Pawtucket tribune. (Pawtucket, R.I.) 1890-189?, 1893-09-30
A TERRIBLE DISASTER
A River Breaks Into and
Floods a Mine.
OVER A SCORE MEET DEATH
Overwhelmed by the Avalanche of
Wind, Ore and Water.


disastrous accident, so far as loss OF life is
concerned. that mas ever occurred In
the mining regions of Lake Superior hap.
pened about $3.50 o'clock Thursday night
at the Mansfield mine, situated q few
miles from the town Of Crystal Falls.
Twenty-eight men Of gang which had
gone or duty for the nights work were
| entombed by the caving in of one of the
'levels" of the mine, the supports for
which had given way, and IL they were not
Drushed by the falling walls they have
been drowned by the nrush Of the Michi-
CANINE river, near which the mine was
sunk.
None Of the b odies have been recovered
aud it is believed that it will be necessary
to divert the channel of the river before
they can be secured The news WAS slow
in reaching the outside world. The near
est telegraph office is at Crystal Falls, six
miles away, ana though "A railroad track
runs into the Mansfield camp, it was only
used TO haul out ore and bring i'm sup.
plies.
A courier carried the news to Crystal
Falls late Thursday night, but not until
yesterday was the news sent abroad 1t is
the worst disaster that ever occurred In
this iron region. When the night shift
went on duty il was noticsd 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
drift" free.
The miners pursued their work as on
every night when they started i'm to pass
the l2 hours under the ground earning
bread for their families. Suddenly, u few
min of a
ing rush'o water and the men felt them
selves being overwhelmed by an ava
lanche of mud, ore aud water So fast
came tn food that it is doubtful whet her
the menrn the upper levels had time to
drop their tools and run for their lives ~
the old shaft.
No Hope Of Escape.
ii d any of them reached the perpen-
dicular opening, however, it would have
availed them nothing, for the shaft col
lapsed as soon as the water reached and
undermined lts base.
This occurred at precisely $3.50, and IL
was then known To those ia charge Of the
mine that the men in the upper level had
been trapped and drowned like rats by an
accident whica had long been expected.
The news Of the disaster sped on swift
wild cry Of alarm was voiced by the iu-
habitants as they rushed from their homes,
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 ex-
planned To the anxious inqurers cry Of
horror went up rs they realized that tie
long-expected and much-dreaded accident
had taken place at last, and brought with
1t the results so long feared by the wives
and brothers
There was 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 were Of no avail, as the
waters 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 - men were
given up.
All night the water poured into it's new
found bed, and not until o o'clock yester-
day morning did IL resume its natural
course, after having effectually filled
every cavity and crevice of the great
mine. The death of these 20 men mark,
the end Of the Mansfield mine, for unless
the river can be forced to seek another
channel the bodies cannot be secured nor
can this rich deposit of iron ore be worked
again.
Already talk Of suits for damages against
the operator 10y relatives of the dead men
is being heard. The mine was being oper-
ated by the receiver Of Corrigan. Ives Il
Co. of Cleveland. The money loss will DO
500 90