The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1896-06-30
No Chance to Rescue the
EntOmbed Miners.
Are Confined Behind an I'm
menSe Barrier of Rock.
The Inside Workings of the Col
liery Have Been Wrecked.

Wilkesbarre. Pa, June 30.-It is al
most a settled fact that OF the small
army of men which entered the ILL
fated Twin shaft at Pittston, on Satur-
day night. not one survives. Not only
is the approach 90 their dark tomb bar
ricaded by enormous masses OF rock
and debris, but IL is known that In the
mine there is large quantity Of water
which is increasing in volume with every
minute. Thus, the chances of recover
Ing their bodies are more remote than
ever. sts.
The slope is choked up 10 the shaft
with debris. and the efforts of the gang
OF rescuers are confined to keeping the
shaft clear. The work OF making an
other opening. in order TO reach the en-
tombed men. was begun In earnest yes
terday. by the making OF a borehole at
the Clear Spring colliery which joins the
Twin shaft After reaching below the
surface. work was begun in driving a
hole from the Clear Spring to the foot of
the slope where the men are supposed
to be- underrthe fall. This hole is 10 be
driven diagonally for 110 feet. IL Is an
experiment, to learn whether there is
gas or water below. with view of as
certaining the feasibility of driving an
airway from Clear Spring TO the foot
OF the slope. This can be readily ac-
complished, as there is an indicator
on the drill on the surface, which shows
whether there is water or gas below.
The drill will go through pillar Of coal
so feet thick. but as II will pass through
diagonally, IL will be necessary 10 drill
through abouSl20 feet After this has
been done. IL results are satisfactory.
the rescuers will drive an airway to a
point where the fall begins. Prominent
officials says that after this airway has
reached the point referred TO, weeks or
months may be consumed In clearing
away the fall Of the coal, In order to reach
the bodies of the victims.
A mine superintendent Of 32 years ex-
perience thinks tho unfortunate men
have met the same fate that befell the
&c miners who perished In No. slope OF
the Susquehanna Coal company In De-
cember, 1885 These men were caught
In rush" Of water from the surface.
Their bodies were buried under a noun
tain OF coal refuse. Three hundred men
labored for more than two weeks to
rescue them. but the more debris they
took out, the more rushed in from the
surface opening AS the task was a
and the portion of the mine where the
men died was closed up. A wooden
monument now marks the spot on the
mountain of co,.i and dirt. under which
lies the remains OF the 26 victims.
The supposition that there is water In
the Twin shaft Is we'll founded. Both
the Lackawanna and Susquehanna riv-
srs run in close proximity TO the shaft.
From the surface TO the point where
fhe rock begins, there is at least river
wash TO the depth of l40 feet. From
this point down 10 the bottom, or the
level where the men are, there was,
previou-..7 the fall, 2s0 feet of rock So
long as this remained intact there was
perhaps no more leakage through the
crevices In the mine than In mines which
are not close 10 large bodies Of water.
When the fall occurred, the $50 feet OF
rock mentioned must have been shat
tered allowing the water TO pour into
the mine In large quantities, until the
open space below was filed. The natural
consequence OF this is that IL 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 he
impossible to remove the bodies from
the mine. The story will be repetition
OF the Nanticoke disaster
Superintendent Law is 10th TO believe
that the water comes from the rivers.
He believes 1t is due TO the fact that
the pumping engines are not running,
The mine was always watery, and two
engines were kept busy day and night
pumping it out.
In an interview, Mine Inspector Nc
Donald said: II made an examination
of the Twin shaft about a month ago.
At that tii-e / found the mine appar-
entity safe. The officials gave me no
intimation that IL was otherwise. You
can say that all hope of recovering the
men alive has been abandoned, and it