The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1891-02-13

~ a FLOODED MINE.
Eighteen Lives Lost ~ Tho floodlng % Z
Mine "a Jeansyiile. Ia. Caused ~
Drilling Into an Abandoned working
that Had Bcen Pulled with Water-rite-
Gus scenes Among the fsmiIies ~ tho
Victims.
NutrE HAVEN. Pa. Feb. 5.-At
eleven o'clock yesterday morning while
Charles Boyle and Patrick Coll. ~
lewiston. were engaged i'm drilling a
hole in their chamber in No. 10 slope Of
J. &. Hayden 4 Cos mine al Jeans
vile. they broke into the old No. 5
slope which had been idle for five years
and which had been flooded 70 the
mouth with water. Hri>lin. a driver.
was Close by and he cried out:
''Boys. for Gods sake. run for your
lives. or You will be drowned"
In a moment thereafter the water
came and BriSlin barely escaped with
his life. Besides him. six Others es-
capped. They are: Henry Gibbon. John
Mems. John ana Charles Boyle. Will
lam Coll and Patrick Coll.
The water came rapidly. and before
any attempt could he made 10 rescue
any Of the other workmcn the slope.
which Is GA feet deep, was fioodcd 10
the mouth. and they were caught and
drowned.
The lost are:
Lawrence Reed. married with eight
children.
Edward Gillisher. married. two chill
dren.
James Grifiths. married. one child
James Ward. married, eight children
Harry Bull. married. seven children.
Joseph Matskowitch, married. four
children.
Harry McCloskey. single.
Patrick Kelly. single.
Jake Wiast. single.
Mike Smith. single
John Berne- single
Tom Click. married.
Tom Tomaskaskay, married. three
children.
Joe Astro. single.
Basco Frinke. single.
Thomas Greko. single.
John Boyle single.
Samuel Porter single.
The news Of the disaster causcd great
excitement and the mouth Of the slope
was Soon thronged with the anxious
families and relatives Of the workmen
and Others. The scenes when il was
positively known who we're lost. were
~heartrending. Wives implored pite-
ously Of the miners standing BY. who
knew too we'll the fatal result. 10 save
their husbands from the tcrrors Of =
watery grave. Little children CRYING
for their papas. and relatives praying
for the safety " their loved ones. The
Borrowing wives, relatives and friends
were finally convinced that there was
no hope Of re~cuing any of the men and
were led away ron the scene Of this
new min horror by sympathetic hands
10 their homes.
A large force Of men was Immediately
put 70 work pumping out the water.
How long il will take Is a question.
since no definite idea Of the volume Of
water can be ascertained. some OF the
miners say II will take four weeks be-
fore the bodies can he recovered. while
Others are Of the opinion it will take
much longer.
Brislin. one Of the men who escaped.
said: II was waiting at the bottom OF
the slope for a trip to come out. sud-
denly l heard a loud noise. and I
thought it was the trip coming out.
Then a frightful blast Of wind came
and knocked me down the gangway.
The wind blew my lamp out. | tried
20 run for the slope. but stumbled
and fell. Then John Boyle and
John Mems came running out.
Mems lamp was burning. and
w the aid 81 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. We climbed
mp as fast a. we could and the water
Same running after Us. rising very
qiickiy. In five minutes the water
raised two hundred yards 10 the mouth
of the slope. the pitch 81 which j.
eighty-thrce degrees"
Many theories are advanced as 10 the
cause OF the great disaster. some
charge il 70 neglect to notify the work
men Of the dangerous proximity ~ the
water a. only a few IF the old miners
knew Of the presence Of the great body
Of water in the old slope Even those
tnat knew Of il had no idea that the
workings were driven as near ~ b
water as they were
The civil engineer ia charge of the
Evansville mines was a man from Potts
vile named L.afevre NomelSdorf-