Evening journal., 1891-02-06
THE ENGlNEER AT FAULT.
One Alleged Cause ofthe Jeans
vile Horror.
NO HoPE OF SAVING THE MINERS.

Months Shay Elapse Before the water i
Psmped Out and the Bodies Recoy-
erred Rigid investigation win BE
pEaee Into the Cause or the Disaster.
HAzLEroN. Pa. Feb 6-The awful min.
ing disaster has plunged this community
into grief and mourning. Great crowds
gathered at the mine, which is about a
mile aad a hall from this place. It is Ger.
tain that the seventeen missing men are
all dead and that most of them were
drowned in the chambers The water on
the pitch Of the slope has risen 200 yards,
which is = higher point than any Of the
breasts reached Even il they were not
drowned they would die from suifocation
long before the water could be pumped out
The large inside mine pump. which was
stationed at the bottom Of the slope to keep
the lower level free from water, is covered
with water aud is useless.
Pumping Out the Water.
Two smaller mine pumps have been
placed side BY side ia the gangway of the
first level and the work of removing the
vast body OF water is proceedingly rapidly.
1t is believed that while Charles Boyle and
Patrick Coll were drilling a hole in the
face Of their breast they unexpectedly
broke into the old abandoned workings Of
No. shaft, and that the water instantly
tore away the intervening rock and rushed
an upon them. Some of the miners and
officials are inclined to doubt the correct.
ness of this theory, however, as upon ex.
amining the old workings from the shaft
it was found that the water was disturbed
bat very little if az all.
some One Has Numbered.
Another theory advanced is that the
water is from Carter's old mines, better
known as the Colerain. These mines have
been abandoned for many years and were
filed with water, and the lines between
the works ran very close together
Until It is learned where the water is
from Il is impossible TO tell how soon il
can NE removed, as they cannot ascertain
the amount of water that win yet run into
these works as il is being pumped out OF
the slope. BY constant pumping with all
the available machinery the water was low.
cred about thirty-fye inches yesterday,
which, with the fact that tie water in the
old No. slope did not fall, indicates that
a great deal OF water from the old workings
is finding its way into No. /, and this water
may prolong the finding Of che bodies fol
months 10 come, OF course, as yet 1t would |
be idle to attempt to fasten the response. |
bility directly where it belongs but enough |
is known to realize that some one hasblun. |
dered
Did the Engineer Ere
Miners oonyersant with the works say
that the company's chart Of the workings |
fs Enstf IND
eighty feet between the men at work In |
No. ! slope and the volume of water in No. |
8 This, If true, shows an error in calcnla. |
tion and a grievous one which has result |
ed in the destruction Of thousands Of dol |
lars worth Of property, to say nothing Of |
the loss Of life Lef Womelsdorf, the min |
ing engineer from pottsville who did the |
surveying for the firm, has arrived at |
Evansville He descended into the mine |
and made an investigation for the firm.
but declined to give any information for
the public or any idea as to when the bodies |
of the men could be rescued
a Rigid Investigation Probable.
Conservative miners are willing to await |
full investigation before passing censure
on the firm of J. G. Hayden & Co, whose /
mines have been carefully operated and /
accidents have been rare and danger re- i
duced as low as it is possible in mining |
coal. Others see nothing in it but careless |
or still more criminal negligence They |
assert that the mining engineer has not |
visited the mines as frequently as he should
have done, relying upon assistants. who
were young and inexperienced. and who
did not understand the work or realize the
responsibility resting upon them to do the
work, 1t is certainly clear that a thorough
investigation into the cause OF the disaster
will have TO be made either by the coroner
Of Carbon or by a committee from the legis.
lature similar to the one now investigating
the F'rick mine accident
As soon as any bodies are recovered the
coroner viii impanel jury and a rigid in.
quiry viii be made by him into the cause
of the accident