The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1896-06-29

/ The alarm was first given by Water
Carrier John Sheridan, who with Will
liam Rechard and Thomas Gill, were
the only ones to escape of the whole
party who entered the mine lest night
| He was on his way up the slope to get
some fresh water for the men and when
| about 100 feet from the foot of the shaft
was knocked down by the concussion.,
He was badly cut and bruised by flying
! coal and rock. He lay unconscious for
| ten minutes and then came up the shaft
The conclusion was so great that 1t
was heard for miles around The
| foundations of nearly every building
In Pittston were shaken and windows
| and doors ratified as in a tornado. In
the houses nearer to the mine, persons
were thrown from their beds. The first
thought was that great earthquake
| had occurred and the inhabitants rush
| ed from their houses. The ringing Of
| the fire bells and the shrieking of the
big mine whistle told the story.
Crowds of people gathered about the
| mouth Of the shaft and numbered
| thousands by dayhreak. Stalwart men
stood appalled, and frantic women, who
had husbands or sons in the doomed
mine, waited in despair One mother
cried out that she had two sons below.
Another was the wife of one of the
unfortunates. and had nine helpless
|
/ ground and in voices broken with sobS
implored Divine Providence to restore
| their loved ones alive.
| When it was given out that there was
| little or no hope of rescuing the mem
alive, women and girls tainted and were
| borne away senseless.
| The work of rescue was prompt and
efficient. The best miners who remains
! ed on the surface Joined voluntarily in
the hazardous task-for hazardous it
certainly was. There was the constant
menace of another fall or an explosions
of fire damp. Special efforts were made
to keep the air fan in good order sd
that If, by any chance, the men were
alive. they should have fresh air to-
breathe :,
The blocked slope and gangways held
out little hope of the air reaching them.i
The rescuers were divided into three
relays Of 40 men each under the direct
ion of Mine Foreman Alex. McMullin.,
The men worked as they had never be-
fore worked, clearing away the debris
in the slope with energy.
They made good headway consider
ing the difficulties they had to contend
with, and at 3 o'clock this afternooni
! had cleared the slope a distance of 600
feet
At 2 O'Clock this afternoon it becamel
necessary to swear in extra policemeni
! to control the crowd around the mouthl
of the shaft. 1t had increased to fully.
| 1000. Ropes were stretched around the
shaft, and only mine officials were al
lowed to enter the enclosure.
| Young Sheridan, the water boy, who
had such a narrow escape, tells thrill,
| ing tale of the disaster. He Thinks
there was an explosion of gas which,
blew down the newly erected timbers
and caused the cave-in. When he left
the mine to go out of the slope and get
water, those inside had no apprehen-
| sion of a fall or squeeze" Every
| thing was working nicely, and the men
| expected to be out of the mine within
| another hour. THE report cf the fall,
| says the boy, was like hundred can
mons and the force OF IT blew me fully
| twenty-five feet ! was hurled against
the side of the slope. A piece of rock
hit me back of the head; the wound
commenced to bleed, and then faint-
! ed
Richards apd.G gill; who were on their.
way out after timber concur with
| Sheridan that the concussion was ter
/ rife. They were knocked off their feet
| and banged against some brattice
work. They cannot conceive the possi-
/ bility of anybody being in the wreck
and escaping with his life.
Supt. Law says: Nobody regrets
| this dreadful occurrence more than I
do. 1t is too early now to give any
reason as to the cause of the accident,
but l can assure you that If thought
| there was any danger in the work un-
dertaken by the men, not a single man
| would have been allowed to enter the
mine with my permission. l don't care
for the damage to the mine. 1t is the
/ great loss of life that gives me so much
| SORROW
"a
burned down three years ago. There
was over 100 men in the mine at the
time, but all escaped through a Sec
ond opening. The first great disaster
| In the anthracite region was in Septem-
! Der, 1869, when 120 men perished in the
Avondale mine this county. The
| breaker over the mine caught fire, and
all the men in the mine were suffo-
| Gated. This great catastrophe caused
the legislature to pass a law compelling
mines to have two openings. But when
a cave-in occurs in a mine and the men
are surrounded on every side by debris,
1t makes little difference how many
! openings there may be-, They cannot
| escape. even If spared by the fall
! The report that two bodies had been
! found in the mine was proved tonight
! to have been premature. Up to 8
O'Clock no bodies had been found. At
( that Houi dIl nope VI IHuiIlS any per-
| son alive had been abandoned.
! Supt. Lathrop, of the Lehigh
Valley Coal company, who Is an
authority, says it will be ten days be-
| fore the bodies are reached During
| the late hours Of the afternoon the
searchers made but little progreiN, be-
cause the part of the slope upon lNhich
their energies were bent was work
Ing" The heaviest timbers were like
straws under the heavy pressure from
above. At IL o'clock tonight the situa-
ton at the mine was unchanged The
rescuers were hard at work but max
ing little progress. Supt. Miller has
given orders that the rescuers must
proceed with great caution now, as the
rock they are laboring under is work
ing" more or less. There is danger
that, In hurrying the work, other lives
may be lost.
A conference of prominent mine sup
erfntendents from all over the Wyom-
ing Valley was held tonight, and the
situation In the mine was discussed.
The conclusion was reached that to
prevent further loss of life. the work
of rescue must proceed with care. It
is also the unanimous belief of the
superintendents that the mine Is now
tomb, and that 1t will be some days
| before the rescuers reach the bodies
At 1925 O'Clock there was another
fall in the slope. 1t drove the rescuers
back. The twenty feet of ground thew
had gained since s o'clock was thereby
lost. At midnight the crowd at the
mouth of the shaft had dwindJed to
about 800.