The times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1882-1897, 1896-07-03
PIT is THEIR TOMB
Women and Children Mourn for
100 Dead Coal Miners.
CAUGHT IN A SUDDEN ROoF-FALL,

with Unceaslng yigor. But with Despair
in Their Enthusiastically "a Shadow of
Hope for the Entombed.
WILKEsBARRE, Pa, June 20.-While
ninety miners were at work in the Red
Ash vein of the Twin shaft, Pittston,
about o'clock yesterday morning, the
roof caved in and it is believed that all of
the mep persisted. About half Of the inn
prisoned men were English-speal1ing
miners, the others foreigners The names
of the former are
NJ. j. Langan, inside superintendent;
T. II. Linott, inside foreman; Alex Nc
Cormick, fire boss; Robert Haston ma
chinist; Thomas Murphy, driver boss, and
the following miners-Michael Costello,
j. H. Kelley, Michael Gaudhan, John
Hart, James Daley, Michael Connell,
Daniel Ward, Frank Kehoe, James
Clearly Edward Buckley, John Casey,
Edward Rogers, James Kehoe, James Nc
Donald, Edward Delaney, Cornelius Nc
CURE, James Golden, M. Brien, Michael
Hughes, Edward Kilday, James Burke,
Patrick Ruane, Thomas Tenpenny,
Michael Il. Gaffney Thomas Doing, An
thony Kane, j. W. Murphy, Owen Lee,
Anthony Gordon, James Wall, - Wall
(his SOM Douiinick o Malley Peter Mar
tin, Michael Ford, Timothy Durbrick,
Thomas Da",i.acy, Thomas Carlin, Pat
rick Gibbons John O'Boyle and Peter
Joyce.
Deaf Cay Reach One Hundred.
Aside irct. hose thcre may be other
English-sp>,, miners among the I'M
fortunates Thir5y Polanders and Huns
were entombed, md it is thought that the
total number of bodies in the mine will
reach 100 The men were at work prop
ping up tho roof when the fall occurred.
The alarm was Immediately given by the
ringing Of the fire bells, and rescuers were
put to work without delay. Up to this
writing not single body has been found.
More than two thirds of the victims were
married men and leave families. Langan,
who was inside superintendent of the
mine, was also acting mayor of the town,
and j. H. Linott was ward councilman.
Attempted to Stop squeeze"
About two weeks ago the surveyors re-
ported to General superintendent Law that
Uuo WAS anu UIsiO uHleSS
steps were Immediately taken to timber it
cave-in or fall might be looked for.
Superintendent Law lost no time, but at
once put a number of timbermen at work
to brace the falling roof. The squeeze"
continued, however and Saturday the
situation became alarming. In the after
noon a slight fall occurred and the men
who were at work had to retreat before it,
A consultation of mine officials was then
held and it was decided that heroic meas
ures would have to be resorted to If heavy
damages to the mine were to be prevented
Inside Superintendent Langan gave in
structions that the most experienced min
ers should be secured. and that the party
would go down the mine at z o'clock.
How the Horror Probably Occurred.
Expert timbermen put in an appearance
at that hour and were soon lowered into
the workings. They made their way to
Red Ash vein, 1900 feet down the slope
The work of propping proceeded rapidly
until il o'clock, when another fall occur
red. 1t made q low, rumbling, noise and
the flying coal and debris drove the men
back. Then the squeeze" ceased again,
and the men thoughtit was safe to resume
work. They labored on until 1920 o'clock,
when-so it is presumed-the roof fell in
without warning, making tremendous
crash. 1t is supposed, however, that the
men were not all together, but some near
the slope, and these probably ran up the
incline when the fall occurred.
Bare Possibility That Exists,
The falling rock and coal filled up the
slope and the adjoining gangways, COM
pletely shutting off all avenues of es-
cape. 1t was at first supposed that the
men might have escaped being caught in
the fall, and that they were imprisoned
behind the debris, but the facts that are
known would go to disprove this 1t
is still possible, however, that living men
may still be behind the fall, although it is
extremely improbable. Even if they es-
capped being crushed by the falling roof
the possibility of their being alive for any
length of time in a gaseous mine is re-
mote.
Crowds of people gathered about the
mouth of the shaft and numbered thous-
ands by daybreak. Stalwart men stood
appalled,, and frantic women who had
husbands or sons in the doomed mine
waited in despair. One mother cried out
that she had two sons below. Another
was the wife of some unfortunate, and
had nine helpless children at home. Many
knelt on the ground, and in voices broken
with sobs implored Divine Providence to
restore their loved ones alive. When it
was given out that there was little or no
hope of rescuing the men alive women
and girls tainted and were borne away
eenseless
The work of rescue was prompt and eff
1cient. The best miners who remained on
the surface joined voluntarily in the has-
ardous task Special efforts were made to
keep the air fan in good order, so that II
by any chance the men were alive they
should have fresh air TO breathe
AT this writing all hope Of finding any
of the imprisoned miners alive is aban-
doned. Superintendent Lathrop, of tho
Lehigh Valley Coal company, who is an
authority, says 1t will be ten days before
the bodies are reached. At II o'clock last
night the situation at tho Inflated mine
was unchanged. The rescuers were hard
at work, but making little progress.
Innocent Man Doing Time.
PITTsBURG, June 2D.--It has been dis
covered that Stephen Legeza, who has
served half of n ten-vear sentence for n |