The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1902-06-14
FOR REN,r-The Corby house, 40 Bel
mont street, also small house In rear.
Apply to d. M. Schoonover, o. Cemetery
street.
NINE CAVE-IN WRECKS
TWO WEST SIDE HOUSES

Surfaces Drops from Under Homes
of Thomas Gallagher and Patrick
Horan-Roadway Is Involved, a
Depression of Several Feet Remain
ing-Gallagher House Is Ruined.
First Serious Cave-in in This Lo-
cality in Years.
What old residents unhesitatingly
pronounce as the most disastrous cave
In on the West Side in a score OF years,
took place late Thursday afternoon. 1t
continued during the night and yester-
day morning, until one house was prac-
tically wrecked and another was loos-
ened from it's foundations and parti-
tions were pulled apart.
The properties affected belong to
Thomas Gallagher and Mrs. Scott,
who lives in New York. The Gallaghers
occupy their building and the family of
Patrick Horan Is the tenant of the
Scott dwelling.
The affected area is on Niessen street.
which is south of Scott street. parallel
ing it as far as the old Niessen prop
erty where it ends. The cave-in is a
at Scott street.
The disturbance first manifested itself
Thursday afternoon by a crack in the
roadway, which admitted of ones hand.
Towards evening the Gallagher family
was startled and terrified by the front
cellarway falling away. 1t made such
a noise and the house was shaken in
manner calculated to frighten even the
rct cf1, hon fn1 NV-hn
in the house fearful of disaster hastily
took themselves to the open. From the
time Of the giving away of the cellar
WALL the settling continued and by
midnight there was a noticeable depres-
sion in the roadway for about 100 feet.
The front yard of the Gallagher and
Hoban properties, which skirts the
roadway, also went down and by yes
terday morning the disturbance was so
great that the fences were torn in
places from their fastenings, and the
houses We're fairly wrecked. The de-
preston in the roadway was between
two and three feet.
The front cellar wall of the Gallagher
property had collapsed, taking with it
three or four feet of the yard for half
the distance along the house, leaving a
hole in the yard through which three or
four persons abreast could enter the
cellar. The settings caused uneven
disturbances that raised the floors of
the house in one place and lowered them
in another. Every door in the house is
out of plumb; some cannot be moved
an inch. The heavy strain on the
house has manifested itself in pulled
apart partitions and cracked ceilings.
The kitchen is separated from the
dwelling by an inch or more. Thurs
day night the Gallagher house was un-
safe, the family being compelled to take
refuge with neighboring relatives.
The home Of the Hoban family is af-
fected principally about the kitchen.
The foundation has dropped about an
inch. Strange to relate, the water sup
ply was not affected by the settling, eX-
cept small house supply pipe, which
was broken.
AS mentioned before, this is the first
cave-in which occurred on the east side
Of the FallbroOk river, in the West Side
of the city, for at least a score of years.
The last cave-in was when the Cree
gan and adjoining properties We're dam
aged. Disturbances, a succession of
them, have occurred recently on the
west side of the river, close to the
mountain, but none on this side.
The workings which have gone down
in this settling have long since been
abandoned. Miners estimate that the
cavern covers about two chambers.