Seattle daily post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, W.T. [Wash.]) 1881-1888, 1883-03-29
N rHE co.l DasrxIcrs


ECAvE-Ixs IN rae coal DasTRICTs.
WuKEsBAxRx, Feb. 24.-Wherever
warm day comes the people who reside
IA the suburban ward of this town.
whose surface was lately disturbed BY
the giving way of the props in an aban-
doned colliery beneath, have their fears
rekiudied rs they think what Is likely
70 happen when the frost comes ont
the ground. 20 long as there are thr 2
or four feet OF frozen crust, as at pres
eut, there is NO danger. bat the show of
mud on the surface inspires nervous
forebodings. A few of those who moved
hastily away when the first cave-in &C.
curred have returned. b1s mos. Of them
sttu remain outside the dangerous dis
tEict. The large brick school edifce.
which rests on a Rridiron of open
seams, has not been used for any pur-
pose whatever since the openings be-
meath and surrounding il were made.
and will not be until the problem of its
further security is settled. A temporary
water supply was furnished short
time ago. The settling of the mine
roof below has been followed BY COM
pulsory desertion Of adjacent workings
on account OF the quantities of gas
forced into them, and hundreds of men
have been driven into idieness in con-
sequence. 1t is feared that some of the
active c0llieries may be flooded when
the spring rains come, as all the water
on the hundred and more acreS
that were disturbed runs down the
seams into the mines below. Close
to the northwestern boundary of the
present uncertain surface is a deep,
yawninR chssm, that looks like the
mouth of a crater. 1t is fully a Quarter
Of an acre in extent. A few years ago
a cave-in occurred here, followed by the
In pouring of stream of water that
flooded the mines and caused great
damage. For many days teams were
kept busy hauling loads Of baled hay,
which were pitched into the opening.
Hundreds OF tons were used for this
purpose before foundation was made
secure enough to hold large Quantities
Of dirt thrown down. Not until this
was done did the flooding cease. A
vast amount of land has been made use
less by cave holes. Stretching away
from the northern boundaries of the
COllieries in this immediate vicinity,
and lying mile or two west of the Sus-
quehanna, are miles upon miles of sur
face that look like huge cushions, the
cave-holes representing buttons Here
and there is a house topplsd half way
over, or standing, nlata paoric.lllv, on
its head. These houses have long been
deserted, and were left at different
periods by their occupants to become
the refuge of tramps or the hiding
places of fugitive Moliie Magaires. A
stranger would naturally infer shat
earthquakes were common enough in
this part of Pennsylvania, If he was
not acquainted with the real cause Of
the surface disturbances.
When the lines OF thu Lshigh and Sas-
quehanna branch of the Central Rail-
road of New Jersey were laid down many
of them were directly over these honey
combed acres. To prevent disaster the
company calsed vast parallels of trestle-
work to be built at a great expense in
the chambers Of the coliieries below, III
order TO provide safe and sure support
for the road above. The foresight that
led TO this method of self protection has
been demonstrated Oh moro than one
ago that a loaded passenger train on
valley narrowly escaped being entirely
enguifed by cavern that occurred not
two minutes after the train had passed.
The road runs along sideEili and be-
fore the smoke of the passing locono-
tive was lifted a foot above the hight
Of the coaches the rails shotrout of place
for distance of 400 yards, landing at
the bottom of the hill, fully 20 feet
away. The hill above sank back. form
ing a long, deep chasm where the rails
originally ran, for 4 long distance. One
can family imagine the awful scenes
that must have followed had the cava-in
occurred while the train was passing.
There WAS a remarkable cave-in near
Stockton, in the lower end of this conn
~, about seven years ago. Stockton is
composed entirely Of the scattered
homes of miners, many of which stand
alone. Two Stockton miners, named
respectively James Swenk and Isaac
RauRh, occupied, with their families,
houses near each other, and at some
distance from the town proper. They
were industrious men. and owned the
houses in which they lived. One day
the two miners we've missed from their
accustomed chambers in the col!iery
where they worked. Nothing was
thought about their absence at first.
but when nearly week passed and
they did not return, their comrades be-
gan to be alarmed. Finally, on bright
Sunday morning, party of miners set
out to find out what had become of
Raugh and his ueighbor. Their ho,nes
were fully two miles from the mines
where they had been at work. When
the searching party came near the site
of the homes of the missing miners,
somebody remarked carelessly, that he
guessed the lads had skipped the
country and taken their houses with
them.' Sure enough, when the party
had gone about twenty rods further,
they found a great cave hole which
sloped down fully sixty feet. The
homes Of the two missing miners had
stood on that very spot before the sur
face caved in. The searchers, after a
brief moment of establishment and sus-
pense, gazsd to see if they had not mis-
calculated, but familiar objects upon all
sides too plainly showed where the
dwellings, had lately stood. They had
gone down. and their occupants were
entombed below. Quickly as possible
two of the searchers ran back to Stock
ton to tell their story and enlist CON-
pany Of rescuers. Within an hour an
army of men were at work, digging
away at the bottom Of the deep chasm.
The sun went down and night came,
but the work went on, relief squads fol-
lowing each other in tie sorrowful task.
All the collieries in the neighborhood
stopped, for the miners fiocked in hun
drelis to the scene of the disaster, too
deeply interested in the fate of their
comrades to work. 1t took three days
steady digging TO disclose the top of
Raugh's house. Wher it was reached a
hole was cut in the roof, and two or
three men crawled through it into the
garnet. Lights were brought, and an
examination showed that though the
dwelling was squeezed considerably out
Of shape, il was not completely ruined.
Crowds Of excited men. women and
children stood around the rim of the
chasm, their gaze fixed intently upon
tho work of the mon below. When the
roof Of Raugh's house was revealed tho
widest cries of distress arose from the
crowd circled about the opening. All
wondered what was to come next, and
when, short time after, the oniookers
sav the men on tho roof lift through the
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