The enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 188?-1899, 1898-09-28
A MINE TRAGEDY.
Eight Men Killed at Brownsville.
Pa.
Seventy Workmen Were in Empire Shaft
When Explosions of Gas and Firedamp
Occurred Sixty two Escaped by
an Underground Passage.

Brownsville, Pa, Sept. 24.-Seventy
men were entombed yesterday in the
Empire mine of Snowden, Gould 81
Co., one-fourth of mile below town,
as the result of an explosion of gas
followed by another explosion of fire.
damp. Of the number entombed all
escaped or were taken out by rescu-
ing parties except eight, who were
killed outright, and three more or less
hurt. The dead:
John Haiston, miner, aged 35,
colored, wife and two children.
Salem Haiston, miner, his brother,
aged 25, single.
Robert Davidson, miner, aged As,
white, no family.
John Bennett, driver, aged %, single.
William Pritchard, miner, aged so.
wife and seven children.
Henry Hager, driver, aged II.
John Cartwright, miner, aged so,
married but no children.
James Hall, miner, aged 27, unmar-
ried.
The explosion is said to have been
caused by the loosening of a large
block of coal which opened a pocket
of gas. Immediately following the
explosion of gas there was second
explosion of fredamp. There were 70
men at work in the mine at the time
of the disaster and at first it seemed
an impossibility for. any of the "a men
in entries No. and 10, where the eX-
plosion occurred, to escape. Four
men. who were near the entrance,
managed to crawl out, and the others,
with the exception of those caught by
falling coal, escaped by traversing a
mile and half of underground pas
sages. coming out at the entrance
near Lynn station. This point is four
miles from the opening of the mine on
the Monongahela river.
Shortly after the report was circu-
lated that an explosion had taken
place at the mine and that many min
ers were entombed, Water street, a
narrow thoroughfare leading to it,
was crowded with men, women and
children, all moving at breakneck
speed towards the mines. There were
moans and sobs and general feeling
of painful apprehension. There were
coniectures of whether husband,
| father, brother or sweetheart were
victims. When the mine was reached
willing hands at once went to work.
Everybody seemed to want to go into
| the mine. 1t was by sheer force that
those in charge at the entry kept the
crowd out.
Several hours later the tinkle of
the electric bell in the engine house
announced that a train of coal cars
was coming. The scene of the dis
aster is more than a mile from the
| entry. Three cars are taken in and
out by means of heavy iron cable
wrapped and unwrapped by two large
spools. 1t took about ten minutes for
the first load to reach the outside
world. While the cable was winding
there was a suspense that bordered,
on the awful No one knew what was
coming, but feared the worst. AS one
of the spools indicated that the load
would soon arrive, the suspense was
all the greater. Here it comes" was
an almost unanimous whisper. When
the little train of cars emerged a
shuder was visible in the crowd. First
there came two cars loaded with coal.
Then four cars, in each of which
there were two bodies.
At 0 o'clock last night the last Of
the explorers of the mine came out
and announced that there was moth
ing-living or dead-left behind in
the mine, leaving the list of fatalities
as given above.