New-York tribune., 1871-05-30
THE PITTSTON DISASTER
THE RESCUED MEN DYING.

FURTHER DETAILS - STATEMENT OF sUh-
yIyoR-THE FUNERALS - TIE CAUSES of
THE LOSS OF LIFE.
PITTsToY, Penn, May 29.-The men VINO "eIo
thought 10 be rescued from the dangers OF the io "
dying one by one and the physicians In at'ehuaoo Ca
press little hope that any of them will survive nun
Der OF them were exceedingly strong men, put 'no
poisonous yapor OF the mine, acting on their sys'eS
during so many hours has utterly Frustrated them iho
nervous exhaustion succeeding the shock OF reahzhs
the hopelessness Of their situation, when uie
nature Of the calamity was dlscoVereu' noe
also, no doubt, much aggravated thelr INJURIES
Sulphurous gases continually emitted from INC
layers COAL and to escape these, as they
far down in the mine and gradually rose, the fated mi
ners sought the highest accessible points, to await inc
efforts at rescue 1t ia now believed that many OF them
might have been saved, IT, soon as the mouth OF the
shaft was cleared fan had been employed 10 foroe a
down into the passages where the men were and d'e
back the rising tide OF chokedamp The large fan wch
had been used at the mine burned and In the con-
fusion the expedent OF applying anew one Was
until II was too late.
The large wooden building which stood over the smart
and was burned covered the machinery used In hosting
and breaking the coal The wheels carrying the ropes
which descended into the shaft situated In high
tower directly the mouth, and 1t was among them
that the fire started II OF little use for the engineer
TO give the TO the below for the ire
the ascent the mouth Of the shaft was covered with
fallen and burning tmbers.
Through this barricade OF fire. which also cut OF at
once their supply Of fresh air, their only way Oh
egress The owners OF the mine were violating the law
passed last year. in view OF the Avondale disaster by
which 1t is required that not than 20 men shall be
employed at time in any mine which has not at least
two openings and OF escape at them provided
public meeting Will be held tomorrow to consider the
causes Of the disaster well as TO express sympathy
with the sufferers The funeral OF some Of the victims
Is to take place this afternoon, and the remainder VIII
be buried tomorrow
STATEMENT OF RESCUED MINER.
One OF the few miners who was entirely conscious
when lifted from the shaft William r. Davies. He
talked feebly with those who bore him away and De-
sought them mot to hurt his head" Soon after he
made the following statement which given in his own
words:
7 am one of the men who have so narrowly escaped
death in the West Pttson mine. now feel extremely
weak and exhausted, and very dizzy In my head as Wen
heard that the breaker fire hard at work in
my chamber in the mine. As soon as the alarm was
danger all together as quickly as we could ma
one another IN the gangway at the ioot Oh the
that there was other way OF escape, we decided a
once to build barrcade and 70 shut ourselves In De-
We had one thing Of the greatest importance in our
favor. There furnace In the mine, ana he an
down We were perfectly wen aware of the fact that
our lives depended almost entirely upon the Darrcade
we were building and we, therefore made IL as strong
as We could We made II by trimming of very large
Jumps Of coal and fitting them together closely in
a stout wall. When IL completed we knew thht III
perfectly secure barrier against the re We tleh
gave the closest attention by listening to what was going
outside. For two or three hour at least after the
baTricade finished could distinctly hear tue noise
that was made at the top Of the shaft.
After that time the assurance seemed to come upon
all that we should never be taken out OF inc mine
alive The OF this change OF feeling was that so
OF began to feel drowsy, and we knew 1t must
After this we quite resigned ourselves to the death
which seemed certain, and went to work TO make our
with singing and praying; and at last we gave each
other parting caIesses and kisses eaeh@f US sfo'iiS
every man an atectonate faTeWeu, WIN the nope oI
meeting one another in heaven 80, -
We Of course thought much Of what could be done TO
attract attention of the men outside, who we knew
were doing all in their power TO deliver us so that we
might found 40 possible ana no thle DC iost
in search Of traces OF us. ,,
the foot Of the east shaft who wrote with piece OF coal
on the outside of the door OF the east gangway that We
You will excuse me, know, from trying to remember
ANYTHING more, from talking further just now am
too weak, but as recover my strength wlli De
occurred In the mine.
The physicians attending MI Davies believe that he
cannot survive the effect Of the noxous gas which he in
haled All the victims receive the most devoted aten-
ton from neighbOrs and friends and aid is freely prof
fered from all quarters The afflicted women especially
those who have for two days suffered from extreme al
formations of hope and despair pitiably exhausted
from brOken-hearted lamentations, or from mniserng
upon the injured men lingering between life and death.
Those Of the who have been able to speak OF their
experience while shut up in the mine have all related
that death approached them in the form of drowsness,
and almost painless stupor The clothes Of some were
torn and the flesh bruised II from violent struggling
but this appears to have taken place while they were
unconscious.