Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1894-02-23
THIRTEEN KILLED.
Terrible Result of the Gazing In or
Pennsylvania Coliiery.

Pennsylvania Coliiery.
WuKEsBARRE, Pa, Feb l5.-The
mining town of Plymouth is In mourn
ing over q terrible accident that oc-
Cured i'm the Gaylord colliery Tuesday
morning. Thirteen men, all citizensof
that town, lost their lives while in the
discharge of their duties. Their names
are:
Thomas Pcton. Thomas Jones, Richard
Davis John Norris James Kingdom, Thomas
Merrlman. Thomas Cole Joseph Olds, Daniel
Morgan, John Hammer, Peter ;. Mclaughlin
Michael Walsh Thomas Jeyshon
All the victims, with the exception
Of two, leave families. One OF these
lost his wife month ago, and four Ut
tie children survive them. Consequent
ly the disaster throws eleven widows
and thirty-six children on the worlds
charity.
The Gaylord mine is owned by Daniel
Edwards, one of the wealthiest oper-
ators in the anthracite region. 1t is
operated by the Kingston Coal COM
pany, of which Mr.. Edwards is the
president. The best coal in the mine
was taken out years ago. Then it was
abandoned because it could not be OPP
Grated with profit.
About three weeks ago the company
decided TO resume operations, and
number of expert miners were sent
into the mine To make an examination.
They found matters in bad shape. The
last man at work in the colliery had
robbed" the pillars supporting the
roof until they were very thin.
A great many falls had taken
place, the passages were blocked by
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 out
lay. The company decided to go on
with the work at once. Monday morn
ing 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" compe lied the men to re-
trace their steps.
Foreman Picton with twelve selected
miners volunteered TO go down the
shaft and see what could be done.
The descent was made At 10 o'clock
Monday night. Picton's object was
to get as near as possible TO
where the squeeze" was the
greatest in order TO stay its progress by
beaming the roof with heavy tim
bers. In cases of this kind the men get
as near as possible to the cave-in, and,
by the insertion of cogs and props, en-
deavor To break off the mass of rock
over head to a certain point, thus re-
lieving the pressure on other portions
of the mine.
1t seems that in this instance the eff
forts of Picton and his men did not
prove a success, as the cave extended
far beyond the danger limit and a
much greater distance than where
the men expected to be safe if they
retreated at the first indication of
the heavy fall. This is shown by the
vast area of the cavern. No one
is left to tell the story. The SUPPOSE
ton is that the men were busily at
work timberng when the roof came
tumbling down upon their heads, crush
ing them out of sem blance TO humanity
and putting wall of debris between
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 reason
able time they could be saved. This
was false hope, however The res
cuiug party had been in the mine
only short time when they
were obliged to retreat on ac-
count of further caving. second
rescuing party under superintendent
James W. Davis went down the shaft
Tuesday afternoon, but soon came back
thoroughly disheartened, and at
o'clock all hope of rescuing the men
alive was given up. The news of aban-
doned hope soon spread, and the wives
and children of the men in the mine
who had assembled at the mouth of the
shaft were disconsolate
This disaster is the worst that has
occurred in the anthracite region since
1885, when twenty-five men persisted by
a cave-ln In mine No. of the Susquc-
hanna Coal company at Nanticoke.
Their bodies were never recovered and
a monument marks the spot where the
men met their death. superintendent
Edwards said Tuesday that he would
take care of the women and children
whose husbands and fathers lost their
lives in the calamity. The mine, it il
now believed, is a total wreck.