Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1912-04-30

EARTH CRUST CAVES IN.
Houses Swallowed When Coal Mines
Undermine Valleys in Pennsylvania.

A situation of affairs unprecedent-
ed in human history has arisen in the
Lackawanna and Wyoming valleys of
Pennsylvania, where over wide areas
the crust of the earth is showing
signs of c4ving in. So serious is the
problem that the government bureau
of mines has recently undertaken an
investigation of it.
on June Is, last. five children were
playing together on u public recrea-
ton ground at Old Forge, which is
about twenty miles from the city of
Scranton, Pa. The place was n
greensward on hillside. shaded by
trees Suddenly one of the youngsters,
little girl, disappeared, simply van
ished from the sight of her Mortified
playmates. She had fallen into a
mine tunnel which followed a vein Of
coal near to the surface at that spot,
the earth giving way beneath her.
Her body was recovered later.
Uncertainties of the landscape, due
to such cave-ins. have become very
alarming Of late in many parts of the
two valleys, which are extensively un-
dermined by workings for coal
According to an estimate recently
made by the government bureau of
mines a greater quantity of material
has been removed by mining excava-
ton from beneath the city of Seran-
ton than has been dug out of the
Isthmus of Panama in the construc-
ton of the nearly completed canal.
The same condition of affairs ex-
lists in other parts of the Lackawan-
ma and Wyoming valleys, many en-
tire towns being similarly undermine
ed The mine roofs in places-as in
some parts of Scranton, for exam
ple-are not more than ten feet thick,
and the practice of ''robbing" mine
pillars, the only support of the sur
face crust, has been carried on to
most dangerous extent. Often, indeed,
the greed of mining operators causes
them to remove pillars altogether to
get the coal they contain.
The usual method Of supporting
mine roofs is either to leave solid
pillars OF untouched coal for the pur-
pose or else 10 use stones, the latter
being built into a pile without NOR
tar or else thrown into a crib re-
semblng "A log house in its style Of
construction. The principal objection
to pillars of coal is that seams in the
material and variations i'll its texture
may render them faulty.
Agitation of the question here dis
cussed has brought about the APP
pointment of a state commission to
study mine cave-ins in the anthracite
region of Pennsylvania, and to furnish
scientific data on which TO base def
mite and exact conclusions expert
| Sc. adj at
Lehigh university in South Bethle-
hem.
This. however, is not the only re-
gion that suffers, as one might say,
from uncertainties of the landscape.
At Neck City. Mo, in January of last
year, hole suddenly opened under a
mill pond. and great elm tree was
literally swallowed into the earth in
a cave so large that nothing of the
tree was visible a few hours later.
The longest rope that could be OBJ
tanned, with a weight on the end of it
for sounding. found no bottom to the
cavern. In this instance, however
the hollow beneath the earth was of
natural origin.
Not long ago near the Budweiser
mine at Tuckahoe, a considerable
piece of landscape fell in. owing to
the pumping out of water, incidental
to mining operations.
Such facts as these. already known.
served to shed light upon the causes
of a very remarkable happening in
the city OF staunton, Va, where, in
the summer of 1910. much alarm was
felt lest large part Of the town was
destined to drop into the bowels of
the earth. A series of cavernous,
crater shaped openings in the ground
appeared, one house fell through and
disappeared and various other assoc
ciated phenomena excited a not UNI
reasonable dismay.
The trouble began en- the 18th day
of August, when the occupants of q
dwelling on the south side OF Bald
win street heard crash. as IL direct
| " underneath them. whereupon the
| building suddenly shook and sank
four feet. In less than an hour il
| had sunk ten feet, hole thirty feet
| in diameter having appeared, and q
| tree Twenty-Five feet high presently
| dropped into the opening. vanishing
/ entirely from sight.