Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1894-02-17
HORRIBLE DISASTER.
Thirteen Miners Entombed at Ply
mouth, Pa.
No Hope of Their Rescue-whle at Work
In n Mine the Roof Suddenly Caves
In, Burying Them Under Four
Hundred Feet of Coal
and Rock.

WILKEsBARRE, Pa, Feb. 14-An ex-
tcnsive cavern occurred at the Gay
lord mine of the Kingston Coal Com
pany, at Plymouth, yesterday morn
ing. A large number of miners and
laborers were at work under a section
of the roof which has for some time
past been considered very weak. After
shot had been fired and without any
warning whatever, the roof consisting
of rock and coal, fell in with a heavy
crash. 1t is not known as yet wheth-
er any of the men were killed outright
by the falling debris, but it is known
that thirteen of them are hemmed in
in one of the gangways.
The air supply is shut off and the
chance of living for any length of
time is very small An army of res
cuers Immediately started to work.
trying to reach the entombed men,
amid great excitement at the mouth of
the slope. The relatives of the men
shut in the mine gathered about the
place and their lamentations were pit
iful.
The names of the unfortunate men
who are imprisoned are as follows:
Thomas Picton, Thomas Jones, Rich
ard Davis, John Morris, James King
don, Thomas Morrison, Thomas Cole,
Joseph Ords, Daniel Morgan, John Ar
per, Peter Mclaughlin, Michael Walsh
and Thomas Leyshon.
The section of the mine in which the
men are imprisoned is portion of the
Baltimore vein which at this point is
very thick and they were engaged in
| placing large timbers as a prop and
support for the roof. The affected part
covers an area of 600 yards and at 1880
o'clock yesterday afternoon there was
q strong disposition on the part of the
men who are well acquainted with the
mine to say that there is little hope of
the entombed men being rescued.
A number of mine foremen and their
assistants, led by John b. Davis, SUI
| perintendent, who had been in the
| mine all the afternoon, came out at 5
o'clock and reported that all the locks
| in the mine were closed, and also at
| the rock tunnel and all the entrances.
| The cave-in is now reported to have
taken place in what is known as the
| five-foot vein, seven-foot and Bennett
veins. The cave-in covers an area of
about mile, it having extended since
Friday noon, and affects the central
portion of the town of Plymouth.
few cracks can be seen on the surface,
but this has not become seriously af-
fected as yet. The rescuing party were
obliged to retreat on account OF the
further caving in of the mine.
Men of all classes who are familiar
with mine working are at the scene of
the disaster, and their willing hearts
and strong arms are ready to go into
the mine whenever the word is given
to aid in rescuing the entombed tim
bermen if such a thing is possible. The
mules We're taken out of the shaft in
the afternoon, as the cavern was eX-
tending close to the foot. Should the
shaft be closed at any time all hope of
rescuing the men will have to be aban
doned for an indefinite time. The thir-
teen timbermen who went into the
mine and who are now imprisoned
there were warned that there was dan
ger ahead. They said. however, to the
hoisting engineer, as they went down
to the pit, that should anything occur
you will find us in the big branch in
the Bennett vein. This, however, is
also closed and there is no way to reach
them.
The scene about the mine last night
was heartrending, and from the pres
ent outlook there are at least eleven
widows and plenty of orphans to suf-
fer the loss of their only support.
The officials are hard at work to de-
wise some plan or means of rescue, but
in order to get at the men they will
have to penetrate through 400 feet of
solid coal and rock. 1t is believed by
the superintendent and others that the
imprisoned men are on the big plane"
in the Bennett vein, which is about
700 feet from the foot of the shaft All
of the men were married except T..
Leyshon, who is single man, and
Daniel Morgan, who is widower.
Superintendent Edwards says that
he will take care of the women and
children whose husbands and fathers
lost their lives in to-day's calamity.