The Kimball graphic. (Kimball, Brule County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1905, 1885-06-12

BURIED BY FALLING COAL.
An Incident OF the First Mine Dtsasse. IN
America.

An Incident Of the First Mine Disasse. IN
America.
The fall of the roof of the coal mine
at Raven Run and Imprisonment of the
ten miners underground, recalls to a
survivor of the first great mine dis
aster in this country, amost marvellous
escape of some Of the miners who
were imprisoned behind a wall of fall
en- coal u mile thick at the time of that
disaster. The mine, writs. a Homes
dale, Pa, correspondent to The NeW
York Times, was one of the Delaware
and Hudson Canal Company's miners
at C%arbondale. For several DAYS in
the winter of 1874 it had peer giving
warning to the miners by what is
known among them as ''working''--
ominous crackings of the roof here and
there through the mine-that they
were laboring in constant danger, but
with the proverbial recklessness of
their class they continued to work.
Suddenly, while nearly one hundred
miners were below, and most of them
working in the distant galleries. an
immense area of the mine roof fell.
The superintendent of the mine was
aScotchman named Alexander Brvden.
n he had a son among the laborers
below. Dryden was at the top when
the fall occurred, and he rushed at
once into the mine to see if it were
possible to rescue any of the workmen.
Before he reached the fallen mass of
coal he met several miners who had in
some way escaped being crushed by
the roof. They told Dryden that it
was not possible that any of the other
miners could be alive. He insisted on
making an effort to work a passage
through the wall in the hope that some
OF the men might be alive behind it
and could be rescued, and the miners
ne had met on their way VI of the
pit. where top coal was still falling on
every side, refusing to aid him, the
superintendent went on alone. His
lamp threw but a dim light on the
scene, but he found a small opening
made by the tops of two large slabs
OF coal having struck together, with
their bases on the bottom of
the mine three feet apart. Into
this crevice Dryden crawled, and
found the opening continued in a
devious course into the depths. 1t
grew so narrow and low that he was
compelled to lie flat and drag himself
along. Now and then he found it
necessary to remove with his pick an
obstructing lump of coal, and knew
that by so dong he might remove a
support to the mass above that would
bring it down upon him and crush him
to death. In that way he worked him.
self for a mile through the wall, and
then found himself at the end of the
choked chamber, where he emerged
from the passage into a small open
space. He was greeted by a shout
that told him some of the imprisoned
miners were still alive. The fall had
extinguished every light, and they had
failed to find any opening in the wall
that lay between them and the mouth
OF the mine. Among the miners was
Bryden's son. The superintendent
quickly told the men what they must
undergo in order to escape. One of
their number had been crushed by the
fall, and lay moaning with both arms
and legs broken. Dryden took this
man Oh his back, and, creeping with
him back through the opening, told
the others to follow. Twelve Of the
men were able to keep strength
enough to reach the opening on the
other side of the mine without aid.
but eight of them it was necessary for
the others to drag along over the
Jagged floor and sharp edges of the
passage. The ominous cracking could
be heard at short intervals coming
from different parts of the mine, and
everyone of the miners toilins through
the narrow and crooked crevice in the
yy-u III Id n<-Y,nnfnJ o. n1-a,, -. -
crushed by the settling of the mass of
coal. They We're all saved. however.
and the writer's informant, now an
aged resident Of the county, is the last
survivor of the party, the brave Brv-
den having only recently died. The
old miner referred to had two sons in
another part of the mine who were
among the victims OF the disaster.
Among those who were in the mine
at the time of the fall of the roof was
Asst. Supt. Hosie. Two days and
nights after he crawled from the
mouth Of the pit. He was Hageard
and bleeding, and his fingers were
worn to the bone. He dropped un.
conscious at the mouth. and it was
hours before he could give any ac-
count Of his experiences in the mine.
He had been surrounded by falling
coal, and when the mass had settled
he found himself without light or nipple
ment OF any kind. After cropping about
in the space in which he was imprison-
ed he found a small aperture in the
wall and he crawled into it. From
that time he dragged himself through
places which were barely large enough
to admit his body, sometimes being
forced to dig away distractions with
his hands, never once thinking of
sleeping, choked by thirst. and not
even cheered by a knowledge of the
direction he vas gong, until, after
forty-eight hours Of constant and dis
heartening toll, he emerged from the
prison wall and knew that he was in
the tunnel leading out of the mine.
Hosie survived his terrible experience
until a year or SO ago, and his two
days and nights struggle for life in
the c%hoked-up mino is referred to as
having no parallel in the history of
coal-mining in this country.
In removing the fallen mass of coal
the discovery was made that but few
Of the miners who were victims of the
disaster had been killed outright.
Groups of workmen were found sur
rounded by u~nmistakable evidence
that they had worked desperately with
their picks in the hope that they might
cut a way to liberty, but, without
water or light, and with foul air fol
lowing the tumbling roof, had at last
succumbed to their fate. One poor
fellow vas found alone. held fast to
his waist in q mass of coal. He had
worked with his pick-ax until he died
with the tool clutched in his hands.
Mine rats had eaten the flesh almost
entirely from his body. Years after
ward skeletons of other victims were