The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1893-09-30
LIKE RATS IN A TRAP.
Terrible Drowning Accident in q
Michigan Iron Mine.
CwENTY-EIeHT LIVES SACRIFICED.

Che Men Were at Work Under n River
when the Roof of tho Mine Chved In.
Only Those on tho Lower Level Sue
ossded In Escaping.
CRYSTAL FALLS, Mich, Sept 3o-With
. terrific rush. the water of the Miohi-
CANINE river broke through bed weak
ened by mining into the Mansfield mine, :
drowning twenty. eight men who were at
work directly under the cave In. There
were forty-six men in the mine when the
accident occurred, but eighteen of them
who were working in the lower levels
managed to escape.
The names of the drowned miners are;
Bam Peters, James Strongman, w. ii.
Pierce, Charles Pohl, Ole Carson, Joe
Kohla, Swan johnson, Mike Harrington,
Frank Rocko, Al Torresani, Frank John
son. Sam job hnson, Shellino Zadra, Peter
furry, Nicolo Fontpni, John Regula, John
Holmstrum, Ross Fortunate, John Kirche,
John Randall. John Warner. Oscar Lund-
uuist, John Arcangelo, Arto Steffano,
August Cologna, o. CONSTANT, Vigilis
Eadra aud Celesti Negri. The first six
were married and leave large families.
None of the bodies have been recovered,
and it is believed it will be necessary to
utFtTJ bnb CDHnHti vi bH6 TlNeI DtlOIS tucy
can be secMRad.
II Is believed to have been the worst
disaster that ever occurred In the Lake Su-
perior iron region When the night shift
went on duty it was noticed that more
water was coming into the mine than
usual, but no alarm was felt by the men
Mt the pumps, as they managed to keep
the drifts" free. The miners pursued
their work rs on every night when they
sarted in to pass the twelve hours under
bae ground. Suddenly few minutes after
sthere was loud report and overpower-
Ing rush of water and the men felt them
10 yes being overwhelmed by an avalanche
mud.
So fast came the flood that it is doubt
full whether the men on the upper levels
bad time to drop their tools and run fer
their lives to the old shaft. Had any OF
them reached the perpendicular opening,
however, it would have ayailed them
nothing, for the shaft known as "Old
Number One" collapsed as soon as the
water reached and undermined its base.
This occurred at precisely 9:S0 and It was
then known to those in charge OF the mine
that the men in the upper level had been
trnppsd and drowned by an accident
(which had long been expected. Had there
been time the men might have descended
By some means to the lower levels and
hrossed over to No. . shaft, but the in
cushing flood came too fast and il Is
Thought that most of them met death
within five minutes after the break oc-
curred.
The men at work in the lower levels
were warned in time to escape. A few
minutes after . they heard an ominous
roAr and at once suspecting the cause
dropped their picks and fled for their
Lives. The water, pursuing as II did the
devious course necessary in running from
one level to another was already ankle
deep in the lower levels when the men
fenchNd the shaft and were drawn up
From what seemed certain death
The news Of the disaster sped on swift
wings throughout the little hamlet and a
wild cry Of alarm was voiced by the III
habitants rs they rushed from their homes
Ruh gathered about the shaft just as the
last one OF the eighteen men was brought
uuu-&ss the surface. When the cause OF the nc
1sKdenC was explained to the snXious in.
umrers cry Of horror went up as they
kealized that the long expected and much
dreaded accident had taken place at last
and brought with it the results SO long
sesred by the wives aud mothers,
There WAS call for volunteers, which
was at once answered, to descend the only
miners who might possibly be found alive
Bat the courage and strong intent OF the
hardy miners was of no avail, and the
Wgters had alreG; reached the lower leve
shaft, and the angry roar which greeted
khe would be rescuers as they pccred owe
Into tho dark channel ut once prcCludet
pll hope of rescue, and the twent -uigh
men were given up.
The death of these twenty-eight mer
marks the end of Mansfield mine for un
less the river can be forced to seek auothe
nhRnnel the bodies cannot be secured, nc
san this rich deposit OF iron ore be WORKED
again.
The Mansfield mine is situated on tn
banks OF the Miehiganme river, about 81,
miles east of Crystal Falls, the county sea
Of Iron county. IL has been worked bt
tween three and four years, and ha
shipped about $50 0O0 tons of BessCmer ore
MARQUETTE, Mich, Sept. 3o.-JoLn NJ
L.ongyear. of this city, is one OF the chic
owners OF the Mansfield property. His ht
. lief is that the disaster WIS caused b
robbing" the mine. That is, by working
In a reckless manner and taking dow
pillars of orc in the upper levels tina
should have been left to support the REQ
The mine inspector of Iron county wi
conduct a most rigid investigation.
RussiR's Desire Tor Closer Trade Relation
BERLIN, Sept, so. DR. Raillovitch, on
pf the Russian scomnlision sent TO cOufe
with Representatives Of the German 20,
BTnuent as to the arrangement of a Russo
German commercial treaty, said toda
that although bound not to reveal eve
ths spirit of his instructions, he could no
deny Russia's Willingness to have close
trsdo relations with the German empir,
This willingness on Russiais part,
thought corresponded with similar sci
timent in Germany. II the Russian
should wish to place loan in Germany
DR. ,RaifioyitGh added, the market probabl
would he found open to IT, The Frenc
market, i'll his opinion, was not able t
sever Russia's needs