The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1885-12-24
ABANDONED.
ALL HOPE OF RESCUING
THE BURIED MINERS
GIVEN UP.
TWENTY -FOUR UNFORTUNATES
AT LAST SURRENDERED TO
THEIR FATE.

WnKEsBARRE, Pa, December I9-The outlook
at No. slip this mOrnin. was frightful. Mine In
spectCr Williams says that if the men can be
reached in AZ hours, they will be found alive. The
total exhaustion of air will not occur before them
but the chances of rescue are very slim, from the
fact that the air circuit has been broken. Superin
tendent Morgan finds 81 feet OF quick-Sand and
earth to be dug away, wedged in between the mine
timbers, which have sprung inward and crossed,
presenting an almost insurmountable barrier.
Shifts are changed every two hours, but the
qnicksand Immediately fills in the place that has
been taken ont before. The best authority SAYS it
will require five or six days to DIG through. This
ends all hope of the twenty mine men inSIisoned,
who it is believed, died within the ffstS twelve
hours, from suffocatiOn. Sixteen English, Irish
and Weleh and thirteen Polanders and Hungari-
are known to be entOmbed in the chamber of
death
Officials of the company state this evening there
are twenty -four in the fatal slope, not twenty
nine, as generally understood. They state further
that the disaster precipated by the collapse of
the passage way of the tunnel to the extent of five
feet, causing depression which brought down into
the tunnel a twenty-tOn vein of quick sand. The
vacuum created by this break created an arch and
through heavy fissure in the rock, mass of
culm, estimated at 300 tons, while the contents of
pond OF water overhead containing 2O.000,000 gal
Ions, poured into the mine, flooding both No. and
slopes and choking up the tunnel and carrying
with it fifty-two miners who at work there,
Of these twenty-four were, in all probability,
caught before they could gain the chambers and
there are supposed to be in the quicksand.
1t has now been definitely decided that the disas
ter at slope No. /, of the Susquehanna coal COM
pany, at NanticOke, was caused by the cavng in of
the roof and the rushing in of large body of wa
ter which had accumulated the sdrface from
natural drainage This water brought with it a.
vast quantity of coal dirt, which blocked the gang
ways and passages, and cut off the escape of a
number of men in the upper lift. The caving in
was started by Oliver Winter, of the men now
in the mine. The exact number of men now in the
mine can't now be exactly told. but at o'clock
this evening it was believed twenty nine men were
in the mine. Of these eighteen are Welsh Irish,
or American, and the rest Polish or Hungarian
lahn hot fhnr fhnIa ali or Load nOt
be told If they have been able to obtain fresh air
they are undoubtedly alive, and there is good hope
Of rescuing them NMany experienced miners be-
leve, however, that in their position they cannot
get new supply of air, andsthat having exhausted
what little was in the workings, they must now be
perishing from suffOcatiOn.
Measures for the relief of those still in the mine
were begun soon as the other men had been
brought to the surface. At first little could be
DONE for the water five feet deep and it was in
possible to commence digging away the sand and
culm which blocked the gangway. Last evening
the water subsided having all run off to the lower
level of the mine, and effective work was COM
menced. Two gangs of men were srtEto work
cavating from different points towards which it is
believed the men are. One party of sixty strong
commenced work from the foot of the air shaft
This is the nearest point to the men, but great diff
fculties are encountered. There is no hoisting ap
down by derrick The workers are obliged to
throw behind them the material they excayate, and
this hinders them. The gangway being blocked up
at end they could get no circulating air until
tubes were brought and air forced through them
fir m a compressor used for rock drills, to place
where the men were at work The rescuers were
working with the greatest possible energy tonight
The thought that their comrades perishing
the other side of mass of rock and sand and dirt
nerves every with great strength.
The gangs are relieved every four hours, and
sixty men have been constantly at work since last
evening
etrated to within fifty or Sky feet from where the
imprisoned men are.
Another party are making from the direction
Oft Tho Sln tONUn Ia thQ inf
party consisting of sixty miners, connected
with the rescuing force, came out of the slope at
3:15 p. m, and reported all hard at work. They
sent calls in every direction and in every manner
possible, but unable to elicit any respose from
the entombed men. As to their still being alive,
this rests wholly upon conjecture. Old, reliable
miners who understand the situation, are of opin-
ion that the men are surely dead.
WMKEsBARRE, Ra., December 22.-There was no
rest for NaRticoke last night. 1t is impossible to
describe the CONSERVATION, the dismay, the agony
which spread throughout the village. when it was
learned, after midnight that efforts TO get the
tOmbed men out alive had been abandoned. No
one thought of rest. The wholepopulation on
the streets discussing in the widest manner, the
decision to abandon efforts. at rescue EXclama-
tions of despair cries of agony, and mutterings of
discomfort were heard on every corner and in al
eyey h9T5shSS The eas ddyf of the he
pair. Several we're seized with commissions and
many more completely prostrated.
The OFFICIALS were forced to- abandon the work
from the Af shaft by several Irresistable conclu-
sions. &rhe investigations early this morning
showed Eand rock and ''culm'' had fallen to such
extent that the mine filed to the roof, and
that the men are dead and beyond all human help.
The list of victims numbers twenty four among
| them several boys, but mostly men, the larger
| number OF whom are married and have families.
ANOTHER ATTEMPT
| Officials of the Lehigh & Wilkesbarre Coal com
| pany now going to sink shaft directly over
| the slope where the imprisoned miners are sup
posed to be- 1t is thought that by doing this they
! can reach the victims in about four days
| Later-The fate of the men in the slope is sealed
and the only thing that remains is to recover the
| bodies of the victims and restore them to thei1
families and friends. Little has been done to-day,
except to clear away the DEBRIS preparatory to be
ginning anew and render machinery and appli
ances more substantial. Operations the slope
will be kept up and all debris removed as soon as
possible. The most practical miners are of the
opinion that when the dead men are found, it viii
| be in the air chambers If they have been caught
in the fall of the sand and ''culm,'' then the vic
| tins will be found, one by one, the excavation
continues, and it may be two months before the las
| body Is recovered.
| The loss to the company is estimated at S150,O00
and will be greater in the cost of sinking shaft
and loss of time. All public buildings and many
| private residences are heavily draped.
| Michael Sarver, father of the two Sarver broth
lers, was among the last to come out of the shaft
this morning. He wept like a child. He is very
| old and lifelong toiler in the mines. He eX
pressed himself as being entirely satisfied with the
| work being done to eXtTicate the men. He did no
| place any plane for the disaster upon any one
! holding it was entirely accidental.
81 have two as fine sons ever had father ly
ing down t5ere,' r Sarver said, and as good
| daughter as man could wish lying dead at home
But it is the will of God and say Ills will be done
1t is terrible affair and others are suffering a:
much as l am. 1 will 90 down again as soon a:
| they will let me and ] will wo day and night tC
rescue them dead or alive
| The project of sinking shaft over the working gS
| of the fatal slope has been abandoned 1t is saiC
it would be necessary to go down 250 feet to reacl
| the nearest gangway, and to do this would take
| three months or more. The company will con
tinue to work on and clear the obstructed tunnel.
YOKOHOMA,