Huntsville gazette., 1883-02-24
ANOTHER COAL NINE HORROR!
The Rapid Thaw Causes a Great Cave-in ut
Braidwood, ILL.,, Entombing and Drown
ing the Miners in a Shaft-Seventy. one
Lives Lost. ..-.. .

SAASfuo, AOUl l4s
A report was received here this evening
from Joliet that the town of Braidwood, about
fifteen miles from Joliet, had been the scene
to- day of a great mine disaster, in which the
first report said sixty lives had been lost.
correspondent succeeded in getting con.
frmation of the reported saster at Braid
wood in a brief interview with a. l.. Sweet,
President of the Four Mines Company and the
Diams1.4d Nine Company
Mr.. Sweet says that 800 men were in the va.
rious shafts this afternoon, when the ground
sagged under the weight of water that had
saturated and loosened it. Sixty-tw men
were in one shaft, which caught the bulk of
the falling DEBRIS and which was instantly
hooded. Every one of them was either
drowned or smothered inside of five minutes.
Their bodies are buried beneath many tons of
earth. One hundred acres have been exca-
waited, and the miners not in the one unfor-
tunate shaft escaped. Diggin~ and pumping
is going on vigorously, but it will be many
hours before the first bodies can be reached
section of prairie land forty by fifty feet,
over which the floods had extended until the
water stood three or four feet deep, suddenly
caved in, resulting in an instant flooding of a
mine in which 800 men and boys were work
ing. Inside of half an hour the water reached
all parts of the works, and to night it stands
within five feet of the main shat. Seventy
one human beings were choked to death in
the grim recesses of the mine. All hope of
possible rescue of any of them by the OPEN
ing of a dividing from an od shaft in the
empties was abandoned ut dusk.
This was the most terrible tragedy that ever
visited the Wilmington coal fl Id. 1t was in
the No shaft of the Wilmington Coal Mining
Manufacturing Company, known as the Dia-
mond Company's. The little village of Dia-
mond is a scene of desolation, calculated to
wiring the heart of even the most hardened.
The pit in which to days horror occurred
has been operated about two years and 200 to
400 men and boys have been regularly en-
ployed in it. This morning 29o or 800 went
in. Those who escaped did so by a miracle.
Shaft No. is ninety two feet deep, and
above the coal is 10 to 10 feet of earth. The
| coal vein ranges in thickness from two feet
nine inches to folr feet. Above it is a layer
| of soapstone resting on bed of fire clay.
| The vein winds and dips a good deal, and
thus some parts of the mines are lower than
others. From the main shaft radiate pas
sages in every direction, in which coal is
found. These must be four feet high and six
inches wide. The miners prop the passages
with timber and soapstone. These props did
not prove strong enough for the superincum.
bent mass of soggy earth.
The following is the story of John Haber, an
eye witness of the whole affair, and man
who was in the mine at the time of the acci-
dent: / was working in one of the west Sec
tions of the main corridor and had inst got my
car ready for transfer when 1 heard a voice,
weak at first. saving, "Look out, the water Is
coming" For a few minutes | did not com
preheud the awful meaning of the language
used, and so went back to block up the coal,
when heard the warning again and again,
and saw a small stream of water running
down the center of the track. The truth at
once flashed upon me that / was
in danger, and that the water was coming
from some unknown locality. i rushed as
fast as the nature of the passage would allow
to where thought my two sons were at work,
but found that they had gone. | then yelled
at the top of my voice to the men near me,
and made as fast az could fOr the air shaft,
where I knew there was ladder, and that |
could get out. By this time the water was up
to my armpits and had a hard time to get
up the shapt, exhausted was l with the
rapid run had made in the STOPPING posi-
ton. When go home, there upon her bed
lay my wife tearing her hair and wailing and
almost crazy.
ooh, john" she said, "where are the
boys?"
Inc tfuUn Cnsn HdSncu upon me tntC per
haps they were dead. went back as fast as
/ could and found that my horrible antcipa-
tions were true and that the boys had not
been seen since entering the shaft in the
morning.
Andrew Costigan was hauled out OF
theshaft more dead than alive, and after
being resucitated gave the following recital:
81 was working in chamber ID in company
with German whose name l do not know.
We had just shipped the car and sat
for a short breathing spell when my
partner noticed dripping noise as though
the water was coming through the roof and
said he thought there was a leak somewhere.
We both went out of the chamber into the
main corridor that leads to the hoisting
shaft and listened. 1t did not take us long
to determine what was the matter. The roof
had caved and the water was upon ms. We
both ran in the direction of the shaft, my
partner being behind me. The wall above
this corridor was not level, there being holes
in the floor with a corresponding sloping of
the walls so that we had to run down and up
these small hills. The water had already filed
these scoopad out places and we found the
water three feet deep in some of them.
By the time we had gone 2o0 feet
we had water up to our necks on
the level, and when we went into
one of the hollow places we held our noses
until we came to another place. at last got
TO the shaft, but what became Of my com
panion, God only knows. He was never seen
again and was only too glad myself to get
out alive"
The following is a complete list of the lost
obtained from David Mackie, Superint ndent
of the mine: A. McQuestion, Sri, A. McQues
ton, Jr., Robt McQuestion, - McQuestion,
Isaac Pearson, John Neil, b. Schatzel, p. G.
Redmond Matte Redmond, John Boyd Henry
Eadie, James Carroll, William Scholtz, An
gust Rambart, Jacob LEM. Carl Schiller.
III. Nesbit, Robert Harper, Alexander Orr, Geo.
Butskerouski, f. Butskerouski, Joe Gootes
NJ. Neyski, unknown man, John
Dcnbroki, A. Heca, Simon Stumps, Fritz
Kae, Frank kloss, John kullock, Lou Huber,
John Huber, Chris Huber, James Pierson,
Anton, Denbroki Frank Murray, A. Damn,
E. Damn, John Smith, Samuel Atkins,
Arlington, D. Mcbride, Otto Osterlow, John
Pierson, John French, John johnson, John
Anderson, John Atkins, Frank Nation,
Pat Hallywall. Thomas Costigan. HI. Unger,
d. Groter, R. stewart, william Sekora, An
drew Fulton, Joe Smith, Joe Mattem, Jr.,
Henry K1esser, Hugh Ramsey, Frank S. Ocup,
A. stewart, Jr.. A. Kalenburg, Murray Sulli-