The new North-west. [volume] (Deer Lodge, Mont.) 1869-1897, 1883-02-23
A COAL MINE HORROR.
Ninety Acres of Earth Cave In On a co.,
. Mine,


just been held with A. S. Sweet, presiden, Of
'thirty-four mines, comprising the Diamond
mine, confirming the reports of the terrific
disaster at Bradwood. Sweets informa,ion
is that 800 men were in the Various shaft,
when the ground sagged IN under the weich,
Of water that had At once loosened II: s,x,r
two were In one shaft which caught the huIL
of the falling debris and which was instap,lv
flooded. Every one Of them were eilbsr
drowned or smothered inside of five min
utes. Their bodies are now buried bene,,h
many tons of earth. A hundred acres b,vs
been excavated. The miners not In the On.
unfortunate shaft all escaped. Pumping !.
going on vigorously, but 1t will be mapv
hours before the first bodies can be reached
The mine was Of the ordinary kind, supplied
with regular shafts aud supposed to be wei,
protected from accident. The wires n
Joliet are in bad shape; no full report We,
received from the scene.
An Inter Ocean Joliet dispatch SAYS that
the Diamond mine disaster was caused BY
the floods and recent thaw which had
loosened the earth about the mouth of the
pit and the Hand slide which began about 8
O'Clock this afternoon, which, in a few
moments, imprisoned eighty miners. The
loss Of life Is placed at from thirty to sixty.
Two thousand men are at work rs rescuing
party. The cave is ninety feet square.
The Tribune's Braidwood special gives the
following list of miners known to be lost
John Huler, leaves a wife and four children;
Andrew McQuestion leaves q wife and five
children; Robert McQuestion; Isaac Pierson,
leaves a wife and one child; james Carroll:
b. Chalzel, leaves q wife and three children:
John Boyd, leaves q wife; II. Cady; John
Neil, leaves q wife and six children; A. Orr,
leaves a wife and three children; r. Harper,
leaves wife'and three children; P. G. Red
man, leaves . wife and two children; p.
Wall; Fritz Koe; Samuel Atkins, leave. a
wife and six. children; John Atkins. A,
Hoeka, leaves q wife and two children. Geo
Bulskonsky; John Bulskonsky; Larry Sun.
van; John Brokma, leaves q wife and four
children; A. Fulton; X. Grade; VIM. Schools,
leaves a wife and two children; James Pear,
son; John Pearson; Harry Ungher, leaves a
wife and child; Joe Mathew; A. Gotenberger
Frank Mott, leaves wife and three children;
w. Klieser; Joe Smith; c. Clotln; John
Outlook; Frank Klass; Adam Damn, leave,
a wife and four children; E. D. Amin Joe
Crates; NJ. Nsyski; John Denbrosky; Anton
Denbrosky; +. Nun; II. Kemsey; F. Saup.
Latt Belz; p. Seek; John Huber; Frank
Huber; Willie McQuestion; Adam McQues-
lion, Jr.. John Pierson; Matthew Rednau;
d. M. Bridge; T. Costigan; Adam Stewart,
Jr.; Frank Stewart; Hugh Nesbitt; A. D.
Egington; Simon Stumps; John Smith; R.
Rabbert; George Matthew; W. c. Secora; H.
Clessner; J. Lense; JOHN French; John John.
son; o. o. Sterlo; John Anderson; WIN.
McCutty; Thomas Rogers, and Joe Rusek
This was the most terrible tragedy that
ever visited the Wilmington coal field. 1t
was in the No. 2 shaft Of the Wilmington
Coal Mine & Manufacturing Co., known as
the Diamond Co. 1t was situated three and
half miles northwest Of this city. The little
village OF Diamond Is scene of desolation
calculated to wiring the hearts of the most
hardened TO scenes of misery. Eighty usn
and six boys lie dead in the mine, and II
may be weeks before even the melancholy
satisfaction Of recovering their dead bodies
is accorded. No such calamity has ever be.
fallen this section Of country or any other
mining region. The whole Of Diamond Is
devoted to mining, and this blow carries
death into one hundred families. In several
instances all the male members of the fam.
lily have been swept away. A section Of
prairie land ninety by ninety feet, over
which the floods had extended until the wa
ter stood three or four feet deep, suddenly
caved in, the result being the instantaneous
| flooding Of mine In which 800 men and
boys were At work. Inside of half an hour
the water had reached all parts of the works
and tonight 1t was within five feet Of the
main shaft; seventy-four human beings were
choked to death In the grim recesses Of the
mine. All hope of possible rescue of any Of
them by the opening of a driveway from an
old air shaft into the works was abandoned
At dusk, when the water poured into the last
named shaft and the workmen were com.
PEELED to desist. The mine was in the sI.
IRENE corner Of viii county. The Diamond
Co.'s pits are known as No. and 2, K, etc.
One Of the leading stockholders. Is Hugh
Jewett, Of the Erie railway. Pit No. 2, th,
scene Of to-day's horror, has been operated
about three years, and 200to 400 men and
boys were regularly employed In it. Thl:
afternoon 200 or 800 went In. Those who
went in and came out again did so by mir
acle. Shaft No. 2 is ninety.two feet deep
and above the coal lies 10 to 10 feet of earth
The coal vein varies in thickness from two
feet nine inches to- nine feet. Above it Is
layer Of soapstone resting on q bed Of FRI
clay. The vein winds and dips good deal
and thus some parts Of the mine are love-
than others. From che main shaft are
passages in every direction, In which coal !.
to be found. These must be four feet hlgl
by six wide. The miners proposed to prol
the passage with timber and soapstone. Th
props did not pro We to be strong enough 70
the superintendent moss of soggy earth.
News Of the accident soon spread, and
great crowd gathered about the mouth of th
pit, where the workmen were fishing out th
almost exhausted and nearly drowned me-
who were alive at the bottom of the shan
Many wife and daughter knelt Oh th
ground and prayed fervsntly for the safet
of her loved one, and as the heart. rendin
character Of the calamity appeared, tie gris
OF the survivors was outspoken and painful
to behold. A wife bent over the shaft as be
husband climbed up the ladder with Til
dead body of his son in his arms. She ex
tended her hand to receive him, aud was dis
appointed and doomed to greater grief, 70
the man, worn out by the desperate struggp
for life and for the body of his son, fell bac'
into the pit, and was q lifeless corpse. lie ha
net been seen since. Mrs. McQues,ion, who's
husband and three sons were buried, up0T
learning the news, was Frustrated, and nov
lies In precarious condition, with her mint
permanently injured. Instances Of patbeb
nature multiply. The seeker for them will
find rich harvest here.
Opening of the Short Line to shoshons