The Washington herald., 1912-03-24

wanna and Wyoming valleys OF fennsyi-
vania, where over wide areas the crust
Of the earth is showing signs Of caying
in. So serious Is the problem that the
goyernment Bureau OF Mines has recent
Iy undertaken an investigation OF II.
On the 18th day OF last June fve chill
dren were playing together on public
recreation ground at Old Forge, which
is about twenty miles from the city Of
Scranton, Pa. The place was a green
sward on a hillside. shaded by trees.
Suddenly one of the youngsters, little
girl, disappeared, simply vanished from
the sight OF her horrifed playmates. She
had fallen into a mine tunnel which fol-
lowed a vein of coal near to the surface
at that spot, the earth giving away be-
meath her. Her body was recovered
later.
Alarm I'm Scranton.
Uncertainties Of the landscape. due to
such cave-ins. have become very alarm
ing OF late in many parts Of the two
valleys, which are extensively under
mined by workings for coal, and in the
city OF Scranton and its vicinity much
anxiety is felt on the subject. especially
since only q short time ago a school
house broke partly through the esrth's
crust and threatened to be swallowed up.
That the alarm Is by no means ground
less may be judged from the fact that.
according TO an estimate recently made
by the government Bureau of Mines. a
greater quantity Of material has been
removed by mining excavation from be-
meath the city Of Scranton than has been
dug out of the Isthmus Of Panama In
the construction Of the nearly completed
canal
In the case Of the schoolhouse accident
above mentioned, those who visited the
scene after II occurred were able TO
look directly into the mine tunnels below.
But this was an AFFAIR almost triiing
compared with something in the same
line that happened In Scranton on the
twentieth day Of last November-a dou-
bic dwelling house at 1895 Ross avenue,
occupied by two families. being COM
pletely engulfed by a cavern Of old
workings in the big vein Of the Won
Storch coIliery.
Occupants' Fortunate Escape.
The escape Of the occupants was little
short of miraculous. II was Just about
8 a. m, and Mrs. Patrick ]. Buckley, in
enc Of the houses, had begun to prepare
breakfast for her sons, who were TO so
to work at o'clock. She had lighted
the gas range. and was going into the
pantry to get some provisions when she
felt a sudden convulsion, the building
pitching forward toward the street.
Being a longtime resident OF q region
where the expression terra firma" has
become to some extent obsolete, she
realized at once that the house was 60
ing down into a mine-cave, and, scream
ing an alarm, ran to the outside. A mo-
ment later she was followed by her hus-
band and the rest of the family, all in
their night clothes. Quick action was
necessary. for within ten minutes the
main part Of the dwelling had gone
down into the hole, dragging the kitchen
part over on top Of It,
Meanwhile a crowd OF neighbors had
assembled, and three fire companies had
arrived on the scene. But, although u
was quickly ascertained that the Buck
leys were safe, nothing had been heard
about the inmates Of the other house,
man named Stevens and his wife. 1t
was surmised that they were imprisoned
and unable to effect their escape.
Carried Up n Ladder.
The two houses, built as one. were
steadily sinking, and, II anything was
to be done. there was no time to be lost
A young man named Perry, the son of a
neighbor. procured a ladder, and, with
his fathers help. lowered It in such a
way that he was enabled to climb down
into a window Of the Stevens house
whereupon he and Mr.. Stevens carried
Mrs Stevens, who was In a 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 crushed down into a
shapeless mass and fire belched up
through the broken timbers above the
roofs OF 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 families lost every
thing they had.
Occasional items of telegraphic news
printed in newspapers in other parts OF
the country have given no adequate no
tion OF the alarm felt IN Scranton and
other parts OF the anthracite coal re-
gion on account OF mine cave-ins. One
should realize that Scranton itself Is a
large city, with a population of $4,000
souls. and over extensive areas IL Is built
upon a mere crust. The situation Is as
IL gigantic rats had run vast systems Of
ramifying burrows underneath the town.
Condition Is General.
But, as already stated, the same con-
dition Of affairs exists in other parts of
the Lackawanna and Wyoming valleys.
many entire towns being similarly IN
dermined. The mine roofs in places-as
in some parts OF Scranton. for example
are not more than ten feet thick. and
the practice of "robbing'' mine pillars,
the only support of the surface crust.
has been carried on to a most dangerous
extent. Often. indeed. the greed OF min
ing 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 purpose or else
a pile without motar or else thrown into
a crib resembling a log house in its
style of construction. The principal OBJ
lection to pillars of coal is that seams
in the material and variations In its tex
ture may rende. them faulty.
Agitation of the question here discussed
has brought about the appointment Of a
State commission to study mine cave-ins
in the anthracite region Of Pennsylvania,
and to furnish scientific data on which
to base definite and exact conclusions,
experiments have recently been made at
Lehigh University, In South Bethlehem,
in relation to the supporting power Of
pillars OF various materials. For this
purpose carloads OF materials-such as
sandstone. coal, slate. mine timber. fire
clay, and crushed stone-haye been ship
ped to the laboratory at Lehigh. and