINS rich section threatens to become Of highly
formidable and interesting character. The Della
ware Lackawanna and Western Railroad Company
are the heaviest operators now, but when the Erie
Railroad completes It's connections, and enters the
valley as rival to the former, while the PennsyI-
mia mol nv xUt hn tunI Afh Afh .to
velopment OF the great resources OF the Wyoming
valley Will receive tremendous impetus, coal Will
be put down to a reasonable figure ana the public
will have no cause to complain. This town. OF
Scranton, which Is already making rapid strides in
wealth and population will eventually become the
second city OF Pennsylvania, eclipsng even Pitts
burg, and taking rank as the Birmingham Of
America,
cuse with President Fitcn, OF the Syracuse and
BinghamtOn Railroad, Ex-Governor AlvOrd and
others went down in the Diamond mine to-day and
liuit. Mr. Benjamin Hughes and Mr.. Ruthven ex-
planned the workings OF the mine and gave very
clear idea OF how the misfortune at Avondae &C.
CURED, and OF how the men were supposed to be
situated at the time. No written description OF
Avondale mine could convey half Intelligent
realization Of the place IS this actual inspection OF
another mine very similarly constructed. Mr.. Ellis
r. Williams s0Otned the fears OF the ladies and made
an excellent guide in the absence OF professional
One
The inability of the western Union Telegraph
Company TO properly accommodate the representa-
tlV6S VI press wa dppaTtut TIC
late excitement. 1t only equalled by the Dung.
ling shown In the transmission OF dispatches, the
errors OF syntax and the arbitrary Interpolation
that marked almost every despatch sent across the
wires.
At wlkesbarre it was fortunate If the telegraph
office could be found open at nine O'Clock; at Ply
mouth the same; but at the latter place perence
discovered that 1t was altogether unsafe to leave
despatch Of any length with the certainty OF Its
being sent over the wires in time. To give an in
stance:-At seven O'Clock Tuesday evening left q
despatch of over 1000 words with the operator re-
celving his repeated promise that It should be
entire IN three hours and half from
that time Next morning discovered no was still
working away on that despatch, just
fourteen hours from the time he received 1t. Of
course, 1t Is the company that Is to blame for ex-
pectIn2 an operator to work with wire that breaks
down every half hour In making q circuit around
the country.
THE AyONDALE FUND.
subscriptions in This City Yesterday.
The following subscriptions to the Avondae fund