Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1890-03-05
AWFUL PREDICAMENT
SITUATION OF THE SNT0NBBD MINERS AT
WILKBSBARRB.
Exploring Parties Constantly in Search Pirs and
Water Add TO TIE Tsrols Of Uncer-
tainiy-Ths Pitabis wailirgs
Of Relatives.

WLLKEsBARRE. PA, March 4.-The
eight men eutombsd in the South Wilkes
barre shaft last evening still remain be-
hind the great wall of fire which is now
rsgirg in the mine with greater intensity
than before.
As to whether tte men are dead or alive,
there is difference OF opinion. The ma.
jority say that all must now be cold in
death, willis there is a strong minority,
many of them expert miners, who claim
that the entombsd men are still alive, and
il they Can be reached in 4S hours their
set, ty is assured.
A heavy dinner pale was found in the
file. This would indicate that one of the
men becoming tired of carrying it. or that
it annowed him By striking against
him had left it. The man was care
ful, however, TO take all food from it,
knowing he might be imprisoned and
would need it. II the men are in the Hill
man vein and have good air, ss the mine
engineers ssy they have, they Can live o
week, providing they get something to
drink. 1t is possible that some OF the men
have a tea canister with them, a. minere
generally carry q canister filled with tea
Early this morning the roof rur ming
from the bottom Of the South Wilkesbsrie
shaft TO the tunnel, about 200 feet, caved
in. The heavy timbers supporting the roof
and sides had been burning all night, and
when they were consumed there was moth
ing to support the roof.
Superintendent Phillips fays he thinks
the mine will have to be filed with water
befor the fire is extinguished. If this is
the case, the entombed men must die with
cut being rescued. The flooding of the
mine means loss of $4,000.
It is pitiable TO behold the wailings Of
the relatives Of the entombed men, who
are gathered about the mine. They were
there all night, and will not 90 home
They cry out for their fathers, brothers
and husbands. TIE az pxiety is awful.
By the cave in of the roof this morning
200 mules persisted. They were in their
stables, l, 200 feet below the surface, and
probably died of suffocstiop before the
crash came. The roar of the flames ct the
bottom can be heard on the surface. Old
miners shake their heads and cay that the
men never escaped that "hell fire."
Five of the en:ombed men are married
and in Gaze they are not recovered alive
they will leave I've wido Ts and "a children.
At 9 o'clock this afternoon the third ex-
ploring party returned to the surface with
out having discovered the missing men.
1t is impossible that they could have es-
capped slive, as the only place of safety
was in the tunnel, and this has been thor
ougbly explored. They discovered the
tools of the victims, but nothing to give
any indication SIS to where the bodies may
be. They probably became beTildered
and fed from the burning gas, taking
various directions. /, may be several days
before the bodies will be found. The
search will be kept up coEtir uilly in con.
nection with the efforts to put out the fire.
LATER-The situation at the South
Wilkesbarre shsft remains unchanged this
evening. 0He exploring party after an
other hes descended the shaft only to be
driven back by gas and smoke. The
companies officials are now busy flooding
the mine. Dense volumes Of smoke
still ascend from the cir shaft,
and the destruction in the interior Of the
mine will be enormous. At o'clock this
evening the last exploring party reported
that the fire ia rapidly burning in the
shsft and has made Roadway Of over
700 feet from the starting point OF last
night. All hope of finding the victims or
any part of their bodie, has been given
up, as they have ell probably been inein-
Grated.