New-York tribune., 1895-10-08
LIKE AN EARTHQUAKE.
vy1LKEsBARRE SHAKEN BY A 'RhMf'->-
DOUs NINE EXPLOSION.
-o ,c,v FATALLY INJURED AND FOUR IN
PRIsoNED IN THE woRKINGs~A FANlC ~
THE MOUTH CT TIE SHAFT

PRIsONED ~ THE WoRKlN's~N PAM 90
THE MOUTH OF TIE SHAFT
vukesharrc. Penn. oct. People living IN the
northern part OF this city were star iueu "oou'
s:4o o'clock this afternoon by 're"enu"us
-,ar followed by a rocking or the eafth' ""ici
seemed 70 come from beneath them a ieW mo-
ments later many Of them knew what IL meant
A terrific explosion had occurred III the Dorra"ce
mine and in less than half-hour thousa"us oi
,,r,e c,,bered around the head Of the shaft. only
IN witness puns Of smoke mingled with dust anu
dahr,s iss,ine from the mouth OF the shaft Wom-
ON and children were running in all directions
irving bitterly. thinking that their loved ones
who had left their homes in the morning to enter
.he mine were either injured killed. But moth
,,c co,ld he learned from the officials, who re-
fused 10 answer questions.
v,-,,o, tho first carriage was hois;ed It brought
49,, . ,,tner with blackened face and burning lamp.
-, hin, q was learned that there were only
nina mon in the men when the explosion occurred.
All O'Clock tonight five OF them We're brought
ont and four others were yet to be reached Only
two are known to have been fatally injured The
others were burned and injured and were re-
moved 70 the city hospital. The names Of the
men who have been taken out are as follows:
p1.,NCrARD Robert. aged nineteen. surveyor;
sing g: face hands and legs burned; cut on face
and hands; viii recover
I,puy Ceorge AGED twenty-five; Poe; miner;
sng.e. cut on head and arms by flying coal and
leg bruised injuries serious.
MILLER Robert. survey9r; right arm broken; nan Is
ana back burned vii die
,,opprc Michael aged forty: Poe: miner single;
crushed and cut 10y falling prop: VIII die.
>,r,eptIy Edward aged seventeen: driver; struck
Lex by falling prop '"oe ana soap cut by ny
Ing coal; Will recover,
rho cause of the explosion is not positively
known II appears that an engineer corps, COM
,,osad ~ five mining engineers headed by Dan"
Davis the fire boss went into abandoned
o,Aning Of the old Baltimore vein. two Of the
beIners. Robert Blanchard and Robert Miller. re-
naming behind \ few moments later an explo-
sion took place, and Blanchard and Miller were
both knocked senseloss to the ground Miller
saws he has NJ idea what caused the explosion,
but IL r. supposed that one Of the four men
Jones owens. Cah!ll and Davs-touched off A
body Of gas with his mine lamp Miller says they
had quit work at 90, and were preparing 10
come out when Jones looked at the blueprint and
remarked that he had forgotten 10 run two or
three lines lie left Miller and Blanchard In
charge of the instruments. and the rest OF the
party went into the old workings About five
minutes after they had gone terrific explosion
occurred. which extinguished the lamps and
hurled Miller and Blanchard about as II they
were straws. Miller picked himself up ana ran
bMndly through the mine until he struck pillar
ran again, but fell over a fallen prop, and broke
his right arm He was then completely eX-
hausted. and lay on the floor until two members
of the rescuing party reached him.
At late hour tonight Jones. owen. Cahili ana
Davis We're still in the mine. The rescuing party
IS straining every nerve TO reach them but a large
body Of afterdamp is causing trouble. Large
gangs of men are engaged in laying Drattlce 10
convey the air. and II is hoped that the men VIII
be reached before morning. The only nope or
their being alive is that they beyond the body
OF afterdamp with sufficient air to preserve their
The colliery is owned and operated by the Le-
high Valley Coal Company 1t was started four
teen years ago and has two shafts. one was sunk
to the Baltimore vein to a depth OF loo feet and
the other to the 1lman vein 10 depth or 54V
feet. The inside superintendent Of the Baltimore
vein is Thomas Samuels, brother Of the late
William Samuels. who killed by al explosion
of gas in the same mine two years ago. Robert
Med Shoemaker is the general outside supcrin-
tendent. The mine is known one of the most
gaseous in the anthracite region, and several ex
pIosons have occurred there in the last few years