Connecticut western news., 1891-02-11
A FEARFUL FATE.
Eighteen Men Drowned in 8
 Mine at Jeansville, Pa.
WIVES WIDOWED BY WATER
Shocking Accident Caused by the
 Stroke of a Pick.

Several Men While at Work in Hayden ing Shaft That Was Filled with Water. The Flood Rushed In Upon Them and Lives-Eighteen of Them Were Caught
 Like So Many Rats in Trap and Drowned - Narrowing Scenes at the Mouth of the Mine-wives Waiting for Husbands Whose Faces They Will Never Again See Warm with the Breath of
 Life.
 WHITE HAVEN, Pa, Feb. 5.-The shud- ders of horror that thrilled the people of this and adjoining states at the fate of the Mammoth mine unfortunates have barely ceased before another mine horror comes to take its place. The scene of the latter disaster is at Jeansville, near here, where eighteen miners were drowned yesterday like rats in trap. While Charles Boyle and Patrick Coll, of Lewiston, were en- gagged in drilling hole in their chamber in No. 10 slope of J. c. Haydon & Co.'S mine at Jeansville, they broke into the old No. 8 slope, which had been idle for five years and which had been flooded to the mouth with water.
 ''Run for Your Livee-"
 William Brislin, 8 driver, was close by and he cried out, Boys, for Gods sake. run for your lives or you will be drownedr In moment thereafter the water came and Brislin barely escaped with his life. Besides him, six others reached daylight alive. They are Henry Gibbon, John Eeline, John and Charles Boyle, William Coll and Patrick Coll The water rose rapidly, and before any attempt could be made to rescue any of the other workmen the slope, which is 624 feet deep, was food ed to the mouth and they were caught and drowned The lost are:
 A List of the Dead.
 Lawrence Reed, married, has eight chil- dren; Edward Gillisher, married, two chil dren; James Griffiths, married, one child; James Ward, married, eight children; Harry Bull, married, seven children; Joseph Matskowitch, married, four chill dren; Barney McCloskey, single; Patrick Kelly, single; Jake Wiasto, single; Mike Smith, single; John Berne, single; Tom Glik, married, one child; Tom Tomaskas- kay, married, three children; Joe Astro, single; Basco Frinko, single; Thomas Greko, single; John Boyle, single, and Samuel Porter, single.
 Pitiful Scenes at the Slope.
 The news of the disaster caused great ex- citement and the mouth of the slope was soon thronged with the anxious families and relatives of the workmen and others. The scenes when it was positively known who were lost were heartrending. Wives implored piteously of the miners standing by, who knew only too we'll the fatal re- suit, to save their husbands from the ter TOTS of watery grave. Little children crying for their papas and relatives pray ing for the safety of their loved ones. The sorrowing wives, relatives and friends were finally convinced that there was no hope of rescuing any of the men, and were led away from the scene of this new mining horror by sympathetic hands to their homes.
 Many Weeks of Waiting.
 A large force of men was immediately put at work pumping out the water. How long it will take is question, since no definite idea of the volume of water can be ascertained. Some of the miners say it will take four weeks before the bodies can be reached but others incline to the opinion that it will take much longer.
 A Survivors Story.
 Brislin, one of the men who escaped, said to reporter: "I was waiting at the bottom of the slope for a trip to come out. Suddenly heard a loud noise, and thought it was the trip coming out. Then dread full blast of wind came and knocked me down in the gangway. The wind blew my lamp out I tried to run for the slope, but stumbled and fell Then John Boyle and John Neems came running out. Neems' lamp was burning, and by the aid of this we got to the slope. The water came pouring after us as we ran. When we got to the slope the light went out.
 Pursued by the Waters.
 "We clambered up as fast as we could, and the water came rushing after us, ris- ing very quickly. In five minutes the wa ter rose POS yards to the mouth of the slope, the pitch of which is s3 degs.'
 Many reasons are advanced as to the cause of the great disaster. Some charge it to neglect to notify the workmen of the dangerous proximity of the water, as only few of the old miners knew of the pres ence of the vast body of water in the old slope. Even those that knew of it had nc idea that the workings were driven as neal to the water as they were. The civil en Gneer in charge of the Jeansville mines was a man from Pottsville named Womels dorf