The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1896-04-23
oLYPHANT mine FATALITY
Inquest Conducted BY Coroner Long,
street at Olyphaat.
NOBODY MAS RESPONSIBLE
Francis Lewis, the Only S6fYivor. Testi-
fled That the Roof Had Recn Tested
and Was Considered Sound and
Safc-A Quick Verdict.

The coroner's inquest upon the death
of the four miners who lost their lives
in a fall of roof i'm the Eddy Greek shaft
of the Delaware and Hudson company
at Olyphant Saturday morning took
place at Owens hall. Olyphant. yes
terday afternoon. The evidence was
conclusive in it's indications that the
blame for the fatality could not be
placed upon the negligence Of the men
who were killed. the company or its
mine officials. and the verdict was IN
accordance with this testimony.
. The inquest concerned only the death
of Ralph Abbott. although the jury's
finding on the deaths of James Abbott,
q brother of Ralph. John Harvey and
John McHalc. Following was the ver-
dict:
That the said Ralph Abbott came to his
death from a fail of roof in u tunnel
and, from the evidence given;
that the occurrence was purely accideptdl
and that all precaution for the prevention
of such accidents had been taken.
The verdict was signed by the fol-
lowing jurors: f. f.. Hodgson, Thomas
Mason. John Sypes, =. II. Mccain,
John T. Gilday and John Penman.
Eleven witnesses were examined. in
cluding Francis Lewis. who was with
who was the only one who escaped
alive, His testimony was the most i'm
portant, as he Is the only man alive
who was in the immediate vicinity at
the time or just before the disaster hap
pened. Lewis was cut about the head
arms and hands. and appeared in the
witness chair with his wounds band
aged. In reply to Coroner Longstreets
questions, he said:
% TESTIMONY OF LEWIS.
1.-The men working in the shift con-
sidcred the roof safe. We had tested
IT at various points, including the spot
where the fall occurred; 1t seemed per-
fcctly sound.
when the roof fell we were about to
place some canvas so as to direct the
current of air into the chamber i'm or
der to drive out the smoke. y blast
had just been fired.
1.-The fall came without seconds
warning. The Abbott brothers, Harvey
and McHale were buried in it. l had
no time to notice whether they started
20 run or not. bit don't think they
did; they couldn't; 1t was 50 sudden.
Il was knocked W. against the ribs
or sides of the tunnel 1t made me
senseless Htj
: 1.-THE portion of rock which fell had
a perfectly smooth SURFACE. we had
eaten our dinner and smoked and
rested beneath 1t.
Mr. Davis, the mine foreman, had
told US to be cautious where we We're
working; he meant we should care
fully investigate the condition of the
roof Yes; we did so. and 1t seemed
sound, smooth and safe"
Other evidence was given by Mine
Inspector Roderick. Mine Foreman
William II. Davis, Daniel Flanagan,
John Owens. William Thorpe, Evan
Lewis. John Suffield. s. A. Morris. John
Ward and Joseph Prisk. Few of them
knew anything about the condition of
the tunnel that morning: others had
worked in the locality before the day
of the accident. Whatever of impor-
tance was contained in their testimony
was corroborative of that of Lewis,
who was the only witness to occupy the
chair for any considerable time.
NO TROUBLE TO AGREE.
When the evidence was all In and the
case left with the jury. there was no
disposition to bubble over the nature
of the verdict.
A decision was reached In a very few
minutes. The jury had gone into the
mine with the coroner on Tuesday and
inspected the spot where the fall oc-
currred,