Connecticut western news., 1893-10-05
TWENTY EIGHT DEAD
MINERS SWALLOWED UP BY A MAD
 RUSH OF WATERS.

Eighteen of the Men Managed to Escape.
 PitifuI Scenes Among Relatives of the
 Unfortunates-The Mine Had Long Been
 Thought to Be Unsafe.
 CRYSTAL FALLS, Mich, Sept. 30-With terrific rush the water of the Michigamme river broke through bed, weakened by mining, into the Mansfield mine Thursday night, drowning 28 men who were at work directly under the cavein. There were 40 men in the mine when the accident oc- cured, but IS of them, who were working in the lower levels, managed to escape.
 None of the bodies have been recovered, and it is believed it will be necessary to di- vert the channel of the river before they can be secured It is believed to have been the worst disaster that ever occurred in the Lake Superior 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 at the pumps, as they managed to keep the drifts free. The miners pursued their work as on every night when they started in to pass the 12 hours under the ground earning bread for their families. Suddenly there was a loud report and an overpowering rush of water, and the men felt themselves being overwhelmed by an avalanche of mud. ore and water.
 Trapped and Drowned Like Rats
 So fast came the flood that it is doubtful whether the men on the upper levels had time to drop their tools and run for their lives to the old shaft. Had any of them reached the perpendicular opening, how ever. it would have availed them nothing, for the shaft known as Old No. 1 col lapsed as soon as the water reached and undermined its base This occurred at precisely 9:30, and it was then known to those in charge of the mine that the men in the upper level had been trapped and drowned like rats 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 crossed over to No. shaft but the inrushing flood came too fast, and it is thought that most of them met death within five minutes after the break occurred. The men at work in the lower levels were warned in time to escape. A few minutes after 9 they heard an ominous roar, and at once suspecting the cause dropped their picks and fled for their lives The water, pursuing as it did the devious course necessary in running from one leva to another, was already ankle deep in the lower levels when the men reached the shaft and were drawn up from what seemed certain death.
 A Cry of Horror Went Up.
 The news of the disaster sped on swift wings throughout the little hamlet, and a wild cry of alarm was voiced by the inhab- itants as they rushed from their homes, l gathering about the shaft just as the last one of the IS men was brought to the sur face. When the cause of the accident was explained to the anxious inquirers, a cry of horror went up, as they realized that the long expected and much dreaded accident had taken place at last and brought with it the results so long feared by the wives and mothers.
 There was a call for volunteers, which was at once answered, to descend the only available shaft and succor if possible any miners who might possibly be found alive. But the courage and strong intent of the hardy miners was of no avail and the wa ters had already reached the lower level shaft, and the angry roar which greeted the would be rescuers as they peered over into | the dark channel at once precluded all hope | of rescue, and the 28 men were given up.
 All night the water poured into its new | found bed, and not until g o'clock in the morning did it resume it's natural course, after having effectually filled every cavity and crevice of the great mine.