The news boy., 1896-07-04

by the obstacles, they again made the
descent
General Manager John B. Law, who
has been for several days seriously shs
arose from his bed and labored untir.
ihrly TO give direction to the work OF
rescue. Special messengers caiied 70
the shaft all the Company worKmsn;
It was certain that the mine was sun
cavine In near the foot OF tne
shaft thereby endangering ana
maRlfif - practically Impossible
to continue The labor without
propping up the way as the fescuers
went in. Carriage after carriage Q!
props were sent to the bottom, ana
under chafgs Of Foreman Eagan, OF
the Phoenix mine, Messfs. Moloney, OF
the Ravens shaft, and Mcmillan, OF the
Barnum shaft, much progress was
made in this work, and soon oo men
were pushing their way to the foot OF
No. 3 plane, the scene OF the extern
sive e cave-in.
La ter on hope was again revived 70
some extent when word come up from
the rescuers that they had found sew
eral of the mules employed In the
mine, running about unharmed. This
led to the belief that there had not
been an explosion, but that the
sounds heard had been caused by the
rush of air, compressed by the sudden
and extensive cavern of the workings.
General Manager Law also asserted
emphatically that there had not been
a gas explosion.
The hope thus created, however, was
short-livcd, as the work accomplished
by the rescuers made 1t almost cer'
tam that it will require long time to
reach the imprisoned men.
This evening the aspect is as gloomy
as it was early this morning. Mine
Inspector Mcdonald is on the ground
and went to the foot of the shaft
where he made most thorough inves'
tigation. lie used the knowledge OF
his 25 years experience and deter
mined that no rescue could then be
made and in his report confirmed the
stories of his predecessors i'll the work
Fortunately the farmhouse had SUI
fered no injury, and SO lar as travel
was possible the air currents were per-
feet. This fact gave hope to those in
control that perhaps sufficient vol
ume of air could be forced TO the rear
of the cavern by sending it in
roundabout way. This appar'
| emily was one of the successful e..
forts of the carly morning, but this
afternoon, at q consultation OF the
! leading superintendents of Lacka
wanna and Wyoming valleys, attended
| by Mcssrs Simpson, Watkins and Dry-
den. of the Pennsylvania Coal Co.; Il.
l.. Fuller, OF the Old Forge Co.; Mr.
| Connell. of the Connell Coal Col
| Charles Altman, Richard Mainwarinf;
and Supt. Crawford, of the Babylon
Coal Co.; w. w. d. Owens and ". q.
Thomas, of the Lehigh Valley Coal Co,
and others, it was feared that this
could not be relied upon.
At this conference reports wer.
made By experienced foremen who
had made rescuing trips, and the worti
done was most fully iudorsed and
commended. and in their opinion
nothing more skillful could have been
accomplished.
The fear was expressed that pos
sibly the Susquehanna river near by
the cave was running into the mine.
!. This, however, was only suppositon.
The pump in this locality is under the
cave, and consequently cannot bs
used
At the meeting the possible number
imprisoned was mentioned, but this
question is wholly problem, as the
entire force of bosses and company
men. in fact all from whom this infor
nation could be derived, are in the
pit. For this reason the number of tn,
missing ones is entirely conjectural.
The one or two officials of the Twir
shaft who were not in the workings u
the time of the disaster say at min,
o'clock tonight that it is hard to esti
mate the number in the shaft, though
they will reach not less than SO, an,
from that to 125.
,, The accident is similar to the Avon
dale disaster, which occurred on Sep
pember II, 1869, when 100 miners an,
laborers lost their lives
The rescuing party have cleare
nearly nine hundred feet of the debri
!. away and are propping as they 60.
: At midnight tonight, after loolsiu
over the situation carefully, the res
cuing party decided that the bes
thing to do was to drive gangwa
through the coal from the Clear Sprin
colliery adjoining into the Twin shaf
, when it is expected to be possible t
locate the entombed men. The wor
was at once begun, and is being pushe
with all the speed possible. Fou
shifts of men, each comprising fiv
experienced miners and laborers, ar
! employed in this task, which is e,
pected to be completed in at lea.
: three or four days. In the meantiu
the work will be pushed by the re
!, cuers. 1t is now the opinion of tn
. most able miners that it will take se'
= eral days to find the entombed mel
= and that it is an impossibility to r.
y cover them sooner.
= AT 1890 a. III. gang of men belon,
= ing to the rescuing party, who wei
in at six o'clock last night, came
. the surface and reported that the
were making headway, though it W;
slow work. The roof continues
: settle and more or less danger is imm
: nent. They are within 800 feet of IL
a cavern. Gas appears to be accum
: lating, which makes the labor diff
= cult and delays the work to gre
extent. No hopes are now entertain,
:. for the safety of any of the men,
u SHOCKING DOUBLE TRACED
h A Husband Slaughters His Wife and tn
ell Takes His Own Life,