The Saline County journal. [volume] (Salina, Kan.) 1871-1893, 1883-05-24

secure enough 10 hold large quantitiel
Of dirt thrown down. Not until thi.
Was accomplisheda and the counse Of thu
creek changed did the flooding cease
A vast amount Of land has been made
useless by czye-holes. Stretching
away from the northern b0uudariel
Of the collieries In this immediate vi.
cinity. and lying mile or two ives,
Of the Susquehanns, are miles upon
miles Of surface land that looks like
huge cushions, the cave-holes repre-
senting the buttons Here and there
h house tOppled half way over, OF
standing on its head" These houses
have long been deserted and wers
left at different periods by their &C
cupants to become the refuge O
tramps or the hiding places Of fugi
uves, A visitor would naturally In
fer from appearances that earthquakes
are common enough in this part al
Pennsylvania, II not acquainted with
the real cause of surface disturbances
When the lines Of the Lehigh 4 Sus
quehsnna branch Of the New Jersy
Central Railroad were constructed,
many Of them were directly over
these honey-combed acres. To pre-
vent disaster the company caused vast
trestleworks To be built at great ex-
pense In the chambers Of the collicries
below. in order to provide safe and
sure support for the road above. The
foresight that led To this method OF
self protection has been demonstrated
on more than one Occasson In the past.
II Is not 50 very long ago that loaded
passenger train on one of the roads
running through the valley, narrowly
escaped being entirely engulfed by =
cave in that occurred not two minutes
after the train had passed. The road
runs along side hill with canal ON
the other side, and before the smoke
Of the passing locomotive was lifted q
foot above the height Of the coaches,
the rails shot out Of place for q dis
lance of four hundred yards. landing
ut the bottom Of the hill into the ca
nal fully two hundred feet away. The
hill above sank back, forming deep
through which the rails form
erly Gan, and now the canal water
ran" M q substitute for long dis.
tsnce. One can family imagine the
awful scene that must have followed
had the cave in occurred while the
train WAS passing along Mt u rapid
rate.
A remarkable cavern occurred near
in the lower end Of the
county, about seven years ago. The
village is composed entirely OF the
scattered houses Of miners, many Of
which stand alone. Two Stockton
miners named respectively James
Swank and Isaac Raugh, occupied
with their families, houses close To
each other aud at some distance from
the town proper. They were indus.
trious men and owned the houses in
which they lived one day the min
ers were missed from their accustoIn-
Ell chsinbers in the colliery where
they worked; nothing WAS thought
about their absence at first, but when
nearly = week passed and they did not
return, their comrades began to be
alarmed. Finally party of miners
set out to make inquiry after the absent
men. Their houses were fully two
miles away from the mines where
they had been at work. When the
party came near the site Of
the houses Of the missing miners,
carelessly remarked that
he guessed the lads had skipped the
and taken their houses with
them" Sure enough, when the party
of searchers had gone about twenty
reds further. they found great cave
hole which sloped down fully sixty
feet. The houses of the two missing
miners had stood on that very spot
hA in.
after brief moment of aston
ishment and suspense, gazed about To
see IL they had not miscalculated but
objects upon all sides too
plainly showed where the dwellings
had lately stood. They had gone down
and their occupants were entonibed
below. Quickly rs possible two Of
the searchers ran back To Stockton tn
tell their story and summon assist
snce. Within an hour an army Of
men were at work, digging away at
the bottom of the deep chasni. The
sun went down aud night came but the
work went on, relief squads following
zach other I'm the sorrowf full task. All
he collieries i'm the neighborhood
stopped, for the miners fiocked in
hundreds To the scene OF the disaster,
90 deeply interested i'm the fate Of
heir comrades Ia work IL took three
lays steady digging To disclose the
op Of Raugh's house. When IL was
cached hole WAS cut i'm the roof, and
wO or three men crawled through il
nto the garnet. Lights were brought
mi AN examination showed that
hougii the dwelling was squeezed
out of shape il was not
ruined. Crowds of ex-
tied men, women and children stood
round the rim of the chasiI, their
,aze fixed intently upon the work Of
he men below. When the roof Of
hous was revealed. the Wild
1t cries of distress arose from the
rowd eircled about the opening. All
wondered what was Ia come next,
MI when u short time after. the
DOkers-On saw the men OH the roof
in through the hole an inaniiiiate
Drin and lay IL tenderly down near
v, the cries OF sorruw grew louder.
'o less than ten bodies were thus re-
iovcd They were those of Raugh, |
is wife and eight children. the small |
st a babe not above "A year old. All |
al found "a common sepulchre |
rnong theirlhousehold gods. Swank's
ouse WAS SOME distance away, and IA
ne fate of the two families were now
nown, a halt was made before pro-
.e,iing further. Meanwhile qiIes-
ION arose as to the feasibility of I'M
arthing Swank's dwelling came up. |
he rescue of the bodies could only he |
" the purpose of q second interment,
nd as the work was severe and tedi- |
US as well rs extremely dangerous,
nj the men engaged In IL tired out, Ii |
as finally decided to fill in the hole
bOve Swank's house without dis
irbing the bodies, When this had
zen done, funeral services were held.
memorial slab was afterward erect
above the spot where Swanke and
is family, consisting of n wife and
We children, were entombed. A
ne visitor To stockton to-day, has the
lace pointed out To him by the ihhab-
ants who still tell the story of the
III disaster. The houses Of Swank
nd Raugh must have gone down
i'm the midst Of the night. a.
I the bodies were found in their
ight clothes.
The above accounts Of cave-ins are
lly few of hundreds which are Oc-
lrriDg each year. and many Of them
e far more appalling and disastrous.
Yours truly, H. q. MERRILL.
SONGS Of the SOLDIERS.