Morning journal and courier., 1880-11-05
Fires that Cannot Be Quenched.
Coal Mines that have Burned for Forty
 


 Coal Mines that have Burned for Forty Years.
 The failure of all the attempts to exinguish the fire which has been raging in the Keeley Run colliery for several weeks, says a Potts vile, Penn, dispatch, it is feared, will add another to the perpetually burning mines that now exist in the Pennsylvania anthracite regions. The greatest of these is probably that in the jugular v0in, near Coal Castle, this county. This has been burning since 1885, Louis F. Dougherty opened this vein in 1883. The upper drift of the mine was above the water level, and huge fire kept in grate at the mouth of the mine in winter to keep the water from freezing in the gutters One night In the above year the timbers of the drift caught fire from the grate. When it was discovered the fire had been carried down the air hole to the lower drifts and was beyond control. Two miners entered the mine, hoping to recover their tools They never came out. The mine was aband- oned No efforts were made to mine any of the coal near the burning vein although it was considered the best coal in the region until 1856. Then John HtcGinnis put in slope on the east side of it, below water level He struck the vein at place where the coal was so thick that two miners could keep a large breaker supplied. When 400 yards of gangway had been excavated the heat from the burning Dougherty mine began to bother the miners. McGinnis attempted to open
 
 the men were paid double wages to induce them to work. They worked entirely naked and were relieved every ten minutes. Final ly the heat became so intense that work was abandoned. The mine flooded. After being pumped out, men could work for few days The mine was flooded nine times McGinnis finally failed, and the mine was then abandoned. The fire has been burning ever since. An area of half mile in every direction has been burned. No vegetation grows on the surface. In places the ground has caved in, forming chasms hundred feet deep. There Is but very thin shell of earth over the pit of fire. At night blue sulphur ous flames issue from the crevices in the ground. It IS dangerous to walk across the spot. Several persons have mysteriously disappeared in the vicinity during the past twenty years. It is believed that in the majority of cases they have fallen into the burning mine. Dougherty the original proprietor of the mine, attempted to go across once He sank to his armpits through the crust, and was only saved by courageous friends who ventured to his assistance The stones on the ground are hot, and snow never rests there. Rain turns to vapor as fast as it falls on the roof of the burning mine. Millions of dollars worth of the best quality of coal have been consumed by the fire.
 The Summit Hill mine near Mauch Chunk, has been burning twenty-five years. It is be- ieved to have been set on fire by discontent- GU AiinoAS' AouoeaAdS o1 uo1ldrs nave been expended in fruitless efforts to extinguish the flames.
 The Butler mine, near Pittston, has been burning three years. It was set on fire by a party of tramps, who built a fire in the mine in 1877. The fire is in the upper drifts. It Is confined to an area of forty acres by an immense ditch forty feet wide, which was ex- cavated between the burning drift and con- nected ones. The digging of the canal cost 0,000. But for that obstacle the fire would have communicated to some of the most ex- tensive mines in the Lackawanna valley, and a subterraneous confagation would have swept under the whole of West Pittston. Miners have worked in the lower drift of the Butler mine since the fire broke out but there are but forty feet of rock between them and the field of fire above The water that trickles through the roof is scalding hot. The temperature is so high that the men can wear but little clothing.