The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1896-12-22
NINE EXPLOSION
The Lives Of One Hundred
Men in Danger at Bal
timOre No. z.
ALL BUT A SCORE RESCUED
Wilkes Barre Visited by Another
Mine DisaSter-BiS Explosion
Occurs While the Miners Are
Fighting Fire-Heroic Work Of
the Rescuins Party-Men Taken
Out in an Unconscious Condition.
List Of the Victims.

Wilkes Barre, Pa, Dec. PA dis
astrous explosion occurred in the Balti-
more No. . shaft. operated by the Della
ware and Hudson Coal company, short
ly after o'clock this afternoon. The
colliery when in full operation employs
nearly 800 men and boys; less than one
third of this number, however, were al
work when the explosion occurred. AT
this writing QO.30 p. m.) all but score
of the men had been accounted for.
1t is possible that all can be gotten
out of the mine in safety. A great
many of the miners had narrow es-
capes. AS soon as the report Of the
explosion was heard, all hands made a
rush for the main gangway. hoping to
effect their escape by way of the SHAFT.
The after damp. however, was SO
strong that many of the men and boys
We're overcome. The strongest man
aged to reach the foot of the shaft
first. The older men had to be carried
along by the younger comrades. Some
of them became exhausted and were
taken out with great difficulty. Ine
scene of the explosion was on u plane
one mike distant from the foot of the
shaft. between thirty and forty men
being employed there. The ventila-
tion Is said to be not the best. and
there was an accumulation Of gas. but
what ignited it is, up to II O'Clock to-
night, as yet a mystery. There are
three theories. The first Is that Il
feeder of gas was ignited by the
lamp of one Of the miners. The second
is that blalt set fire to small body
of gas and that the men were fighting
this fire when the big explosion oc-
Cured. The third, and most plausible
one. is that the roof In the slope fell In
and crushed lot of dynamite that was
stored there. This exploded. setting
fire to the gas. Some Of the men who
were rescued inhaled more or less after
damp and will be laid up for some time.
Those who crawled out on their hands
and knees had the flesh badly lacerat-
ed. The explosion was heard plainly
on the surface, and in a short time
crowd of over 1000 persons had col
Iected
GRIEF OF RELATIVES.
1t was pitiable to behold the grief
of the relatives of the entOmbed men
and boys. Inside Foreman Matthews
was the first to enter the mine with a
rescuing party. He did not go far,
however, until he was driven back by
the after damp. After ventilation had
been somewhat restored he again went
down the shaft and proceeded through
the workings for some distance and
found two unconscious men. The lat
ter were brought to the surface and
taken to the hospital. Matthews and
his party then again attempted to pro-
ceed further into the mine encountered
a large body of gas and all had a mar
row escape from death. The rescuins
party that went into the mine at eight
o'clock made good headway and
reached a point within 500 feet of the
-, l.,, -Ian ln.in
occurred. They stumbled across the
bodies of three men who lay uncon-
scious from the effects Of the gas.
Their names are Owen Marley. An
thony Mulisky and Charles Burger. All
three We're brought to the surface as
quickly as possible and taken to the
hospital
At 1850 o'clock tonight. one of the
rescuing parties brought the glad in
telligence to the surface that all the
men, fourteen in number, who were at
work on the plane, We're safe, and as
far as known not a life was lost. When
the rescuers came upon the men they
were all unconscious. They had sought
and found high place where they
awaited the rescuers. They were not
affected by the after damp, but were
nearly suffocated by smoke.
THEORIES OF THE CAUSE.
The belief now is that the dynamite
exploded and the fumes found their
way to the plane. The men at work
in the slope say there was slight fire
in the mine this morning and that
they had notified the men at work in
the plane to get out. The plane men
deny this. They say the first notifica-
tion they had was the binding smoke
which came in upon them.
There was great rejoicing at the head
of the shaft when the men were brought
up. The doctors say that with good
care all may ultimately recover Su-
perintendent Foote said tonight that he
was not prepared to say how the explo-
sion actually occurred. The company
has always taken every precaution to
protect the lives of their employees
against falls and explosions.
The following were overcome by the
smoke: John Smeiger, Abram Duns-
ton, Michael Conway, Jacob Stevens,
John Mulvey, Michael ChumpO. Frank
Howard, Ernest Johnston, Michael
Krubshaw, William Lippero, Chris
tian Bangor. They We're overcome by
smoke and some Of them may die
They are all married and many of them
have large families.