The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1896-07-02
ALMOST A SETTLED FACT THAT
NONE OF THOSE IMPRISONED
SURVIVED.
TALK OF ABANDONING RESCUE WORK
And Giving the Money That Would Be
Thus Expended to the Bercaved Rel
ativcs-To This the Relatives
Strenuously Object

Wikcsbarrc. Pa. June 29.-lt is al
most Il settled fact tonight that of the
small army of men which entered the i'll
fated Twin shaft at Pittston on Satur-
day night not one survives. Not only is
every approach to their dark tomb bar
ricaded by enormous masses of rock and
debris. but it is known that in the mine
there is large quantity of water, which
is increasing in volume every minute.
Thus the chances of recovering their
bodies are rcmoter than ever. Promi-
ncnt officials say that weeks or months
may be consumed in clearing away the
fallen coal in order, to reach the bodies
of the victims. \ mine superintendent
of thirty-five years experience thinks
the unfortunate men have met the same
fate that bcfell the men in the Susquc
hama in 1855. These men were caught
in rush" of coal and water from the
surface. Their bodies were buried under
mountain of coal refuse, \ hundred
| men laborcd for more than two weeks
10 rescue them, but the moro debris they
bok out the more rushed i'll from the
surface opening. As the task was Il
hopeless one it was finally abandoned
and the portion of the mine where the
| men died was closed up. The SUPPOSE
| ton that there is water in the Twin
shaft is well founded. Both the Lacka-
wanna and Susquchana rivers run in
| close proximity to the shaft. From sur
face to the point where the rock begins
there is at least n river wash to the
depth of fourteen feet. From this point
down to the bottom level. where the men
| are. there was. previous to the fall. $50
| feet of rock. SO long as this remained
intact there was perhaps more leakage
| through the crevices in the mine than
| i'll mines which are not so close to large
| bodies of water. When the fall occur
| red the $50 feet of rock mentioned must
| have been shattered allowing the water
| TO pour into the mine in large Quanti-
| ties until the open space below was filled.
| The natural consequence of this is that
| if the men did not lose their lives under
| the mass of rock they must have died
| by drowning.
If this be the case it will be impossi-
| bic to remove the bodies from the mine
| The story will be repetition of the
| Nanti-Coke disaster.
| Inspector Mcdonald has issued the
| following signed statement:
| 80 far as my knowledge of the work
| ing of the mine goes and the manner in
which the work is conducted | do not
believe the accident was due to any Grim
| inal carelcssnesS. but l can not say def
| nitely that it was not until / make a
| thorough investigation. This can not be
| done until we find the men or abandon
| the mine"
There are surface indications tonight
that the slope and main gangways of the
mine are packed tight with falling coal
| ana rock. In other words. late falls
have completely wrecked the inside
| workings of the colliery. Some take the
view that it would be better to let the
bodies remain where they are and devote
the money that would have to be expend-
ed TO open the passageway of the mine
to the relief of the widows and orphans
OF the victims. Relatives of the en-
t0mbed men oppose this proposition.
Ihey look with horror upon the idea of
their loved ones sleeping their last sleep
III an abandoned mine. apart from the
possibility still entertained by some that
the men may be alive. Practical mine
toremen who are in no way interested in
the Newton Coal company say that since
here is no such possibility. public opin-
on favOrs the idea of relieving the living
rather than digging for the dead The
company, however, has given no hint of
abandoning the work of rescue The
board of trade held special meeting
tonight to consider means of helping the
families of the victims. 1t was decided
to send an appeal to the boards of trade
throughout the east for subscriptions.
At present there is estimated to be twen-
ty-two widows and about eighty orphans
as a result of the disaster
James Langan, Il son of the superin-
tendent, created a sensation last night
by declaring that he succeeded in crawl
ing over the first two falls in the slope
and reaching within 800 feet of where
the men were supposed to have been at
work. He insists that there was a va
cant spot and he believes the entombed
men are in there. He also says that the
ventilation is good. If this story is true
it upsets all previous theories.
Some doubt is entertained regarding it.
however.
MAY DISTURB FINED RATES.