The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1896-04-20
-FOUR lives CRUSHED OUT
Terrible Accident in the Eddy Creek
Mine at Olyphant.
NOT A MOMENTS WARNING.
Five Men We're Advancing to the Face OF
q Rock Tunnel When the Roof Fell.
Instantly killing Four and
Injurins the Fifth.
NOT A MOMENTS WARNING.

Creek mine. Olyphant, Saturday morn
ing at 1915. The awful accident nap
pencd at the face of rock tunnel,
which is being driven from the EDDY
Creek vein to the rock vein. The dead
men are:
Ralph Abbott, of Throop borough, 30
years old, who leaves wife and seven
children.
James Abb,t his brother, also of
Throop, 26 years old, who leaves
wife and three cl ildren.
John Harvey. of Throop, 40 years old,
who leaves a wife and six children.
John McHale. of Olyphant, "a years
old, who lived with his widowed moth
e,. His marriage with Miss Kate
Lynch would have taken place on the
Goth. Six months ago yesterday his
brother, James McHale. was killed In
the same mine, short while before
his marriage, too.
The injured man Is Frank Lewis OF
Blakely, a married man with large
family His recovery Is expected,
though his injuries are very serious.
The men We're in the employ of Con-
tractors Norris 4 Ware A rock tun-
mel bears almost a sin relation to
u mine that u stairwa" res to dwell
ling. This passage t AZ rock vein Is
now about 100 feet length and Is
only one-fifth compile I'd. The work Is
pushed night and day, and the men
who were killed went to work at
o'clock in the morning. Dynamite. or
giant powder. is used in blasting. Some
times as m. Y as a dozen holes are
drilled in the face of the tunnel and
these are charged and set off sfmul-
tanenusly by the means of an electric
H., hole OF
by force from an air compressor.
TWENTY-FIVE TONS FELL.
Several holes had thus been prepared
and about 10 o'clock they were charge
and a few minutes later set off. The
men waited little while for the smoke
to clear away, and tfsn went forward
to the face of the tunnel to prepare
to load the fallen rock into cars.
Scarcely e,lad they begun to dc this
when twenty-five' tons of weig fell
upon them. The four dead m' were
closest to the face of the tunnel.
Lewis was bout at the circumfer-
ence of the fall and escaped death. Mr..
Norris, one of the contractors, was In
the tunnel at the time, but he was not
up where the men were; he was down
disconnecting the wires of the electric
battery The first thing he did was to
clear away the rock that had fallen on
Lewis The groans of agony that he
heard taught him that all were not
killed. 1t took him only few minutes
to do it, and when he had the man re-
moved. he went to the foot of the shaft.
and procured help to get the bodies
out.
This task was attended with much
danger, and 1t was IL o'clock before
the first body was uncovered, which
was that of McHale. He was terribly
crushed. 1t took another hour to get
out the Abbott brothers. They were
crushed out of shape. At 2.30 Harvey's
body was taken out. Crowds of peO-
pie were attract ID to the mouth of the
shaft, and tn ws of the happening
caused much :. Iom among the people.
The mine ambulance was in waiting
and conveyed the bodies to their late
homes as they were brought to the
surface. Lewis, the injured man, was
brought home at 1l3O.
WHAT LEWIS HAS TO SAY.
A Tribune reporter called at Mr..
Lewis home in Blakely Saturday. The
man was not in condition to say much,
nor does he know what to tell about
the happening. 1t came upon them so
suddenly and without any warning that
they had no time to escape. He was
walking apart from the four men; they
We're walking in the middle of the
passage and he was walking along the
rib eight or nine feet away fiOm
them. Falls of roof are usually preced-
ed by u rumbling sound, but in this
instance the crash came in an instant
and the men We're crushed to death
so swiftly that not q groan or sigh
| escaped their lips.
Mr.. Norris said that what saved his
life was that the men started for the
face of the tunnel before him and left
him disconnecting the battery wires.
Otherwise, If he We're with them he
wou1d be first -f'hey had been, per-
haps. 100 feet from the face when the
blasts We're set off. AS to the respon-
sibility, it is unlikely that any blame
can be attached to the contractors. 1t
was simply one of these mine acci-
dents which are apt to happen at any
moment in the best regulated working.
1t was somewhat similar to the one
which a few days before that killed
two Gaughan brothers in the Pine
Brook shaft The Eddy Creek shaft
Is owned by the Delaware and Hudson
Railroad company. 1t is in charge Of
Inside Superintendent A. p, Patton and
Fire Boss w. II. Davis
The rock tunnel was started about
three months ago. Mr.. Ward, the con-
tractor, was in charge of the night
shift. Mine Inspector Roderick will
make an investigation.
The funeral of John Harvey will take
place tomorrow afternoon from his
home in Throop. He was a member of
Toualuka tribe, Improved Order of Red
| Men, and the Sons of st. George, which
| organizations will attend in a body. A
prayer meeting will be conducted this
evening under the direction of the Rev.
d. M. Klnter.
RESOLUTIONS OF REGRET.
| At regular meeting of Division No.
IA. Ancient Order Of Hibernians Of
Dickson City. held yesterday. the fol-
lowing resolutions were adopted on the
death OF McHale: .-....
Whereas. The Creator Of all in His inln-
| from our midst our faithful and devoted
| brother. member John McHale; and
| Whereas. This being the second fatal ac-
cident In the same family within seven
months. the calamity brings with 1t q
| great darkness on our society and the
community In general; be 1t
Resolved, That we are unable to fully
| express the sorrow and regret we feel
| for his afflicted parenst, and we hereby
extend to them our heartfelt sorrow for
| their great loss.
Resolved, That as a mark of respect for
the memory of our deceased brother our
division charter be drapped In mourning
| for the space Of thirty days.
Resolved, That these resolution be re.
corded on the minutes Of our division and
| copy forwarded to each Of the following
papers for publication: The Scranton
Tribune, the Scranton Truth, the Scranton