The evening herald. [volume] (Shenandoah, Pa.) 1891-1966, 1898-10-20
TWO MINERS
CENSURED.
Inquest Held on the Accident at ELAN
gOwan COlliery.
CONFLICT IN THE TESTIMONY
The Butty of the Victim Accuses Two Men
of Not Giving Warming Before Firing
Shot and the Jurors Accept
His Story.

An inquest was held by Deputy Coroner
Manley and jury last night in the case of
Stephen Sumelski, the miner who was killed
in the Ellangowan colliery Oh Wednesday
afternoon by blast and the indications are
that the case will be laid before the State
Bureau of Mines by Mine Inspector Stein, as
the jury rendered a verdict censuring the
men who fired the blast. Inspector Stein
said this morning that he believed the case
was one which should be prosecuted.
The first witness examined was John
Brown, inside foreman of the collery He
said all the men employed at the place in
question were miners, aud had certificates.
He said Mike Mackinofsky and Mike Xarot,
with the deceased and his butty, were work
ing in the east bottom split, fifth lift
Mackinofski aud Zarlot were working in
breast No 80 and driving heading on the
inside rib from No. 33 to No. "a. They had
driven almost through. They had the head
ing driven ten yards Sumeski had taken a
shot of of the pillar in No. "a breast Brown
said he considered all tho men competent.
They always did their work satisfactorily.
The heading was 62 feet from the stump
heading. The headings are driven go feet
apart. The face of the breast is % feet up
from the heading. The breasts are 25 feet
wide and haYo 33 degrees pitch 1t was the
hole that the men in No. "a breast fired that
blew through and killed the deceased.
Stiney Rice, butty Of the deceased swOre
the accident occurred at about two o'clock in
the afternoon. He was down in the stump
heading, making powder for hole he had
drilled. He was in the heading about three
minutes before the shot went off. He heard
his butty rap to No. 33 breast, and just as he
stopped rapping the shot went off. Rice said
his butty raped twice to No. 33 and witness
did not hear the men in that breast rap.
Every time the men in No. SO were ready to
fire before that time they would come down
and tell Rice and the deceased This time
they did not do so. The witness said he was
sure they did not come down. If they did
he could have heard them call. Sumelski's
body was found on the opposite side of breast
No. a. twenty-five feet from the heading,
and it was covered by coal.
Mike Zarlot, one of the men who were
driving the heading from No. 33, testified
fired two shots in the heading that day. l
went down the first time and told Sumelski
was going to fire. | also told him l would
not come down anymore but would rap. and
he said "All right" The second time |
raped three times with my pick and Steve
| NbhC hCCodSSuJ Iuppcu OuCb III IbluTu. ulu
not have the shot lit when raped, nor did
| have the shot ready when Steve raped.
NY butty was in the heading when Steve
raped, and then my butty took the tools out
of the heading and carried them into the
heading at breast No. 33.
Mike Mackinofsky, Zarlot's butty, swore
My butty fred two shots in that heading that
day. l went down the first time he fred and
told the men working in the next breast that
we were going to fire. Then Mike, my butty,
said to Steve that we were not coming down
any moro to tell them that we were going to
fire, and that we would rap. l was in the
heading between 33 and "a when Steve
raped. Then | took the tools out of the
heading and went across the breast and into
the other heading before the shot was fired.
| was in the heading between 33 and 80
breast when the shot was fired. l did not see
my butty fix the squib.
In condensed form, the testimony was that
the butty of the victim was positive that no
warning was given before the shot was fired,
and that his butty was rapping to get a
signal from the men in breast No. SO when
, !, the shot went off. On the contrary the two
men in No. 80 contend that warning was
given. the victim answered it, and he had
; plenty of time to get away before the shot
was fired.
,, The jury pinned its faith to the evidenc,
of the victims butty and rendered the fol
lowing verdict THAT the said Stew,
Sumelski's death was caused on the 18th day
of October, 1898, by shot in the heading il
breast No, "a, east bottom split and wal
through the carelessness of the men in breast
No. 33. for not warning the deceased"
1t is intimated that it can be shown thai
the men in breast No. 33 were over-zealou'
in their work, for the purpose of gaining
more measurement in the heading than the
man In No. "a. 1t is also intimsted that ont
of the witnesses at the inquest will swear h,
was afraid to work with one of the men il
= No. 33 on account of his apparent reckless
ness in giving warning when about to fir
shot and that it is not solely on account 0
the censure in the verdic. that the case is t
, be placed before the proper tribunal.
Pan-Tinal What Is It7