The Indianapolis journal., 1898-07-12
ELEVENLIVES DESTROYED
OVER HALF A SCORE OF MEN
KILLED by AN EXPLOSION OF GAS.
All Were Workmen Employed I'm n
Water Tunnel i'm Course of Con-
struction Under Lake Eric.

CLEVELAND, O., July 1.-THE lives of
II men were snuffed out in the twinkling Of
an eye this evening in the big water-works
tunnel that is being constructed under the
bottom of Lake Erie, as result of an ex-
ploson of gas Following are the names of
those who were killed:
JOHN PARKS, foreman, thrty-two years
old, single.
JANIS PARKS, brother of John. thirty
years old, single.
JOHN FRADEY. an Italian, twenty-five
TONY BRUNETTE, Italian twenty-five
years old. single
FRANK LAMBA. Italian, eighteen years
old, single.
EMERSON SMITH, bricklayer, forty-four
years old, married.
JOHN MCAULEY, twenty-one years old,
married.
WILLIAM TUCKER. colored, twenty-six
years old, single.
GUS WATTZ, twenty-eight years old,
Wife and several children.
FRANK CLEMENTS, married, with sew
eral children.
FRANK HANEY, married, aged twenty
two
Ihe tunnel is an immense affair, being
projected to extend outward from the shore
for distance Of four and and half miles,
and it has been under construction for more
than year. The work has been attended
with great difficulty. About six weeks ago
there was an explosion of gas in the shore
end Of the big hole, which killed eight men
and injured number of others. Soon after
wards a big pocket of quicksand was
struck and work was stopped for some time'
The contractors then asked for permission
to defect the course of the tunnel from
the route fixed by the city engineers, but it
was refused Work was finally resumed and
had progressed uneventfully until this even
ing, when the latest and most horrible acci-
dent came.
The explosion occurred at a few minutes
before o'clock this evening, but nobody
will ever be able to tell what caused it, or
now it happened, for every witness is dead
and the bodies of all are lying where they
fell, six thousand feet out under the lake.
The only man in the tunnel who escaped
death is Con O'Donnell, lock-tender, who
was stationed 800 feet from the shore He
heard the explosion, or series of explosions;
lie says there were ten of the shocks and
the conclusion was something terrible, for
it threw him off his feet, and for hours he
was in such a dazed condition that he could
scarcely remember what had happened He
finally groped his way out and told what
had occurred.
Two men, Patrick Vonseer and Martin Nc
Cauley, were the first to venture in the tun-
mel after the accident occurred. They made
their way to a lock $500 feet from the shore,
but We're there overcome by the gas and fell
to the floor. When they failed to return a
young man named James Clements, a son
of one of the men who was killed, and who
was employed as a mule driver, went to
their rescue. He found them almost uncon-
scious, lying over a mule cart, and sue
ceeded in helping them to the we'll at the
shore end of the tunnel. The would-be res
cuers say that all the lights were out be-
yond the five-thousand-feet lock and that
they could not go any further.
A second rescung party was made up of
Patrick Gaytons, Mike McCauley, Dan
Rogers, Barney Hughes and Ed Corbett
1t failed utterly in accomplishing anything,
as the tunnel was filed with foul gas and
smoke. In an interview Ed Corbett said :
when we got out 5,1O0 feet we found the
electric lights were not burning from there
on out The gas and smoke were terrible.
We had wet handkerchiefs over our noses
ard mouths and went two hundred feet
further into the pitchy darkness but the
gas and smoke almost overcome us, and we
were forced to return. Nothing can be ac-
complished in the way of getting the bodies
until the tunnel is lighted and the sulphur
gas and smoke are cleared out 1t is sure
death to try to reach the bodies now. AS
far out as we got the base of the tunnel was
covered TO the depth Of a foot with sub
stance resembling snow in it's appearance