El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1912-03-23

= arisen IN the Lacka1vanna
,,5 v7vor,ine-. valleys Of Pennsy7lvsnla,
7-here over wide areas the crust u -
earth is showing signs OF cans -
So Serious is the problem ne - S,+I--
eminent bureau OF MINES mas 0Ss---'
11r5ertsl ken an investigation OF IL
on the 18th day OF last une I've
children were playing togelheI III IL,
Forge. which is about ~ A l- 49,
the city Of Scranton, "a ne 49, iSe
was 2 EreensWard on nl1-sluer' 9iie---
BY trees. Suddenly one OF LnS $3.50 Sr.-,7v
vanished from the sight OF ner hoLLl-
f:ed playmatss- She naG Ia5lSu -
a mine tunnel which tolloWeo 49,
Of coal near to the surface = -
Spot- the earth giving away pe Hee- "a
her Her body was recovered later
Alarm in Scranton
uncertainties Of the lancsc-apes -
10 such cave-ins, have become 80 -
eIarrnine of late in many parls q -
- valleys which are extensive u -
ferwfned by workings 1or coas - -
the city Of Scranton ana rs e .lIiacI
-9rcf7 anxiety is felt on the suDJeSC,
eq0e~isllv since only a snort lLns 80
scLOol- house broke partly through
4be earth's crust and threatened 70 70
swallowed up. means
r--oT0dless may be judged from ~
TACT that. according TO an estllllS S
Gently made by the goVerIElliesl u -
ee-5sT l,es been removed by mining eA-
cs,-orfor from beneath the city %
s-5srfon than has been dug out OF me
fsthnus Of Panama in the cons u -' 'io--
az the nearly completed canal s
IN che case Of the school house accl-
s.--+ hove mentioned, those who VS.
tied the scene after II oecul - -,i1s
able to look directly into the I Itt
+,77neIs below. But this was an aIlalI
almost trifling compared WIN sol-lS
thing in the same line tna-l nap pe 49,
IN Scranton on the goth day OF Iasl
5-o,-e-T, her-a double dwelling house at
75qe-5 Ross avenue, occupied Dy ~
FAMILIES. being completely enguILed Dy
a cavein OF old workings IN tHs DLs
~e5n Of the Won Storch cOlliery-
occunaufs' Fortunate Escape.
The escaDe of the occupants was
little short Of miraculous II vas US ~
abort & a. m, and Mrs Patrick j.. BucA-
lev. in one Of the houses, had begun 70
T,-aoare breakfast for her sons, Mno
we're 10 20 to work at O'CLOCK ohe
had lighted the gas range ana We
Going into the pantry to get some pI
SfsiC7s when she felt a sudden cOnvul-
sion the building pitching AOf" ar ~
ward the street
Being a longtime resloent Oh q. q
zion where the expression ts--o
firna@ has become TO some extent %
solete she realized at once mat ne
house was going down INTO d -l--.-o
cave. and screaming an alarm ran -
the outside. A moment later she W.
followed by her husband ana me res
of the family, all in their night c-otnes.
Quick action was necessary Tor MlliLn
ID minutes the main part OF the Il en-
ing had gone down into the hole, ords-
cling the kitchen part over on TOP OF u
Meanwhile a crowd Of nelghDors ma
assembled. and three IRE cum a1-eS
had arrived on the scene But, alJhOugn
ii was quickly ascertalned tn6l me
FucJzlevs were safe, nothing had Deen
heard about the inmates OF the 01I ~
house. man named stevens ana LlIs
wife 1t was suTmised that they Were
Imprisoned and unable to effect thelr
escape.
The two houses built as one, were
steadily sinking and II anything was
to be done, there was no TINE 20 Do
lost. A young man named Perry the
- If a nefFhbor, procured a ladder,
and with his fathers help lowered IL
in such a way that he was enaplsQ 70
climb down into WINDOW OF lne otSt-
ems house. WhereupOn ne ana NJ
stevens carried Mrs. Stevens who was
IN q state Of collapse from shock up
the ladder to the surface
Thus no lives were lost But scarcely
had the rescue been accomplished when
the whole building crashed down into
q Shameless mass and fire belched up
through the broken tmbers above the
lots If houses close by. The firemen
quickly got into action, and the dWell-
ings thus threatened were saved.
though considerably scorched- OF
course, the Stevens and Buckley 1aIll-
lies lost everything they had
Occasional items Of telegrapnlc news
printed IN newspapers In other parts
Of the country have given no adequate
notion Of the alarm felt In Scranton
and other parts Of the anthracite coal
region on account OF mine caVeins- one
should realize that Scranton itself IS q
large city, with a population OF lSy,UyU
souls and over extensive areas II IS
built upon q mere crust The sltua-
tion is as If gigantic rats had run vast
systems Of ramifyIng burrows under
meath the town, thus rendering the
very earth unstable
Condition Is General.
But, as already stated, the same con-
dition Of affairs exists in other parts
Of the Lacl1awanna and wyoming val
legs, many entire towns being SINH
larly undermined The mine roofs in
plsces-as in some parts OF Scranton,
for eLample-are not more than ~
feet thick. and the practice Of rob
bing mine pillars, the only support
of the surface crust, has been carried
on to most dangerous extent often,
indeed, the greed Of mining operators
causes them TO remove pillars alto
gether to get the coal they contain
The usual method Of supporting mine
roofs is either to leave solid pillars Of
untouched coal for the purpose or else
10 use stones the latter being built
into a pile without mortar or else
thrown into a crib resembling a log
house in its style of construction. The
Drfncipal objection to pillars Of coal
IS that seams in the material and vari-
atoms in its texture may render them
AGITATION Of the question here dis
cussed mas brought about the appoint
nent of a state commission to study