Waterbury evening Democrat., 1894-02-14
THIRTEEN MINERS LOST
Crushed to Death Under Many
 Tons of Rock.
WERE TRYING TO RECLAIM A MINE
The Men Were All Citizens of Plymouth, Pa, and by Their Deaths Eleven Widows aud Thirty-six Children Are Left With out Support.

Pa, and by Their Deaths Eleven Widows
 aud Thirty-six Children Are Left With
 out Support.
 WILKEsBARRE, Pa, Feb. l4.-The mining town of Plymouth is ill mourning today over d terrible accident that occurred in the Gaylord colliery. Thirteen men, all citizens of that town, lost their lives while ill the discharge of their duties Their names are Mine Foreman Thomas picton, Thomas Jones, Richard Davis, John Nor ris, James Kingdom, Thomas Merriman, Thomas Cole, Joseph Olds, Daniel Nor gan, John Hammer, Peter :. Mclaughlin, Michael Welsh and Thomas Leyshon,
 All the victims with the exception of two leave families One of these lost his wife only a month ago. and four little chil- dren survive them. Consequently the dis aster throws II widows and 36 children on the worlds charity.
 Had Been Once Abandoned.
 The Gaylord mine, in which the accident occurred, is owned by Daniel Edwards, one of the wealthiest operators in the an thracite region. It is operated by the Kingston Coal company, of which AIr. Ed wards is the president. The best coal in the mine was taken out years ago. Then it was abandoned because it could not be operated with profit.
 About three weeks ago the company de- cided to resume operations, and party of expert miners was sent into the mine to make an examination. They found mat ters in bad shape. The last men at work in the colliery had robbed the pillars sup porting the roof until they were very thin. A great many falls had taken place, the passages were blocked by the debris, and the air current was poor Mining experts gave it as their opinion, however, that the mine could be put in good condition again with small outlay of capital
 The company decided to go on with the work at once. Monday morning a large number of expert miners carrying safety lamps entered the mine and began the work of clearing up the old gangways and prOpping the roof They had not been at work long until a squeeze came, which compelled the men to retrace their steps. Foreman Picton, with 12 picked miners, volunteered to go down the shaft and see what could be done.
 The descent was made at 10 o'clock MOn- day night. Picton's object was to get as near as possible to the most dangerous part, or where the squeeze was the great est, in order to stay its progress by beam ing the roof with heavy timber.
 In cases of this kind the men get as neal as possible to the cavein, and by inserting cogs and props they endeavOr to break off the mass of rock overhead to a certain point, thus relieving the pressure on other DOT tions of the mine. It seems that in this in- stance the efforts of Picton and his meE did not prove a success, as the cavein eX- tended far beyond the danger limit and much greater distance than where the men expected to be safe, though they retreated at the first indication of the heavy fall.
 Two Rescuing Parties Driven Out.
 This is shown by the vast area of the cavein. No one is left to tell the story. The suppostion is that the men were busi- ly at work timbering when the rocky roof came tumbling down upon their heads, crushing them out of semblance to hu- manity and putting a wall of debris be- tween them and the mouth of the shaft 400 feet in thickness.
 At first there was some hope that if the men could be reached in a reasonable time they could be saved This was q false hope, however. The rescuing party had been in the mine only short time when they were obliged to retreat on account of further caving A second rescuing party under Superintendent James w. Davis went down the shaft, but soon came back thoroughly disheartened, and finally all hope of rescuing them alive was given up.
 The news of abandoned hope soon spread, and the wives and children of the men in the mine, who had assembled at the mouth of the shaft, expecting any moment to see their loved ones brought up alive, set up most pitiful cry of distress. Mothers wrung their hands and tore their hair, and little children wept bitterly. Two of the women fainted and had to be carried away by friends. Even stout hearted men gath cred at the entrance to the mine and wept almost as bitterly as the fatherless chil- dren.
 This disaster is the worst that has oc- cured in the anthracite region since 1885, when p men perished by a cavein in mine No 1 of the Susquehanna Coal company at Nantcoke. Their bodies were never re- covered, and monument marks the spot where the men met their death.
 Superintendent Edwards says that he will take care of the women and children whose husbands and fathers lost their lives in this calamity. The mine, it is now believed, is d total wreck.