The sun., 1897-11-07
wrss.seEs rnoM rnE DrAD.
BaSt Words Of Imprisoned MINERS. showInu
How RrnyeIy they Cnn pic.


How Rrnveiy They Can Die.
SCRANTON. Pa. Nov. 6.--How do mon feel
when about TO dio-not after being wasted and
weakened by disease, nor when tho blood In
heated by the strife Of battle. but whom they see
inevitable death approaching them and know
that In certain number OF minutes Il will
seize thcml There was n collicry disaster ab
one OF tho Scranton mines rccontlS, and ono Of
It's ten victims soems to have demonstrated
how miner can face tho certain approach Of
death, for with forttude no wrote with
steady hand in his grimv notebook words Of
consolation, advice and cheer to his wife trud
children up to the moment the hand OF death
was upon him. and his message from living
tomb was ended with quavCring scrnwl. The
question Is answered also by most remark.
ablo record preserved by an old Lackawannn
miner, native of Snxony. by the disaster,
which was atsa colliery in Saxony many miners
lost their lives. OF those who were not killed
outright by tho explosion, but were preserved
for tho moro terrible death OF sufTocation, one
wrote messages to their friends. None Of the
messages reveals bitterness against the fate
that the men could not avert. Tho old I,aclSa-
wanna miner is n survivor Of that casualty, md
has copies Of those messages which were found
In notebooks and on scraps Of paper on the
bodies OF tho doomed men when they were ab
last recovered. There is n strange pathos In
some of tho lines scrawlcd by these dcath-be-
siegcd mon in the gloom Of their narrow prison.
A youth, Janotz, had pinned to his coat a leaf
from his notebook which were written these
last words TO his sweetheart:
Darling Rika My last thought was of thee.
Thy namc shall be the last word my lips shall
speak. Farewell"
Lying next to young Janetz a miner named
Morcz was found. On paper in his cap was
written: .-.t g.
"Janctz has just died. Reichc is dying and
says: Tell my family leave them with God.'
Farewell, dear wife. Farewell, dear children.
May God keep your
Tho miner Rcichc, when his body was found
clutchcd in his hand n scrap of paper. On 10
was written:
Dear Sister: Meyer in the village owes mo
ten thalcrs. 1t is yours. ] hope my face will
not bc distorted when they find us. / might
have been better to you. Good by"
Tho absence Of all selfshncss is apparent in
oil tho messages. "My dear relatives" wrote
the Miner Schmidt, "whilc seeing death before
me i remember you. Farewell until we meet
again in happiness"
The miners who died by suffocation had owl.
dently been driven from one place of refuge to
another, according to the entry in the notebook
of one named Bahr This Is tho last place
whore we have taken refuge" it read. "f
have given up all hope, because the ventilation
| has been destroyed in throe separate places.
| May God take mo and relatives md dear
| friends who must die with me, we'll our
| families, under his direction
Dear Wife" wrote Moller, take good caro-
| OF Mary. In book in the bedroom you will
| find thaler. Farewell dear mother. till wo
meet again"
Mary the miners only child, who was
| blind. miner named Jaehn wrote to his
brother, who q miner. but had been unable
| to work that day: .''a
| ''Thank God for His goodness brother. Thou
| art SAFE .'t ."
NO more toll in darkness" wrote FreItch.
"Kind wife, roar our unborn babe to fear God.
| Bless theel FAREWELL"
| There other messages breathing the
same spirit. Tho uniform strain Of piety rum
ming through them all is explained by tho Gus.
| todian Of the records. The miners of Snxony
are reared in strict religious school. On cn-
tering q mine they petition heaven for proteo-
tion through tho day, and on leaving it at night
they return thanks to God for guarding them
and bringing them safely through the dangers
| Of their toll
II never read the simple messages of those
doomed miners without wet eyes," snid the old
Lackawanna miner. II can picture to my.
self the sccno of the rough handed but soft
| bearted men spending their last moments. not
| in raging against fate, in wild cries for
| mercy and screams Of remorse. but in writing
| these farewell messages to their loved ones,
| who werc even then bewailinS them as dcad."