The Bolivar bulletin. (Bolivar, Tenn.) 1888-1946, 1896-07-03

face into the pit and tried by the coun>
ter gangway to reach, by eifcuitous
route, the unfortunate prisoners. Af-
ter a journey OF nearly a thousand
feet they met distractions innXmera-
bic. the force of concussion having
created havoc with brattice work, pill
lars, air conduits, doors, cars and top
rock, all piled promiscuously SO as to
! interfere with all efforts that could be
made by any human being. Then, to
add to the trouble, gas was accumu-
\ lating in such quantities as to en-
| danger any and all efforts to reach the
! imprisoned miners. Not subdued
by the obstacles, they again made the
/ descent.
General Manager John B. Law, who
has been for several days seriously i'll,
arose from his bed and labored untir-
ingly TO give direction to the work of
rescue. Special messengers called to
| the shaft all the company workme1,
1t was certain that the mine was still
caviug In near the foot of the
shaft thereby endangering and
making it practically impossible
to continue the labor without
propping up the way as the rescuers
went in. Carriage after carriage of
props were sent to the bottom, and
under charge of Foreman Eagan, of
the Phoenix mine, Messrs. Moloney, of
the Ravens shaft, and Mcmillan, of the
Barnum shaft, much progress was
made in this work, and soon so men
were pushing their way to the foot of
No. plane, the scene of the exten=
sive cavern,
La ter on hope was again revived to
some extent when word come up from
the rescuers that they had found seva
eral of the mules employed in the
mine. running about unharmed. This
led to the belief that there had not
been an explosion, but that the
sounds heard had been caused by the
rush of air, compressed by the sudden
and extensive cave-in of the workings.
General Manager Law also asserted
emphatically that there had not been
gas explosion,
The hope thus created, however, was
short-lived, as the work accomplished
by the rescuers made it almost Ger.
tam that it will require long time te
reach the imprisoned men,
This evening the aspect is as gloomy
as it was early this morning. Mine
Inspector Mcdonald is on the ground
and went to the foot of the shaft
where he made a most thorough inves-
tigatioh. He used the knowledge of
his 25 years experience and deter
mined that no rescue could then be
made and in his report confirmed the
stories of his predecessors in the work.
Fortunately the farmhouse had suf-
fered no injury, and so far as travel
was possible the air currents were per-
feet. This fact gave hope to those in
control that perhaps sufficient vol
ume of air could be forced to the rear
of the cavern by sending 1t in
roundabout way. This appar-
emily was one of the successful eff
forts of the early morning, but this
afternoon, at consultation of the
leading superintendents of Lacka-
wanna and Wyoming valleys, attended
by Messrs Simpson, Watkins and Bry-
den, Of the Pennsylvania Coal Col E,
L. Fuller, of the Old Fo4ge Co.. Mr..
Connell, of the Connell Coal Co.;
Charles Ai<man, Richard Mainwaring
and Supt, Crawford, of the Babylon
Coal Col W. w. d. Owens and w. G.
Thomas, of the Lehigh Valley Coal Co.,
and others, it was feared that this
could not be relied upon,
At this conference reports were
made by experienced foremen who
had made rescuing trips, and the work
done was most fully indorsed and
commended, and in their opinion
nothing more skillfu1 could have been
accomplished.
The fear was expressed that pos.
sibly the Susquehanna river near by
the cave was running into the mine.
This, however, was only supposition.
The pump in this locality is under the
cave, and consequently cannot be
used.
At the meeting the possible number
imprisoned was mentioned, but this
question is wholly problem, as the
entire force of bosses and company
men, in fact all from whom this infor-
nation could be derived, are in the
pit. For this reason the number of the
missing ones is entirely conjectural.
The one or two officials of the Twin
shaft who were not in the workings at
the time of the disaster say at nine
o'clock tonight that it is hard to esti-
uldbC liiS III buS ondlbs JnOuRn
they will reach not less than so, and
from that to 125.
The accident is similar to the Avon
dale disaster, which occurred on Sep
pember II, 1859, when 100 miners and
labOrers lost their lives.
The rescuing party have cleared
nearly nine hundred feet of the debris
away and are propping as they go.
At midnight tonight, after looking
over the situation carefully, the res
cuing party decided that the best
thing to do was to drive a gangway
through the coal from the Clear Spring
cOlliery adjoining into the Twin shaft,
when it is expected to be possible to
locate the entombed men. The work
was at once begun, and is being pushed
with all the speed possible. Four
shifts of men, each comprising five
experienced miners and laborers, are
employed in this task, which is ex-
pected to be completed in at least
three or four days. In the meantime
the work will be pushed by the res
cuers. II is now the opinion of the
most able miners that it will take sew
eral days to find the entombed men,
and that it is an impossibility to re-
cover them sooner.