Delaware gazette and state journal., 1896-07-02
MANY MINERS
in DANGER.
Nearly One Hundred Entumhed
in the Twin Shaft at
Pittstun, Pa. ~
SLOW WORK OF RESCUERS
May Not Reach the Imprisoned Men for
Two or Three Days.
THE GAS RAPIDLY ACCUMULATING
And the Roof Expected to Fall
Soon.

Wilkesbarre, Pa, june 20. The ex-
citement at the Twin shaft, in Pitts
ton, where nearly 100 miners are en-
ktombed, either dead or alive, con-
tinues. The scene at the mouth of the
4 shaft beRgars description. Besides the
Nwives and children of the entombed
Emen there are assembled hundreds Of
A persons, not residents of Pittston alone
from Kingston, Scranton and
3HNilkesbarre. The grief Of the stricken
|families is intense. Wives and chill
S'Iaren, many OF whom have not left the
d mouth of the shaft since the terrible
xccient, stand near the opening to the
Meath chamber and urge tho rescuers
n 10 greater efforts.
I'M The situation is almost the same as
bhst reported last night, Practically
xnothing has been accomplished toward
"a the recovery Of the men. There is
scarcely an old miner about the open
Ning OF the mine who does not believe
n That the men are all dead The res
I&cuing party which went into the mine
at o'clock came out of the shaft at z
4 clock. The foreman reported that
Me timbering in the mine is going on
ae rapidly as possible. He said the
\ |jFork Is necessarily slow, owing to the
sfdanger of falling rocks, which have
Been loosened by the terrible explosion.
zH Any suggestions advanced as to the
time the men will be reached
5hre mere guesswork, as all depends
Nippon whether the slope is completely
Echoked with debris or not. If not,
he rescuers may, possibly, be able to
each the men within the next "a
IN zNl L.
&fthree days. The rescuing party is
h Euccurred. - The gas continues to accu.
Il M ulate and the roof which was
weakened by the explosion, is in
N danger of falling at any moment.
& The men who came out Of the shaft
n this morning bear the marks OF anxiety
M and hard Lux or. One Of them said II
4 am glad am out Of that hole for a
81 while. would like very much 10 sec
E the entomhed men rescued alive, but /
# tell you We, who are engaged in the
work OF reHcuing, are carrying our
Aslives In our hands. Why, we had
+ hardly begun work this morning when
y III big squeeze came on. Two laborers
snd were putting up prop about
Bix inches too short. | sent laborer
for cap but before he returned the
Z roof came down and met the prop. So
was the pressure the heavy prop
was snapped off as though Ii were a
match. Fortunately we succeeded In
! lgetting away before the roof came down
Nany further So you can readily see
siswbat chances we are taking"
' A survey Of the interior Of the mine
this morning showed that the main
4 slope is badly blocked. 1t is blocked
even worse than the officials are willing
n Ito admit. 1t is known positively that
G'fully 60 feet that had boen cleared up
afternoon is blocked again
sSby another fall that occurred before
o'clock this morning. Before any at
5tempt can be made to clear this part
a&of the slope again it will be necessary
Vic do extra propping and timbering.
XIhis will consume great deal Of time.
G A few of the more hopeful, who be-
Vlieved that there might be possibility
of the entombed men being yet alive,
have now surrendered ana no one can
q ba found who is willing to admit that
there is any life underground. Hope
S$of finding the men alive and uninjured
4 was abandoned last night by the older
n miners, because they knew the ventila-
4 tion was bad and that, even il the men
bad escaped the fall, they could not
" live 20 minutes in such an atmosphere.
4lhe uninitiated, however, recalled the
d&ugar Notch disaster of 1879, in which
i've men were rescued from breast in
"A. The mine after they had heon impria-
~ ohed for five days, but the fact was
( &Aoferlooked that the breast in which
fhey were found was free from any
]ockade and in direct line with the
main current Of air. This was the
* MOTT remarkable case in the annals OF
the anthracite coal mining region and
* may not be repeated for century.
Epeaking on this point Fire Boss
Johns who ia considered one of the
4, Nest experts in the Wyoming valley on
n 'lnine ventilation, said; "It is my be-
i{bf that the air current in the Twin
\ Matt was shut off the moment the
cAve-in occurred. Then, il the men
were not killed by the falling block and
n coal, they may have lived some minutes
before being suffocated. Or, If the
Sspace where they were was left clear,
eas may have accumulated and ex-
ploded, which would, of course, have
"A tburned the men to death. 1t is not
&,yiIikely that it will be known how the
men met death until their bodies are
N s1ound.'
Mine Inspector Mcdonald, who has
& charge of the district in which the
RI h1ine is situated, told an Associated
lS Press representative to-day that he il
|iVyEatisfied the mine owners are doing
~ everything possible to hurry the work
"a; of rescue. No expense is being spared
y FAd the best labor in the market has
hAen secured.
The disaster, probably, means tht
a ruin Of the company which operated
the mine. The damage to the mine ii
eHtimated at $40, 600 and the expense
pf getting the bodies out will not fal
y. .E3ehort of $40, 600 and may reach $50, 000
asS BESIDES the company will be callet
fupon to bury great number of tht
V5Nictims, especially the Hungarians ant
#&0landers. The company is receiving
fdme censure for sending men into the
f4ipe when the higher officials knew il
w&h in dangerous condition. In an
sw6r to this criticism 1T ia claimed tina
kthe same thing is done every day IL
1.-the coal regions There was valuable
Not of coal in the mine and the only
way it could be gotten out was to PROF
the roof and hold it secure. The com
Il pauy either had to do this or close thu
mine, which would have meant tn,
MI loss of all the capital invested.
I'M The rescuers in the mine this after
sNoon encountered new difficulty. Wate
N.pouring into the slope and threatepl
-l..t.. fIA ~.