The Washburn leader. [volume] (Washburn, McLean County, N.D.) 1890-1986, 1891-02-07
A Pennsylvania Coal Mine Suddenly
Fills With Water From an
Old Shaft.
Eighteen Men EntOmbed-It Will
Take Weeks to Pump the
Water Out.
The Mouth of the Slope Thr0nged
With Frantic Wives, Mothers
and Children.
Heartrending Scenes.

Heartrending Scenes.
HAZELTON, Pa, Feb. Eighteen men
entombed in watery graves marks the re-
suit of the most awful mine horror that has
ever occurred in this region. Jeanesville,
the pretty little mining village of j. c.
Hayden & Co., two miles across the noun
tains from this place. is the scene of the
disaster which has resulted in such an ap-
palling loss of life and which has brought
desolation and anguish to so many homes
m dear ones. AT IL o'clock this morning,
while Charles Boyle and Patrick Call of
Lewiston were engaged in drilling a hole
in their chamber in the lower lift OF the
No. / slope of j. c. Hayden g. Co. at
GAINESVILLE, they broke into the old No. 8
slope that has been idle for five years and
had been flooded to the mouth with water.
VIM. Brislin, a driver, was driving at the
bottom of the slope when he felt the wind
coming and cried out: "BOyss for Gods
sake run for your lives or we will all be
drowned In a moment the force of the
with his life. Besides him six others were
saved.
THE WATER O. RAPIDLY
dAlu OOAOAC oily otGCl1pU SOulu NC 11duC v
rescue the rest Of the workmen the water
flowed in and in five minutes time the
slope which is 624 feet deep. was filled to
the mouth and eighteen men who but a
few hours before, with light hearts left
the bright sunshine and clear sky to de-
scend into a dark cavern of coal were
buried in a watery grave and their life
less bodies, black trimmed and MANNED, are
alone left to tell the terrible cost of mill
ing coal; The lost are: Lawrence Reed,
married, eight children; James Griffiths,
married. one child; James Ward, married,
eight children; Harry Bull, married, seven
children; Joseph MatskOwltch, married,
four children; Barney McCloskey, single;
Patrick Kelley, single; Jake Wiasto,
Berno; Tom Glisks, married, IL child;
Tom TOmaskasky, married. three children;
Joe Assro, single; BOscO Frinks, single;
Thomas Greeks, single; W unknown
Hungarians.
THE NEWS OF THE DISASTER
created the widest excitement, and the
mouth of the slope vas soon thronged with
people frantic in their efforts to obtain in
formation of the inmates Of the mines.
When all the men who escaped reached
the surface and it was known who the lost
were, the excitement increased, and in less
than half an hour hundreds of men, women
and children gathered around the slope,
and the terrible Eel of anguish that en-
sued cannot be depicted. Wives imploring
piteOusly Of the miners standing. BY, who
knew only too well the fatal result, to save
their husbands from the terrors of a
papa, who would never return; relatives
and friends ringing their hands in sorrow
and distress and appealing to merciful
providence to save. all, when within each
breast was a certain feeling that their
prayers would be unanswered.
PUMPING OUT H WATER.
At about 1890, }. G. Hayden & Co. had a
large force of men at work, under Master
Mechanic Rude, placing the pumps in posi-
ton. One was got in working order in a
short time and every stroke of the pump
was watched %anxiously by the %onlookers,
who seemed to count the thrObSO the
mighty engine as it forced gallons Of black
and SulphurOuS water from the mouths Of
the huge column of pipes at the entrance
Of the slope The large duplex Cameron
pump was also in working order by Z
1900 gallons from the slope where the men
| are entombed. The firm of Hayden & Co.
will pump the water out as rapidly as the
machinery placed in position can do the
| work. How long it will take is a question,
since no definite idea of the volume Of
| the water can be ascertained. Some of the
/ miners say it will. take four weeks before
| the bodies can be reached; others say twice
as long, since all the water that had col
lected in this abandoned Nos slope will
run into this lift of the No. l slope and will
of course have to be pumped out.
ANOTHER CAvE.IN.
WILKES BARRE, Pa, Feb. "A cave.in
occurred at 8 O'Clock this afternoon in>No.
8 slope at Grand tunnel, opposite the river
from NanticOke. Three men are shut in,
and as the place is filed with water it is
supposed they are drowned. They are
| POlanders and their names are. unknown.
I Iusurrection in Oporto.