Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1885-12-20
TIE DREADFUL DETAILS.
The Work of Rescus-Little Hope OF Saw
ing the Men.

ing the Men.
WnKGsBARRE, Pa December l9-It
has nov been definitely decided that the
disaster at No. Slope of the Susquehanns
Coal Company At Nanticoke was caused
by the caVipg in Of the roof and the rush.
ing in Of large body Of water
which had accumulated on the sur
face from natural drainage. This water
brought with it a vast quantity of culm Of
coal dirt which blocked up the gaDgways
and passages and cut off the escape Of
number Of men IN the upper lift. The
caving in was started by blast fred by
Oliver Kineler, one Of the men now in the
mine. The exact.
NUMBER OF MEN IMPRISONED
In the mine cannot even now be exactly
told, but 1T 6 o'clock this evening it wGs
believed on what were thought good
grounds that twenty-niue persons were in
the Minis. Of these eighteen are Welsh,
Irish or Americans and the
rest Polish or Hungarian laborers
Whether they are alive or dead
cannot be told. If they have been en-
abled TO obtain fresh air they are IN.
doubtedly still alive, and there is good
hope of rescuiDg them. Many experienced
miners believe, however, that in their posi'
uon they could not get any new supply Of
air, and that having exhausted what little
was in the workings they must now be
PERIsHING From sCFToCATIoN.
The measures for the relief of those still in
the mines were begun as soon as the other
men had been brought to the surface. At
first little could De done, for the water was
FIVE feet deep aud it was impossible to
commence digging away the sand cuim
which blocked up the gsngwsys. Last
evening. however, the water subsidized, the
paving all ran of to the lower level Of the
mine, and effective work was commenced
10 earnest. Two gangs OF men were set TO
work excayating from different points tow
ards where it is believed the men are One
party, sixty strong, commenced work from
The foot Of the main shaft. This is the
nearest point to the place where the men
are, but
GREAT DIFFICULTIES
are encountered. There is no hosting
apparatus at the air shaft. The men and
tools are sent down BY derrick. The
workers are obliged to throw behind them
the material they excsvate and this hin.
ders them. The gangWay being blocked
M at one end, they could get
70 circulation of air until tubes
were brought and cir forced through them
from a compression used for rock drills to
the place where men were at work. The
rescuers are working with the greatest
possible energy tonight. The thought
that their comrades are perishing on the
other side of the mass of rock,
sand, snd dirt nerves every arm
with a grand strength. The gangs
are relieved every four hours, and sixty
men have been constantly at work since
last evening At 6 o'clock this evening it
was believed they had penetrated to
within fifty or sixty feet Of where
the imprisoned men are. Another par
" are working from the direction
Of the Slope towards the same point.
Thew have further to 60 but have better
facilities. The air is pure and they have
a powerful hosting engines to carry out
the excAvated material. Whether the men
can be reached in time to save any lives
cannot be definitely told. There is
LITTLE GEoUSD FOR HOPE.
bat the efforts will not be abandoned IN
nil he fate of the imprisoned men is deter.
mined. The people Of Nsuticoke are in
the creates. excitement and nothing is
thouS ht or talked of but the disaster.
Business is partially suspended and the
colliery is surrounded by hundreds of
persons, among whom are many relations
of the imprisoned men eager to learn how
the work goes on below and to gain o
houe that their friends may be rescued.
The officials Of the company state this
evening that there are
TwSSTY-FoUR MEN IN tbs FATAL SLOPE,
and not Twenty-Five as generally under
stood. They state further that the disas-
ter was prscipisstsd BY col apse of the
passage way Of the tunnel TO the extent OF
i've feet, causing q depression which
brought down into the tunnel twenty foot
vein of lake quickssnd. The vacuum ere
stsd by this break created an arch, and
through heavy fssure in the roof q mass
of culm estimated at 5000 tons with the
contents of q pond Of water overhead
containing over 10000, 600 gallons, poured
in flooding both No. l and No; slopes
and choking up the tunnel and carrying
with it 6'ty-tRo miners who were at work
there. Of these twenty-four were, in all
probability, caught before they could gain
The chambers that pitched upward, and
they are supposed to be in this quicksand