The herald., 1896-06-29

habitants rushed pellmell from their
houses. The ringing of bells and the
shrek of the big mine whistle told the
story. Great crowds apeared about the
mouth of the shaft. Stalwart men stood
appalled and frantic women, who mad
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 the
same unfortunate one who had nine
helpless children at home. Many knele
on the ground, and, in voices broken IN
sobs, implored the Divine providence 10
restore their loved ones alive.
When it was given out that there was
little hope of rescuing the men alive,
women and girls tainted and were porhe
away.
The rescue work was promptly begun.
The best miners who remained on the
surface Joined voluntarily in the haz-
ardous task, for hazardous 1t certainly
was. with the constant menace OF an
other fall or explosion of firedamp' Spe-
cial 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. though the
blocked slope and gangways held out
little hope of the air reaching them.
The rescuers were divided into three re-
laws of forty men each, under the direc-
tion of Mine Foreman Alexander NC
Mullen. The men worked as they hau
never before worked, clearing away the
debris in the slope with the energy that
only springs from the knowledge OF dear
lives behind it. They made good head
way considering the difficulties they had
to contend with. and at o'clock thls
morning had cleared the slope a dis
tance of 600 feet.
At Q o'clock this afternoon it became
necessary to swear in policemen TO con-
troll the crowd around the shaft. 1t mad
increased to fully 1000. Ropes were
stretched around the shaft and only nine
officials were allowed to enter the en-
closure.
Sheridan, the water boy who had such
a narrow escape, tells thrilling story OF
the catastrophe. He thinks there was
an explosion of gas which blew down the
newly erected timbers and caused the
caye-in. He said those inside had no
apprehension of a fall or a squeeze.
EVERYTHING was working nicely, and the
men expected to be out of the mine IN
an hour
"The report of the fall" says the boy,
twas like a hundred cannon, and the
force of it blew men fully twenty-five
feet. was hurled against the side or
the slope. A piece Of rock hit me on the
back of the head the wound COM
menced to bleed, and then 1 tainted
Richards and Gill, who were on their
way out after timber, concur with Sher-
idan that the concussion was terrif1c
They were knocked off their feet and
banged against some brattice work.
They cannot conceive the possibility or
anvbody being in the wreck and escap-
ing with his life.
Superintendent Laws says:
"Nobody regrets this dreadful occur
renee more than 1 do. 1t is too early
vet to give any reason for the cause OF
the accident, but can assure you that
if I thought there was any danger IN
the work undertaken by the men. not
a single one of them would have been
allowed to enter the mine. I don't care
loss of life that gives me so much sor-
row."
The breaker Of the Twin shaft burned
down three years ago. There were over
300 men in the mine at the time, but all
escaped through second opening. The
first great disaster in the anthracite re-
gion was in September, 1869, when 10
men perished in the Avondale mine, this
county. The breaker over the mine
caught fire, and all the men in the mine
were suffocated. This catastrophe
caused the legislature to pass law
compelling mines TO have two open
ings. But when a cave-in occurs IN
mine and the men are surrounded on
every side by debris, 1t makes little
difference how many openings there
may be. They cannot escape, even if
spared by falling rocks.
The report that two bodies had been
found in the mine was proved tonight to
be premature Up to o'clock tonight
no bodies had been found At that
hour all hope of finding any persons
alive had been lost. The superintend-
ent of the Lehigh Coal company, who
is an authority, says IL Will De zen udS )
before the bodies are reached.
During the late hours of the afternoon
the searchers made but little progress
because that part of the slope upon
which their energies were bent was
working" The heaviest timbers were
like straws under the heavy pressure
from above.
At II o'clock tonight the situation at the
ill-fated mine was unchanged. The res
cuers We're hard at work, but making lit
tie progress.
Superintendent Miller has given orders
that the rescuers must proceed with
great caution now as the rock they are
laboring under is working" more or
less. There is danger that in hurrying
the work other lives may he lost.
A conference of prominent mine su-
perintendents from all over the Wyo-
ming valley was held tonight and the
situation in the mine discussed. The
conclusion was reached that to prevent
further loss OF life the work OF the rescue
must proceed With care. 1t is also the
unanimous belief Of the superintendent
that the mine is now tomb and that II
will be some days before the rescuer.
reach the bodies.
A REVISED LIST.
Following is list of the men in tn,
mine: