The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1898-05-06

a furious fire that threatened the
lives of seventy-five men and boys
until they were got quickly to the sur
face, is raging in the RED Ash" or
bottom, vein of Hoyt's shaft Of the
Pennsylvania Coal company at Port
Blanchard, below Pittston, and is liable
to do considerable damage before it is
subdued The gas ignited at $50 o'clock
yesterday morning from "A blast fired
in the main gangway of the vein.
The shaft is loaded with gas and it
required only a few minutes before
the fire was blazing 100 feet from the
face of the gangway. The course is
being driven by William Schrank.
When he noticed the ignition of gas,
he lost no time in giving the alarm.
Between seventy-five and eighty men
and boys are employed in the Red
Ash" vein. 1t is the bottom lift of
the shaft and is $50 feet below the
surface. They dropped their tools and
mode for the foot" as quickly as
they could run. The engineer was no.
out. Before o'clock every one in the
bottom vein was brought out.
HEAT WAS INTENSE.
The heat was very intense, so much
so that it warmed the air a good dis
tanCe up the shaft. There are four
lifts. The next lift above the "Red
Ash is 200 feet from it. The employees
there were next got out, and then those
of the lift above and so on until the
last man was out.
1t was not more than an hour after
the fire started until all were safe on
the surface, and then attention was
directed towards fighting it. The news
was sent to the general Office in Dun
more and Alex Dryden, superintendent
of the mining department of the COM
pany, got on a special train and arriv-
ed at the shaft before noon.
Under his direction, assisted by Su-
perintendent James Dryden and Mine
Foreman James Heslin, of Hoyts, a
large force of men was mustered to go
down and fight the fire. The shaft
has a system of piping for use in an
emergency of this kind, and water was
turned on by that system, but it
wouldn't work very well, and a line
of hose 500 feet long had to be let
down to carry a stream.
This stream has beer playing stead
lily on the edge of the fire since noon
yesterday. At II o'clock last night the
flames were driven back 300 feet from
the point they had reached outward,
but there is distance of 400 or 500
feet yet where they have full sway.
! FLOODING MAY BE NECESSARY.
1t may be necessary to flood the en-
tire vein in order to choke off the fire
The doors. timberng and brattice work
in the path of the fire We're reduced to
ashes long ago. That means a good
deal. 1t means that the air current is
destroyed, and gas feeds on the alb
Sence of air.
There is a reserve fan at the shaft
and that and the regular fan have been
going at full speed since last evening
The Hoyt is one of the most gassy
shafts in the Wyoming coal fields, and
the Red Ash" has more of the fluid
than any other vein in it; almost as
much as the other three veins combined.
1t is common thing to have an igni-
tion Of gas there. But usually not much
damage is done. Extra precautions are
taken to guard against fire, and the
best facilities are i'm readiness to eX-
| tinguiSh it.
Several thousand feet Of lumber have
been taken down to reconstruct the air
| passages. a large. force of men is
labOriOusly engaged in suhduing the
fire. Superintendent Dryden was in
charge at a late hour last night, and
he hopes to get the fire under control
PILLARS ON FIRE.
The pillars are afire and that makes
their work uncertain. If substantial
progress has not been made this morn
ing the vein will be flooded, but the
officials think they will not have to re-
sort to that
Hoyt shaft gives employment to %;
hands. 1t has a capacity of 375 cars a
day. It's output goes to the Even
breaker, some distance away. The
Even is fed by another mine, too and
| is not idle because of the fire, but can
| operate not much over quarter time.