Waterbury evening Democrat., 1890-03-05
THE BURIED MINERS
All Hope of Saving the Unfor-
tunate Men Abandoned.
THE MINE IS BEING FLOODED.
Wives and Children Moaning About the
Mouth of the Shaft.

Stiu Hoping that the Entombed Men May
Have Reached q Place of safety-If
Alive They Will be Drowned 10y the
Flood-It is Believed that the Water
win Reach tho Fire Tonight.
WhKEsBARRE, Pa, March 5.-Are they
| alive! Is is possible that the eight un-
fortunate men locked in the South
Wilkesbarre coal mine by barrier of
flame yet survive =? Those are questions
which every person in this city has
been asking to-day, and no one is able
to answer with absolute certainty
Many old miners are of the opinion that
the men We're suffocated by smoke in
less than an hour, while others contend
that there is yet hope for them.
Not since 1875, when five men en-
tombed in the Sugar Notch Shaft were
dug out alive, after five days of almost
superhuman effort. has this neighbor-
hood been so greatly excited by mine
disaster.
One of two things is regarded as
reasonably certain-the Unfortunate
men either attempted to fight their way
back through the smoke and flames in
the rock tunnel and died in the effort. or
they have found their way through an
unused and blockaded opening into the
workings of the upper or Hillinan vein,
and are now lying their blocked in by
the fire and absolutely out of reach of
the rescuers until the flames can be ex-
tinguished.
All night long the mouth of the shaft
was surrounded by groups of men and
boys. In the engine house some twenty
or thirty men and boys were gathered,
employees of the colliery for the most
part, who in low voices discussed the
accident and the chances of rescuing the
men. In the midst of this Borrowing
throng woman with a shawl thrown
over her head suddenly entered. She
looked from one to another, until she
found some one she knew. He was
rough-looking miner in his working
clothes, his face all black with his lamp
still lighted on his cap. The imperfect
light of the lantern barely made his
face visible, and as the woman faced
him he seemed to shrink back before
her gaze. a few hurried, hoarsely
as many sorrowful shakes of the miners
head was all that passed between them,
and then, with a sob that started tears
to the eyes of all present, she turned to
the door AS she opened it and stag
gered down the rough wooden steps
these words she moaned out: My boy
my poor, poor boy - told of the agony
tearing at her heart
She was the mother of Thomas Nc
Donald, and she was not the only wo.
man who kept watch and waited all
through the piercing cold night around
the dark mouth Of the pit. Almost in
every group was some female figure, q
wife, mother or a sister, or some one
whom one of the younger men buried
behind the wall of flame 600 feet below
ground had hoped to make his own ere
long. All of these were in tears, and
choking sobs were frequently heard but
there were no,Passionate outbursts, there
was no frenziea grief, for hope was not
all gone,
All day long the streams of water
were pouring down the shaft, and after
the return of the last rescuing party no
further attempt was made to reach the
imprisoned men. 1t is believed that by
this evening the water will have reached
the fire, and that before very long after
that the flames will be so much subdued
that some exploration of the Hillman
vein workings may be made