The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1893-10-18
DISASTER IN, 4 MIME!
TWENTY-EIGHT IRON MINERS
DROWNED IN MICHIGAN.

A River Burst Through the Roof OF
Their Tunnel-Of Forty-Six Men
Only Eighteen Escaped tho Wild
= Rush Of Water-A Calamity Ex-
pected for Years.
With terrific rush the water Of tho
Michigamme River broke through 8 bed
weakened by mining into the Mansfield Mine
six miles from Crystal Falls, Mich, between
and 10 o'clock OF night, drowning twenty
eight men who were at work directly under
the cSvein. a..
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 this
drowned are - -as
Sam Peters, married James Strongman,
married w. a. Pierce, married; Charles
Pohl married Ole Carson, married Joe
Kohls, married Swan johnson, Mike Bar
rington, Frank Rocko, AL Torresani, Frank
johnson, Samuel johnson. Shellimo Zsdr8,f
Peter Turry, Nicolo Fontani, John Regula,
John Holmstrum, Ross, Fortimato. john
Kirsche, John Warner, John Arcangefy. Aug
ust Cologns, Vigilis Zeadra, John Randall, !
Oscar Lundquist, Anto Stefiano, o. Con,
stanti, CelesH Negrt.
None Of tho bodies have been recovered,
and it Is believed It will be- necessary to d..
vert the channel Of the river before they can
be secured.
When the night shift went on duty It was
noticed that more water was going into the
mine than usual, but no alarm was felt by
the racn at the pumps, as they managed to-
keep the "dritts" free. suddenly, few min
utes after 9, there was a loud report and an
overpowering rush Of water, and the mem
felt themselves being overwhelmed by an
avalanche of mud, ore and water. SO fast
came the food 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 perpen-
dicular opening, however, It would have
ayailed them nothing, for theshaft known as
"Old No. 1" collapsed as soon as the water
reached and undermined its base.
This occurred at precisely $50, and II Mas'
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. q shaft, but the inrushing Hood
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 tho
lower levels were warned In time to escape
The news OF the disaster sped on swiftI
wings throughout the little hamlet and 9 Wild
CRY Of alarm was voiced by the fnhabitsnfsas
they rushed from their homes, gathering
about the shaft Just as the last one OF the
eighteen men was brought to the surface.
When the cause Of the accident was e1-;
planned to the anxious inquirersia cry OF hor-5
ror went up as they realized that the long
expected and much dreaded accident had
taken place at last and brought with II tho
results so long feared by, the wives and
mothers. b
There was call for volunteers, which was
promptly answered, to descend the only ayatl-
able shaft and succor, II possible, any miners
who might possibly be found alive. But tho
courage and good intent Of the hardy minors
were Of no avail, for the waters had already
reached the lower level shaft, and the angry
roar which greeted the would-be rescuers az
they peered over into the dark channel pre-
cluded all hope Of rescue, and the twenty
eight men were given up. 3ls ,,
The Mansfield Mine Is situated on tho banks
of the Michigamme River, about SIX miles
east of Crystal Falls, the county seat Of lron
County. It has been worked between threes
four years and has shipped about CSC, 900
tons of Bessemer ore. Z
The first step towards getting into the
flooded workings must be to divert tempor-
arily or permanently the course OF the Mlchi-.
CANINE River and then pump out the mine. I:
The mine was being operated by the To-
ceiver of Corrigan, Ives & Co., OF Cleveland
The loss will be $500. .000. .a ,s.t -lsis