The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-05-07

suIts-Boy's Devotion 10 HIS fatncr
wILKESBARRE, Pa, May 6.-Accounts
OF the terrible explosion in a Utah coal
mine on Tuesday have brought to mind
forcibly the precarious existence that the
miner leads beneath the earth. But of all
the accidents which threaten the life of
the anthracite coal miner, none is more
feared than the deadly cave-in. 1t is far
more liable to cause death than EXPLOSIONS
or floods, runaway cars or falls down TIE
shaft
FDozens and dozens of men are crushed
to death every year by it, and the reports
Of the mine inspectors show that large
majority of the fatal accidents of the year
are due to it. Witness the great accident
at the twin shaft, Pittston, Pa, few years
ago, when fifty-nine men were shut in or
crushed to death, and the fall at No. IL,
Plymouth, Pa, when thirteen men were
killed. None of these victims was ever
found nor is there much probability of any
trace of them being discovered.
Sudden and horribly fatal as they are,
the caves give warning Of their approach
A short time ago the writer was in an ar
fected gangway. There was constant and
menacing noise. which is almost indescrlo.
able. II was like the distant murmur OF
q thunderstorm or the deep rumble oil 1ar-
away breakers. For hundreds Of feet above
and around the rock and coal was work
ing" II was moving and rolling and
crushing itself, groaning under the I'M
mense weight it bore, staggering nobly TO
sustain it, and giving evidence in every
fibre that the remorseless load would very
soon totally obliterate the gangway In
which we stood.
Massive timbers, eighteen inches in
diameter, were being crushed and splin-
tered, bulged and cracked; the car tracks
were distorted in hundred different
ways. and all the time. from roof and
sides. little splinters of rock and coal
were flying with sufficient force to cut
the hands or face. At points the roof had
sunk two or three feet, and at others the
sides of the gangway were bulged in and
threatened at any moment to burst, like
eyerripe fruit. Big mine rats, wise as the
miner, were scuttling to safe place, and
We soon followed their example. min
ute in the gangway seemed as long as
an hour on the surface.
The Trembling Earth.
But with ali the warning it gives the
cave too often proves to be the deathbed
and grave of the miner who is rash enough
20 try 10 save for his company what ma
ture is retaining as her own. So it was
In the two great accidents previously men
toned. Valuable chambers of the mine
threatened to cave, and thousands of tons
of coal would be lost. At Pittston Super
intendent Langan started on a Sunday
night with sixty five men TO place massive
timbers under the affected roof, hoping to
avert the threatened destruction. So aw-
full was the noise and SO near did death
appear in those trembling passages that
seven men, Superintendent Langan's son
among them. refused TO work and went
back.
The superintendent and the ffty-eight
labored for an hour or So then suddenly
many tons of rock and coal fell, and in an
instant nature had constructed for them
an impenetrabie sepulchre. Whether they
were instantly crushed to death, shut in
and suffocated, or slowly starved, Will
probably never be known.
For weeks men as brave as the fifty
nine labored at the work of rescue. great,
but unavailing struggle. Torn. shaken.
and trembling from the shock of the first
fall which dragged upon the other portions
OF the mine like massive chains drawn by
monster, working after working col
lspsed. hour after hour. for some days.
before il all settled quietly, and the dan
gers of the rescuers were fully as great
as those the entombed men had con-
fronted. There was but one practicable
way Of getting at the victims, and that
was Down long slope at the foot OF which
II was expected the unfortnnates would
be found
Four hundred feet was clear space; the
remaining four hundred was blocked TO
within few inches of the roof by the
fallen masses of rock. 1t was through
these four hundred feet that the rescuers
had TO force their way. Volunteers were
Numerous, the most able mining experts
in the region directed the operations. and
the work went on day and night. AT first
good progress was made and then. as they
advanced foot by foot the danger and the
difficulties increased. Some days they
would gain twenty or thirty feet and then
be driven back some distance, only 10
attack the living mass again with mag
nifcent courage and endurance
Desperate Efforts Mt Rescuc
1t was in the midst of this work that
the writer saw them. Some ninety feet
had been gained through the fall The
whole slope. some nine feet in width. had
not been cleared, but a narrow passage
four feet wide had been driven through
the centre of II. This was propped and
strengthened by great timbers, for there
was constant danger of the roof coming
down. The gas was heavy and safety
lamps had TO be used so the light was
dim and uncertain. The moaning of the
mine was still TO be heard and had a most
weird effect, as II breasts and gsngways
were mourning for their victims The
men worked in shifts OF half-a- dozen each,
three hacking and pecking at the face
OF the fall with their picks and three SHOW
cling back the debris to others behind
them, who passed # out 10 line
Great masses of rock had TO be shat
tered with drill and hammer. for il was
not safe TO use powder. and the progress
was distressingly slow. AS soon as one
shift became tired another took its place
and the work went on. Inspectors AID
foremen stood about directing the work
and keeping a careful eye on the danger