The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1890-03-07
THEIR FATE WAS DEATH.
All Hope Abandoned of Saving
the Miners.
BRAVE REsCUERs DRIVEN BACK.

The Horrible Fate of the Eight Men
Imprisoned In the Burning Mine at
wiikesbarre-Hardiya Possibility That
They Have Not Already Perishcd.
WLKEsBARRE, Pa, March b.-There is
now but one hope that the eight men i'm.
prisoned by fire in the South Wilkesbarre
collieries are alive. That hope is a slight
one, but IL is clung to by the friends of the
missing men with desperate tenacity. This
hope is that they may have found their
way through old workings unused for years
into the workings of the seam of coal known
as the Hillman vein
Are They in the HiiIman Vein?
1t is remembered that Frank Gull, one of
the imprisoned men, helped to drive the
tunnel and work these openings, and GER
tainly knows of their existence. II this
supposition is correct the unfortunate men
are now locked in the workings of the Hill.
man vein, and are unreachable until the
fire is extinguished and the rock tunnel is
once more passable, and this will be the
work Of several days.
Whether they can live so long is a doubt
full question. That they can still be in the
lower workings, where they were at the
time the fire began, and be alive is now gen.
ally accepted as impossible The rescuing
party that went down the Stanton mine at
2o'cock seems to settle that question.
A Dangerous Undertaking.
The party was composed of experienced
and resoute men, 1t was a dangerous and
doubtful undertaking. The distance from
the foot of the Stanton mine to the point
where the men were at work is 5000 feet.
Up this incline the band of rescuers made
their way, not knowing at what moment
supplementary explosion might occur. Half
suifocated by smoke and poxious gases they
fought their way, and finally reached the
very spot where the men had been at work
when the fire began.
Only Their Tools were Found.
Up to this time the leaders of the search
ing party had some hope that when the
chamber was reached the men would be
found alive. Only the tools Of the mi sing
men were found, showing plainly that in
stead of rushing toward Stanton shaft they
had undoubtedly gone in the direction of
the tunnel, with the probability of being
overcome by the heat, smoke and gas which
lay in that direction. Their presence of
mind must have been lost in the first mo.
ment of danger, for they had about thou.
sand feet to go toward the Stanton to reach
place of positive safety, their flight being
made easy by the force of the air currents
behind them, which were being driven furi-
ously out by the force of the explosion at
the tunnel.
Stopped by the Terrible Heat.
The rescuers pushed on a thousand feet
further, until they were stopped by the ter
ribe heat, which made barrier they could
not pass. To save the mine from utter de-
struction the fire must be put out 1t can
only be put out by flooding the lower work
ings, and SO long as there was hope that
the men might still be in there alive the
company has hesitated to do this
Flooding the Mine.
But now, if they have not made their way
up to the Hillman vein workings, they are
dead, and the officials decided to go TO work
at once and food the mine. No time was
lost. The main of the Crystal Spring Water
company was tapped and big stream
poured down the shaft By p. m. five
streams were pouring a cascade down the
shaft Forty eight hours, it is believed
will suffice to put out the fire, or at least SO
far to check it as to render an exploration
| of the workings of the Hillman vein pos
| sible.
The Boy Jameson's Heroism.
The boy Jameson displayed remarkable
heroism When the explosion occurred he
called for help and several men came. He
told them to take his mules back and notify
the boss. 81 am going in to notify tn,
| boys" he said. They've got to get ou
| mighty quick" Without word he rar
through the fast gathering smoke down tn,
dark tunnel. He never came back, bu
whatever is the fate of the men he tried t,
save he will share it. Five of the men ar,
married, and unless they are recovered alive
they will leave five widows and twenty-fou u
/ children
All Hope Abandoned.
later dispatch says: All hope of savin
the entombed miners has been abandoned
1t is feared that they became confused an
ran directly into the burning gas, Scare
for the bodies will be continued severa
days The damage to the property will b
very great. The fire had extended 700 lee
from its point of origin at last reports