Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1899-07-18
THE BOYS DEATH.

THE BOY 3 DEATH.
Yesterday afternoon about o'clock,
three young boys, all about Is years of
age, determined to go through the
bank at the head of Twenty-sixth
street. They were William Campbell,
son of Patrick Campbell, of 2725 Wood
street; Earl Wilkinson, of 25O5 Eoff
street. and Edward Karges, of PIP
Eoff street.
The mine is an old one. The mouth
faces on Twenty-sixth. street. For
quite number of years the Riverside
Iron and Steel works mined their own
coal from it, but three years ago coal
became so cheap that it did not pay
the company to mine it. The entry
runs a mile into Chapline hill.
The boys entered the entry about
three O'Clock yesterday afternoon,
carrying nothing but naked lamps to
light them through. They were ia
miliar with the mine, having lived in
| the vicinity while it was still operated
and having often been in it.
After going in distance of about
| 500 yards their lanterns were suddenly
extinguishel by what is known as
| 'black Damp and the atmosphere be-
| came hard to breathe. Wilkinson
and Kargess called to Campbell, who
| was ahead, that they were going back.
He replied that they could go back if
they wanted to, but he was going on.
The two boys made their way back
| to the mouth of the mine, thinking
that Campbell would follow them.
] When they got to the mouth of the
mine Campbell did not reappear. They
lighted their lamps again and started
| back. They got in but about the
| same distance when the damp ex
| tinguished their lanterns again and
! they were forced to make their way
out. THEY then gave the alarm,
arousing the whole neighborhood.
| During the rest of-the afternoon a
number of young men kept up the
search, but nothing of the missing boy
| could be found. About o'clock one
| of the searchers, whose name could
not be learned, penetrated too far past
| the danger point where the black
| damp commences, at what is known as
the pool, and was overcome. He re-
| fiaio to liz ho
| to the entrance, however.
1t was not until after supper time
that the police were notified. The
| Mayor and the Chief of Police and a
number of officers went to the scene,
| and a rescue party was organized. 1t
was found necessary to secure electric
] lights for the use of the rescuefs, and it
was not until about 9:45 p. N. that the
work began in earnest.
A large crowd of people were attract
| ed to the scene. At one time last night
a crowd of about 5000 men, women and
| children were congregated about the
mouth of the mine. AS the evening
| wore on the crowd diminished and at
| 1870 D. m. very few people were left.
| At II o'clock it was reported that one
| of the searchers had been missing for
nearly two hours and it was feared he
| had been overcome.
| Last evening, a miner in speaking
| about the matter, said that 1t might be
| possible that the boy was alive. Black
| damp, he said, was very bad thing to
| contend with. In a mine, the airshaft
of which had been closed for three
years black-damp would be very dense.
| The black-damp in the mine is not
| noticed until point in the mine, about
500 yards, known as the pool" is
reached.
Were it possible to reach the gate in
| the air shaft, the passage could be
| cleared of the foul air very quickly. A
number of young men endeavored to
reach the gate by descending the stack
| at the outlet back on the hill, but were
| unable to do so as the stack was filled
up with rocks.
ANOTHER LIFE LOST.
Last night another casualty resulted
| from the search for the missing boy.
About nine o'clock several persons en-
| tered the bank with electric lights One
of the number was Charles Seamon,
who is married, has a family of four
oH4iuteA, anu iifoo out Naau"c 81 . luu-
| He was more venturesome than some
| of the others, penetrating the mine to
| a greater distance.
Seamon did not return to the mouth
| of the mine when the reseuing party
| thought he had been inside a sufficient
length of time, and his continued alb
| sence caused a great deal of anxiety
! AS time wore on the fears for his safety
gave way to conviction that he had
also fallen victim to the deadly gas.
| His friends betrayed the greatest anx-
| iety, and there was painful grief on
! the part of relatives as the time pass
| ed with no news from the missing
!, man.
| Chief Cline, of the fire department:
Chief OF Police Clemans. Mayor