The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1883-02-19
THE BRAIDW0OD DISAE
Further Particulars of the CavinS-In
of the Diamond Mine.
From Seventy to Eighty Men and Boys
Drowned in the Mine-Narrow Es-
cape of 200 Others,

from Braldwood gives further particulars
concerning the disaster at the Diamond
Mines, showing it to be worse than at first
reported. The mine was operated by a
stock company. The floods and the recent
thaw had loosened the earth about the
mouth of the pit, and a landslide began
abou6 o'clock Friday afternoon, which IN
few minutes imprisoned some eighty
miners. The cave-in is nearly ninety feet
square. Braidwood is one of the largest coal
mining places in the State.
Mr.. A. L. Sweet, president of the Diamond
Mine Company, says that 300 men were in
the various shafts when the ground sagged
in under the weight of water that had at once
saturated and loosened it. Sixty-two 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 now buried beneath many
tons of earth. One hundred acres have been
| excavated, and the miners not in the one I'M
fortunate shaft escaped. Digging and pump
ing is going on vigorously, but it will be
many hours before the first bodies can be
reached.
Sixty-eight men and six boys lie dead in
the mine. and it may be weeks before even
the melancholy satisfaction of recovering
their bodies is accorded. No such calamity
has befallen this section of the country or
any other mining region. The whole of Dia-
mond l. devoted to mining, and this blow
carries death into 100 families.
| In several instances all the male members
of family have been swept away. A section
of prairie land forty by ninety feet, over
which the floods had extended until the
water stood three or four feet deep, suddenly
caved in, the result being an instantaneous
! flooding of mine, in which 800 men and
boys were at work, Inside of half an honr
the water had reached all parts of the
works, and now stands within five
| feet of the main shaft Seventy
! four human beings were cholxed to
death in the grim recesses of the mine All
! hope of possible rescue of any of them by the
! opening of a diving from an old ore-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 is in the extreme corner of Will
county. The miners live in village just
across the line in Grundy county. The Da-
mond Company's pits are know as No. l, 2,
etc.
Friday morning 200 or 800 went in Those
who escaped did so by miracle. Shaft No.
is ninety feet deep, and above the coal lies
| seventy to one hundred and ten feet of earth.
| The coal vein varies in thickness from two
| feet nine inches to four feet.
AN EYEWITNESS NARRATION.
The following is the story of John Huber,
an eyewitness of the whole affair, and man
who was in the mine at the time OF the acct
dent:
II was working in one of the west sections
of the main corridor, and had Just got my
car ready for transfer when Il heard voice,
which sounded weak at first, saying Look
out! The water is coming For few mo-
ments 1 did not com prehend the awful
meaning of the language used and so went
| back to block up the coal. when | heard the
same warning again and again, and small
stream of water running down the center OF
the track. The truth at once flashed upon
me that | in danger, and that the water
was coming from some unknown locality. /
rushed as fast as the nature of the passags
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 as l could for
| the air-shaft where l knew there was a lad
! der, and that l could get out. By this time
the water was up to my armpits, and | had
a hard time to get up the shaft, so exhausted
was l with the rapid run l had
made in the stopping position.
| When 1 got home, great God! .
what did see? There. upon her bed, lay
my wife, tearing her hair and waiing in al
most crazy condition. oh, john she
said, where are the boys% The truth then
flashed upon me that perhaps they were
| dead. | went back as fast as I could, and
| found that my horrible anticipatons were.
| only too true and that the boys had not been
seen since entering the shaft in the morn
| ing"
At 11:47 o'clock to-day, as stated by man
| who was upon the ground the first manifes-
tation of danger was noted. AT the bottom
OF the main shaft young man named
| Thomas Daily was employed as pump man or
eager. His duties were to see that the pumps
worked right, and to signal the engineer at
| the top of the shaft by means of bell when
| it was desired to use the cages for the trans
mission of men or material. He noticed that
the water was increasing in the bottom Of
the shaft, and supposing that the engines
! were not doing their full work, assembled to
the top of the shaft to notify the engineer to
put on more steam. On his arrival he found
! that there was plenty of steam, and that the
engines were working at the capacity requi
| site to keep down any ordinary inflow. I'm
mediately descending, he found the water
rapidly rising, and in a few minutes it was
up to his breast. All hope for escape for the
miners was then quickly cut Off even before
an alarm could be given, and Daily was driven
to return to the top OF the shaft
The situation at the Diamond Mine is
practically unchanged. No additions to the
| list of drowned is reported. large number
of people from the surrounding country are
visiting the dreary scene. A dam around
the sink-hole is about half completed, and it,
| is expected to be finished tomorrow and the
work of pumping out the water begun.
Doubts are expressed as to whether the
dam is being built strong enough to-
resist the water from the surrounding prai-
ries after pumping begins and it may become
necessary to dig ditch to Goose Lake. dis
lance five miles, before the work of getting
the water out will be successfully carried on
The mayor of this town has called mass
meeting OF the citizens for tomorrow to take
| the necessary steps to relieve distress in the
| families of the drowned miners.
Aid for the Destitute.
! Special to the INDIANAPOLIS Journal
| BLOOMINGTON, ILL.,, Feb. 1S.-The various
e L. L.