New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1890-05-16
RIIRIED BY FALLING ROCK.
MINERS SHUT IN BY AN ALMOST IMrENE
TRABLE WALL

TRABLE WALL
$rroRrs TO RESCUE THEM RESULT IN DANGER
ous INJURIES TO orHERs-THE ACCIDENT
OCCURRED NEAR ASHLEY, PENN
,BY TELEGRAPH TO TIE TklBrNks
w,u,..harre pcnn.. Nav 15-About half-past
h o'clock this morning the inhabitants OF Manits
Patch near Ashley. a small town, about mile
from here. were startled by sudden setthng ana
.plittjng of the ground and shaking OF the
houses Rushing out upon the road, they were
lust in time TO see a horse and buggy dashing
mast. with bare-headed man plying the whip
~i,h all his force. The mine," he shouted
sthe mine is cavinQ in.
Horrorstruck at the thought Of dear ones work
inc below. and forgetting their own danger,
whole families rushed in the direction Of the
alone mile and a half away. Here it was
learned from some of the men who had escaped
that large body Of men in the more distant
parts of the mine had been shut off by an i'm
mense wall of rock. extending along the principal
gangway $50 to 200 feet. One of the bosses
mustered the men. and it was found
that the following were missing: John
James. age thirty, miner, married; Michael
Henry. age forty-sx tracklayer, married. Owen
Williams, age forty, tracklayer, married; Charles
James, age ffty-ive, tracklayer, married. Ellis
d. Williams age ffty-two, tracklayer married
Thomas Glass, age thirty five, miner, married
James Parry age seventeen, driver. son of Henry
Parry; Thomas Davis, age sixty, carpenter, mar
ried John Penning. age thirty-fve, miner, single;
John Hanson. age thirty-five, miner, single; An
thony Frank, age fOrty-one. miner, married;
Michael Sculley, age twenty-four, miner, single;
LII
Michael; Robert Roberts, age thirty-ive. miner,
married; Henry Jones, age forty, labOrer, mar
red Daniel Sullivan, age fifty, miner, married;
Norman Williams, age forty, miner, married;
John Allen, age thrty-ive, assistant mine boss.
married; Oliver Parry, age twenty, labOrer, son
of Henry Parry; Haisted Gussage, age thirty,
Hungarian laborer; Antin Guss, age twenty-six,
Hungarian laborer; Frank Gallagher, age twenty
px, laborer, single.
The mine in which the squeeze occurred is the
Jersey Slope belonging to the Lehigh and Wilkes
barre Coal Company. There were no indications
of any cave-in up to within five minutes of the
first fall and the second fall occurred within
two minutes after the first. At clock, Fire
Boss Jones and his assistants finished inspecting
the part of the mine where the falls occurred and
had got to the the mouth Of the slope when they
were stopped by rush of men from within. Mr.
Jones had declared that all safe, and had
left the men at work. so that it cannot be said
that any fault lies with the company. The
superintendents are at loss to account for the
accident. The roof is composed of solid rock from
forty to sixty feet thick.
Superintendent Phillips hurried to the scene
and after a careful examination of the map of the
workings with the mine boss and inspection of
the extent of the cave-in, he came to the con-
clusion that there were hopes of a rescue. 1t
appeared that near the breasts where the i'm
prisoned mep were there was an old gangway
leading to the surface, which had been closed
up for several years. force of
organized and armed with pickaxes and shovels
they started digging in the hillside above the
opening Of the gangway. Another party also
sent down the slope to begin removing the mass
of rock blocking the passage. that. should the
party at the old gangway fail to reach the men.
there would be some chance left for them at the
main gangway. AT D. H. the opening i'll the hill
side was large enough for of the bosses to
crawl in on hands and knees. He carried only
safety lamp. and had a rope attached 10 his waist
For fifteen minutes he was hidden from sight. the
breathlessly for news. When ne reappeared q
faint cheer went up. but il quickly died away Oh
the announcement that he could find no indica-
tions of the men working upward from below.
However. the opening was made larger and by half
past gang of eight OF ten men was lowered
by means of ropes down the mouth of the gang
way. and they began digging out the earth ard re-
fuse.
About 5 p. IN. it was noticed that the, sand
OF the bottom of a pit sixteen feet deep was sink
ing in some places Superintendent Phillips ex-
Amined it and expressed the opinion that the men
ought 10 he working upward. This was more
fully believed when one of the bosses said that
he remembered that three of the men had been
ordered TO do some timbering that morning in
the part of the mine beneath the pit. Two large
trees were feed across the opening and boards
nailed to them, and by o'clock men were at
work hosting out sand. The work is extremely
difficult and dangerous owing to the loose nature
of the ground, but timbers and side-hOldS were
constructed as rapidly possible.
Mine Boss Lloyd went into the main gangway
TO inspect the fall at IL a m, with two men,
They did not return. The exploring party that
went in search of them found trace of the party
and il was feared that they had been caught be-
tween the first fall and later one or
crushed beneath the last one. Late tonight
three men were recovered from the opening at
the old gangway. Their names are John Allen
Anthony Frame and Robert w. Roberts. They
much injured by falling rock and were half
sufocated from want of air. They were TOO
weak 10 tell their stories. but the strongest OF
them said they knew nothing of the others
The work of rescue was continued. but there was
no hope Of getting at the rest Of the men before
Tomorrow.
FATAL FALL OF ROCK IN COLLIERY.
@fAIAa fh hts nHrV