The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1892-05-14
TERRIBLE DISASTER.
Between Eighty and a Hundred
Miners Drowned.
no WARNING OF TIE cLoUDBURsT.

A Sudden Storm of Wind and Rain
at Fucnfkirchcn, Hungary, Floods
the Mines, Sweeps Men Down the
Shafts and Demolishes u Number
of Buildings.
+ VIENNA, May 13.-Despatches from
Fuenfkirchen, in Hungary, says that
waterspout burst over the mines near
the city and flooded them, and that be-
tween eighty and one hundred miners,
if not more, have been drowned.
The flood came shortly after noon.
The atmosphere had been heavy and the
temperature high all the morning. An
hour before the waterspout burst the
wind, which mad been from the south,
shifted to the east and drove up over the
mountain near Peesvarad huge mass
of clouds, at first yellowish gray, but
quickly deepening to dead black.
The clouds were whirled along the
crest of the mountains by the wind,
which trose to gale until over the
mountains skirting the coal fields on
the north they had assumed the form of
resting on the mountain tops. The men
at the mouth of the pits ceased work,
and two gangs of men from the pit tnear-
est the mountains ceased work and re-
fused to descend. They started for
their homes to wait for the storm to
blow over.
The Bursting of the Storm.
Suddenly the wind shifted to the
north, the darkness increased, and the
cone was swept directly over the col
lieries. 1t burst a moment later and
the water came down in a deluge,
sweeping the men from their feet,
wrecking the shanties, pouring in floods
down the shafts. Large buildings were
swept from their foundations, the roofs
We're crushed in and furniture and tools
were carried through shattered doors
and windows by the wind and water.
Several men standing at the pit en-
frances disappeared in the first rush of
the flood und are supposed to have been
carried down the shaft with the water
and wreckage.
In the mines the full force of men
We're at work. The total number is said
to approach 800 or 400. They had alb
solutely no warning of the coming dis
aster, rs the men on the surface had re-
fused to descend after the wateTspout
began forming. In one pit there are tif-
teen dead; i'll another seven; i'll another
nine. In other pits the wood work and
sides We're so loosened by the falling
water and debris that no careful exami-
nation has been made.
The volume of water broke with a
rushing report that alarmed the whole
city, and within thirty minutes thou
sands of men and women We're hurrying
Nt,t t,Nt tttna AfNf. Il WI,
teers were called for at all the pits, and
men from the night shifts were sent
down the shafts.
Searching the Mines.
The first descent was made III the mine
where about fifteen men were at work
in the lowest levels The mea in the
upper galleries We're found uninjured
and were carried to the top. Nobody in
the lowest gallery was alive to tell the
story of the disaster. The mine was
flooded at that level, and several bodies
found floating in the water were sent
up. No more can be done before the
pumping out of the mine. 1t is reported
that the number of dead in this mine
viii reach twenty.
AT another pit the entrance of the
lowest gallery was under water, and no
bodies could be found. On this level at
iedsI seven IleH were at WpTR. III the
pit were nine men who are known to
have been lost. There may be twenty
or thirty more dead, for the water
rushed into the two lowest galleries. 1t
completely submerged the lowest gal
lery, drowning every soul there. In the
other gallery no investigation has been
made Whether all or only few were
killed will not be known before night.
At other shafts the number of dead is
estimated at all the way from ten to
forty.
An imperial courier has been dis
patched to Fuenfkirehen with the EN-
peror's contribution for the relief of the
most pressing wants of the stricken
families. This contribution is saia to be
1900 gulden, and promise of mere in
case the progress Of the work of rescue
reveals greater loss of life than is now
apprehended.