The Roanoke daily times. (Roanoke, Va.) 1895-1897, 1896-06-30
4 TERRIBLE MINING ACCIDENT
ONE HUNDRED MEN BURIED IN 4
PENNSYLVANIA NINE.
They Were at Work Propping Up the
Roof When the Fall Occurred-About
Forty Were English Speaking Miners
and the Others Polanders and Hun
garians-But Little Hope of Getting
Them Out Alive.

Wllkesbarre, Pa, June 29.-While
ninety miners were at work in the red
ASH vein OF the twin shaft at Pittston.
ABOUT O'Clock Sunday morning, the roof
caved IN, and it is believed that all the
men persisted. About forty of the i'm
prisoned men We're Notwithstanding
miners, the others foreigners
ASIDE from these may be other English
Speaking miners among the unfortunates
Ihlrty Polanders and Hungarians were
ehoonped and it Is thought that the total
100. u
The men were ut work propping ND the
roof when the fall occurred The alarm
was gwen by the ringing of fire bells. and
rescuers Were put to work without delay
More than two-thirds of the victims were
married men and leave families
Inc report that two bodies had been
FOUND In the mine proved to he prema-
ture Up to o'clock Sunday morning
no bodies had been found. At that hour
All nope OF finding any of them alive had
been abandoned.
superintendent Lathrop, of the Lehigh
valley Coal Company, who is an author
lty, says it may be ten DAYS before the
bodies are reached
The excitement still continues at the
shaft. The scene at the mouth beggars
description. Besides the wives and chill
dren OF the entombed men, there are hun
dreds OF persons, not residents of Pittston
alone, but visitors from Kingston, Scran-
ton and Wilkesbarre. The grief of the
stricken families is intense.
Wives and children, many of whom
nave not left the mouth of the shaft since
the accident, stand near the opening to
the death chamber and urge the rescuers
to greater efforts
The situation is almost the same as on
sunday night. Practically nothing has
been accomplished toward the recovery of
the men. There is scarcely an old miner
about the opening of the mine who does
not believe that the men are all dead.
Inc foreman of the rescuers reports that
timberlng in the mine is going on as rap
IDLY as possible. He said the work was
necessarily slow owing to the danger of
falling rocks, which have been loosened
by the explosion.
Any suggestions advanced to the prob
able time the men will reach are mere
guess work, as all depends upon whether
the slope Is completely choked up with
debris or not. If not, the rescuers may
possibly be able to reach the men within
=,
may he two or three days The rescuinp
party Is 2,0D0 feet from where the cave
III occurred. The gas continues to accu-
mullte and the roof, which was weakened
by the explosion, is in danger of falling
at moments notice. The men who came
ont oi the shaft bear the marks of anN-
iety ana hard labor. One Of them said:
am glad am out of that hole for
awhile. | would like very much to see
the entombed men rescued alive. but I
tell you we, who are engaged in the work
OF resculng, are carrying our lives in our
hands,
y survey of the interior of the mine
SHOWS that the main slope is badly block
ed: III Is blocked even more than the
officials are willing to admit
The rescuers this afternoon encountered
new difficulty. Water is pouring into
the slope and threatens to drive the men
ut work out. Superintendent Law thinks
1T is water from the surface and that il
Will soon cease to flow into the mine
m There are others of different opinion
!hey think the water comes from the
ousquenana ""..iver, which is near by. If
it is river water the whole mine will be
flooded in short time, and it would take
months before the bodies could be taken
out.
The damage to the mine is estimated at
S2j.O 10 and the expense of getting the
bodies out will not fall short of $4,000
and may reach S20,0 Besides the COM
pany Will be called on to bury Il great
number of the victims especially the Hun
garans and Polanders. The company is
receiving some censure for sending men
into the mine when the sshigher officials
knew 1t was in a dangerous condition. In
answer to this criticism, il is claimed
that The same thing is done every day in
The coal regions. There was Il valuable
lot of coal in the mine and the only way
it could be gotten out was to prop the
roof and to hold it secure. The company
either had ssto DOTH or close the mine,
which would have meant the loss of all
the capital, invested.
1t is almost settled fact to night that
of the small army of men who entered
the Inflated twin shaft on Saturday, not
one survives Not only is every approach
To their dark tomb barricaded by enor-
nous masses of rock and debris. but it is
known that in the mine there is a large
quantity of water which is increasing in
volume every minute. Thus the chances
of recovering their bodies are more re-
mote than ever. The slope is choked up
To the shaft with debris, and the efforts
of the gang of rescuers are confined to
keeping the shaft clear. The work of