Evening journal., 1896-10-30
MET DEATH IN A MINE.
The Direful Result of Explosion
In the Lehigh Coalfelds.
THE DANGEROUS WORK OF RESCUE.

Two Brave Men Lose Their Lives In At
tempting to Get Out the Intombed Min
srs-six Dead Bodies Taken From the
Shaft.
WILKEsBARRE Pa, Oct. 30.-A terrible
explosion of gas occurred in No. 8 mine
OF the Lehigh and Wilkesbarre Coal com
pany In South Wilkesbarre. Six men are
known 20 be dead and two injured. lt IS
not yet known how many mon were in
the mine at tho time but 10 are reported
missing and it is believed all of these
have perishod. Tho dead who have been
brought to the surface are:
William r. Jones' fire boss married,
with family.
John Joseph, assistant mino foreman;
leaves wife and five children.
Thomas Owens, miner; married and
family.
William Lacey, rock miner married and
family.
James Heron, laborer; married and
family.
Joseph Worth, fire boss; married and
family
The injured so far known are David
Williams, overcome by black damp and
injured on baok and side, and John Davis,
overcome by black damp
The oause OF the explosion will possibly
never be known. The mine was idle as
the time. Usually there are from 400 TO
500 men employed in the mines. Had
they all been at work when the explosion
occurred the loss of life would have been
fearful The only men in the mine were
the company hands and fire bosses, who
were at work in the rock tunnel changing
the air course Among those at work in
the tunnel wero Thomas Owens, William
Lacey and Joseph Worth. The place was
very gaseous, and the men worked with
safety lamps. It is believed the gas was
ignited by a blast David Williams. the
driver boss, was at the head of the slope,
800 feet away, when the explosion occurred
and was hurled some distance and injured.
He was the only one In that vicinity who
escaped alive. The explosion was so
severe that it was plainly felt at the mouth
of the shaft. The roof of the fanh0use
was blown off, and all the airways and
brattice inside were wrecked and blown
away. The alarm was promptly given,
and hundreds of men, women and chill
dren rushed 20 the head of the shaft The
grief of womankind, who had husbands
sons or brothers in the mine was heart
rending.
Lives Lost In Rescue Work.
The work of organizing rescue gangs
was begun without delay. 1t was peril
GUS undertaking, as the sequel proved, but
no man faltered. Fire Boss William r.
Jones and Assistant Mino Foreman John
Joseph selected the men for the first party
and themselves led the way. All were
overcome by the dread afterdamp, but not
until they had found Driver Boss David
Williams. All except Joseph succeeded in
reaching the foot Of the shaft and were re-
moved TO the surface, but the old fire boss.
William r.. Jones, suooumbod to the dead
ly lredamp and died In half an hour
after being brought out despite the effort
Of Drs. Stewart and Petty, who did their
utmost to .seviva. him. John Joseph. the
other hero, became separated frOfn the trst
party, and the second resouing party found
his body and removed it to the surface at
$3.50 O'Clock. A number Of company mon
who worked in a different part of the mine
reached the surface by the No. shaft and
also by another. Ii is not thought possi-
BILE to reach the four men in the rock tun-
mel until the air currents are opened.
Superintendent laval and other Off
oials Of the Lehigh and Wilkesbarre COM
pany were early on the scene and did all
in human power to aid the men below.
Largo streams Of water were sent down
the shaft to establish a temporary air cur
rent while the work of rescue was In
progress laval believes there may be
six men inside yet, but an old miner in
sists there are 12. 1t is the general sup
position that all are dead. A rescue party
OF II men, in charge Of Mine Foreman
John f. Jones' Is slowly making way to
the rock tunnel and building an air pas
sage the entire distance to insure safety.
The mine damp Is very bad, and the work
of rescue IS progressing at great risk.
On March ?, 1890, in this samo colliery,
eight men were imprisoned and died be-
fore they could be reached by the rescuing
party. The accident occurred little after
p. m. and was caused by an explosion Of
gas. A feeder was ignited by the naked
lamp of driver boy named Jameson, the
coal was set on fire, and It was not extin.
guished until tho mines were flooded.
Several times heroic efforts were made to
rescue the unfortunates imprisoned below,
but without avail. They perished, and
their bodies were not recovered for year
or more thereafter.
Another Mine Disaster at Wnkesbarre.
WrLKEsBARRE, Pa, Oct 3O.-An oxplo-
sion Of gas has occurred in No Balti-
more mine. Anthony Ritssi, a Hungarian
f,I,,