The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1883-01-30

| Ttrc In hfne
xu,esbarrc Cave-in-Onc OF the neao'ha
"a r,eu-r ompany's Workings Burn
ing. --
,hont noon saturday Gre was discovered
IN the wcs; gangway OF the Dear 'aie'
shaft. situated three miles from Snnnoein'
pa. owned and operated 10y tue In'iauel-
irhe m,ners working in that portion OF the
-. ;r,r,cdiately communicated the IN
s's.,;or ,o the inside foreman. cor
iV' u'S.'L savs: An investigation was in
..,ii',"S and developed the fact that fu-
s.i.u's 49,, go burning in manway between
,.~aas.s Nos. o and 10. The work OF
'gs,,;nc hole parallel 70 the manway
,.hcre Che FIRE exists was begun for
,hc nurpose OF asceItaining the en-
,"',, ~ the fire, which ii is feared has
already assumed alarming proportions. and
s,,,,cb trouhle may be experienced In cXtin-
"mishing II. All the engine hose belonging
70 lbe shamokin fire department has been
brought into requisition, in addition TO
,ylat was received from neighboring coll
Ic,,es. and is now attached TO the mine
nnpn: but owing to the heavy pitch OF
lie yein. which is almost perpendicular,
hu, small stream can be thrown into the
n,onway. where the fire Is raging. Nothing
dc.n;,c can be learned until the driving OF
Tho hole IL completed. which will take con-
sid.roble time. The Coal and Iron Com
nsny's mine experts are on the ground, ana
evcrytbing i being done to prevent the
s,re.d of the flames and to avoid the flood
nc ot the mine, which has only recently
Lecn oDenrd. \ new breaker had just been
erected The shaft was 10 begin working
10 if, full capacity next week. The origin
of the fire Is involved in mystery. should
II be necessary to food the new workings
lust opened an enormous expense VIII be
entailed on the company. The shaft gave
employment 10 four hundred men and
bovs. and was destined TO become tlefneSt
in the scbuylkill or Northumberland re-
gions.
LATER-A TERRIBLE EXPLosiON-Thb fihh
sTILL RAGING.
4 special telegram TO the Philadelphia
Times dated sunday says: terrific eN-
plosion occurred this morning in the burn
inc coal mine at Bear Valley. The vicinity
oi the mine was badly shaken up by the
shock. but no great damage was done to
the mine itself, though considerable eN-
cifement WAS created. Forces OF men were
ascertain the extent OF the fire and the
best means OF extinguishing it. An open
ing driven into the works parallel with the
burning man-hole was completed about 9
o'clock la. night. A drill-hols was then
bored to the fire, and through this water
has been thrown ever since.
What effect this had cannot be learned
before tomorrow. by which time another
IN 49,. bao,, mo la nqqr fine fire The
air i completely shut off from the fire for
the Durpose Of smothcring it in that way.
Preparations are also in progress to-day
10 draw the coal from the breasts, which
extend upward about eighty feet. 1t is
thought that after this has been done the
fire can be pulled down and eXtinguished
with comparative ease and safety. Flood
inc will not be resOrted to until all other
means have been unsuccesSfully tried.
The mine was visited to-day by General
Inspectors Veith and Doyle, of POttsvillc.
The former remains i'm charge tonight and
will be relieved tomorrow by Mr.. Doyle.
No idea has vet been formed OF the origin
OF the fire or its extent, and nothing can
be said positively about these points for q
day or two. The shaft is $40 feet deep, |
and the fire is about 1000 feet west OF the |
foot OF the shaft, in portion Of the mine |
that has not been worked for several years. |
The shaft was sunk ten years ago.
Buried Beneath Mass of Earth and
Timber.
4 Reading, Pa, telegram OF the 9th
SAYS: About O'Clock this afternoon Il
terrible accident occurred at Jonas Metz |
gers ore bed, near Ruchsyille, Lehigh !
county. The men were ut work in the |
shaft. and suddenly, without warning, the |
timber crushed down upon them. followed |
BY mass Of earth and ore, burying two |
Of the men in the ground aud imprisoning |
three in the trench behind the barrier. |
Thp mass OF timber and earth struck |
William Metzgcr on the head, completely |
covering him. nothing being visible but |
the tips OF LIS fingers. \ force OF men /
were Immediately put to work digging him |
ont, but this was found to be a difficult !
matter. y the earth fell in a. fast rs re-
moved. He j. badly hurt, though il is |
thought not fatally. II was noticed that |
the men inside the shaft were still alive. /
One of the men, named John billiard, sue |
ceeded in digging his way out. but the |
passage Of his exit was Immediately closed |
again by the falling i'm of additional ore |
and other debris. His injuries are not Sc
l.
crushed 10 death, as no trace OF him has
been discovered up TO late hour this
evening. A large force of employees Of the
Thomas Iron Company. together with
number Of other workmen, are busiIy en-
gagged IN rescuing those remaining in the
shaft with the hope Of finding them still
alive; but the general belief is that they are
already dead, being crushed by the terrible
ferI.t Of ~ ha l.. Lodi
by hundreds Of people from surrounding
towns ana excited and terror-stricken
friends making inquiries regarding the Vie
Tins Of the disaster.
A later dispatch says: The particulars
about the caye-in are very distressing.
Elias Hunsberger is certainly dead, as no
trace of him had been discovered up TO a
late hour Sunday afternoon. HIS escape
from death would be impossible. ~ many
ton, OF earth and ore must have fallen on
him. Three extra trains were run Sat
urday night on the Catasauqua and Fogels-
willie railroad 10 convey wOrkmen to the
scene of the accident who were to assist
in digging out the unfortunate men.
The great difficulty Is that new earth /
fails in as fast rs the other earth is removed,
and il may require all Of tomorrow TO get
Mr.. IIunsberger out. John billiard is not
expected TO live. William Metzger was
removed from his perilOus position about 9
O'Clock at night, after having been covered
With earth for seven hours. The lower
part Of his body was slightly paralyzed,
but no bones were broken. lie is terribly
bruised. and is unable to leave his bed.
The heavy rains interfere seriously with
the work OF the excavation.
Tho Wall a. ha
To Explore the Abandoned Cob