The Carbon advocate. [volume] (Lehighton, Pa.) 1872-1924, 1885-08-15
DEAD IN THE COAL MINE !
MANY MINERS LOSE THEIR LIVES. HoR-
RIBLE CARELEssNEss AND INDIF-
FERENCE OF A BOSS WHO AL
LOWED woRKMEN TO GO
INTO A MINE WITHOUT
A FAN. LIST OF
KILLED.
W1LKEsBARRE, August II,

One OF the most teariul accidents Jnat
has occurred In this section for many
years took place to-day at the mines Of
West End Coal Company, at ShiclI-
shinny, eighteen miles below Wilkes
barre, on the Susquehanna river. The
accident Is due to gross carelessness and
mismanagement. Just how many are
killed Is not known. There are still q
number in the mine, but the following
Is a list of the victims as far as can be
at present obtained;
John Bllby, miner. 10 years, married, with
FIVE children,
Hiram o. Meade, miner, 10 years, married
with two children.
James Fry, miner, 81 years, married With
two children,
Nicholas Bertels, miner, SO years, married
With five children
Wilson Rymer, laborer, 2s years, married
with two children.
James Wheelan, miner, q years, widower,
William Zeinty, Polish laborer, "a years
single,
SNNA biVAiSh4t Lttloh lllilSli q EtslA i9lA4sLc
Anthony Boraski, Polish laborer, 2l years
single.
John Brofskoski, Polish miner, q years
married, with three children,
Lubin Uywiliofski, Polish miner, 90 years,
single.
William Price laborer. % gears, single,
SITUATION OF TIE MINE.
The mines of the West End Coal Co.,
are situated near the summit Of the
mountain on the opposite side Of the
river from Shickshinny and about two
and one-half miles distant from that
place. They have been opened only q
few years and the portion where the dis
aster occurred Is In the newest part of
the mine. Access to the workings is
gained through a slope in the hillside.
This slope is some 14OO feet long and
near the bottom Of it is situated the fan,
which keeps the workings supplied with
pure air. The seams OF coal which are
now being worked are particularly free
from gas and an explosion Is an un-
known thing. The coal, however, gives
out considerable sulphurous fumes,
which are extremely deadly in their ma
ture, and it is TO keep the mine clear Of
these fumes that the fan is necessary.
At present the colliery is working night
and day,
THE BROKEN FAN.
Just before IL o'clock last night, when
the night shift quit work, the eccentric
on the fan engine broke and the shaft OF
the fan became bent, Of course the
fan was disabled. No difficulty was eX'
perienced by the night shift, however,
and shortly after midnight they came
out. At I in the morning the men or
the day shift came to work. They
heard that the fan was broken and be.
fore going TO work spoke to the mine
boss, Christian Conrad. He told then
that the mine was all right; that the far
would be working in an hour, and tina!
bliSf oiiONiN ~ W Win
Sixty went down the slope, but many,
fearing the sulphur fumes, refused to &C
down. Nor were their fears unfounded
Scarcely had the men got to their work
ing places--in fact, many were still or
their way down the slopcs-wheu they
began to feel the suffocating fumes
mixed with the nagseous gases that haC
accumulated in the mine over night ani
permeated every crevice. Unlike the
usual mine gas, or black damp, these
sulphur fumes gave their victims nc
time.
HOW THE MEN WERE OVERCOME.
Without warning, without a minutes
time to help themselves, the umlorLu
nate men were overcome aud dropped
where they stood. Their companions
who could fed back to the open air anC
gave the alarm. Several of those VIII,
were overcome, getting fresher air neai
the ground, partially recovered anC
crawled towards the surface. The new'
spread rapidly. The men at work in IN,
breaker, lower down the hill hasteneJ
to the rescue. Relief parties wer,
formed and the first party that wen
down the mine was headed by Bosi
Conrad himself.
This party reached the foot of tht
slope in safety. They met a few mel
half stupefed with the fumes struggling
TO reach the surface and crawling oI
their hands and knees or staggerin.
from side to side like drunken mon.
They were assisted to fresh air AM
stimulants administered. An attemp
to penetrate into the workings resulted
in half the relief party being renderet
unconscious and the others were left il
little better shape. One Of the party
Peter Beraski, who had joined the part,
in hopes of saving his brother, Anthony
crawled into the workings and neye
came out alive,
THE SECOND RELIEF PARTY.
a second party had meanwhile beel
formed, and they being well equippe
with stimulants and their faces covcrc'
with cloths wet with ammonia sucCeede,
in penetrating deeper into the working
and brought out q number Of men. The,
were found, as q rule, just where the
had dropped, and were sent to the sur
face in rapid succession. Doctors ha
by this time arrived from Shickshinny
and restoratives were speedily applied
and at first al brought 10 the sQrfac
were revived.
The most intense excitement pre-
vailed in Shiekshinny and vicinity. I
crowd OF many hundreds had assent bic
around the colliery, among whom wer
the wives and children OF many OF tn
miners inside. The grief was terribl
and it was only with difficulty that oFde
was maintained and the work Of relie
carried forward promptly.
BRINGING OUT THE DEAD.
The first dead man brought ont wa
James Wheelan. John Teasdale, sur
erintendept Of the company and one G
the chief stockholders, arrived On th
spot and entered the mine with one G
the relief parties. He was overcome b
! the gas, brought to the surface uncoI
sclous and remained so for many hours
nr IIuUbec NJ CbinEebiupv oi=o yuou