The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1896-12-22
BACK FROM THE TOMB.
Miraculous Escape from Death Of
Wilkesbarre Miners.
RESCUED IN THE NICK OF TIME.

Five Minutes More and All Would Have
Been sufIocnted as the Result of an Ez.
plosion of aas-Probably -Four or Five
MET Death.
WILKEsBARRE, Pa, Dec. ga terrific
explosion of gns occurred yesterday after.
noon in Baltimore shaft No. 2, of the
Delaware and Hudson company. Over
twenty miners were imprisoned, but ut q
late hour last night fourteen had been
rescued alive, and there was still hope of
reaching the others before tho deadly
afterdamp claimed them as victims.
Immediately after the disaster became
known rescue gangs descended the shaft,
but 1t was some time before the ventila-
tlon had been SO managed that they could
work in safety The party which entered
the mine at 9:i5 last night succeeded in
pushing their way to the plane whore the
imprisoned men had been working, and
there they stumbled over the bodies of q
number Of unconscious men. They were
quickly brought to the surface, where q
corps of doctors was in waiting. The ESy-
siclans have hopes that all may recover
Had they been In the mine five minutes
longer all would probably have died of
suffocation.
John Healy, one of the rescuers who was
hrst to discover the bodies on the plane,
say the men were huddled closely together.
They had apparently abandoned all hope
OF rescue and were resolved to die to-
gether. The supposition Is that the men,
when they realized their danger, made
their way to the highest point on the
plane. The smoke found its way to them,
however, and they were all but suffocated
when found.
About one third of the regular force was
at work yesterday, and the number Of
workers was further reduced after
o'clock, when the day shift mon came out
When the explosion occurred an hour
later there were probably sixty mon in the
mine. Of this number forty or there
nbouts succeeded in getting safely to tho
surface. Those who perished were at work
on plane fully mile from the foot Of
tho shaft They were driving tunnel,
and 80 far as known were in what was
considered safe place The fire boss had
inspected the plane in the morning, and
declared it free from gas The cause of
the explosion is, therefore, mystery, al
though the mine officials have several
theories. One report is that a fall of roof
III the slope exploded % quantity of dyna-
mite which was stored there, and that this
In turn caused feeder Of gas to become
ignited. Another theory is that the gas
was gnted by careless workman, and
third that blast set fire to the gas and
that the men were fighting the fire when
the explosion occurred.
The first knowledge of the catastrophe
came to the surface by the noise of the ex-
plosion. The men in the engine house,
who had charge Of the hoisting carriages,
gave the first alarm. A rescuing party,
headed by John Matthew'S was immcdi-
htely organized and the brave fellows do
scended the shaft as quickly as the car
riages could take them. But they did not
remain long below. The ventilation was
bad, and after two Of the party had been
almost overcome by the deadly afterdamp
they were compelled to return to the sur
face
half hour later the ventilation had
been improved somewhat and another res
cue party went down They found three
men lying unconscious In the gangway.
All the men who escaped without aid
had thrilling experiences. As soon as the
explosion occurred they made a rush for
the main gangway. Some crawled on their
hands and knees for nearly milo They
did not dare walk, for the force of the after
damp would have Frustrated them The
strongest reached the foot of the shaft
first, for it was fight for life and each
man was for himself. The older men had
las ,,f
about to give up the struggle when they
were pulled along by their comrades, who
could not see them drop in'their tracks.
Owen Murray and John Minsley were
found by tho rescuors who entered the
mine shortly after o'clock. Both were
and will scarcely recover.
They aEo in the Wilkesbarre hospital.
Andrew Mcdonald, one of the rescuers,
nearly lost his life while attempting to re-
cover the body of his brother, James. He |
knew where it would probably be found |
and says he recognized his brothers |
clothes by the touch. lie attempted to pull
thu body out but was overcome by after
damp and sank unconscious to the ground.
II was with difficulty that he was brought
TO the surface After regaining conscious
ness he wanted to make second trip into
the mine, but was not allowed to go.
The usual heartreEding scenes were wit
1essed at the mouth of tho shaft when q
Dig disaster occurs Tho relatives of tho
men gathered about and gave
rent to their grief. Grief was turned into
10y when the rescued men were br5ught
% the surface. Women and children wept
md strong men clasped each other in
heir arms