New-York tribune., 1912-03-24
4 SMALL COLLAPSE OF

SITUATION of affairs unprecedent-
~ ed in human history has arisen in
L ~ the Lackawanna and Wyoming val
leys Of Pennsylvania, where over VIDE
areas the crust of the earth is showing
signs OF cavng in. SO serious is the prop
lem that the government Bureau Of Mines
has recently undertaken an Investigation
of it.
On June Is last five children were playing
together on a public recreation g"ound at
Old Forge, which is about twenty miles
from the city of Scranton, Penn. The place
was a greensward on a hillside shaded by
trees Suddenly one Of the yOungster5'
little girl disappeared, simply vanished
from the sight of her Mortified playmates.
She had fallen into a mine tunnel when
followed vein Of coal near to the surface
at that spot, the earth giving way beneath
her. Her body was recovered later.
ALARM IN SCRANTON.
Uncertainties Of the landscape, due to
such caye-ins, have become very alarming
of late in many parts Of the two vail eys,
which are extensively undermined by work
ings for coal, and in the city of Scranton
and its vicinity much anxiety is teLt OH tAe
subject, especially since only short time
ago a schoolhouse broke partly through
the earth's crust and threatened TO be sWa-
lowed up.
That the alarm is by no means sroundless
may be judged from the fact that accord
ing 10 an estimate recently made by the
government Bureau Of Mines, a greater
quantity Of material has been removed by
mining excavation from beneath the city
of Scranton than has been dug out of the
Isthnus of Panama in the construction or
the nearly completed canal.
In the case of the schoolhuUse ACCIDENT
above mentioned those who visited the
scene after it occurred were able TO look
directly into the mine tunnels below. But
this was an affair almost triinS compared
with something in the same line that hap
pened in Scranton on the 2Oth day of last
November a double dwelling house at
Nos. 1928 and 1926 Ross avenue, occupied by
two families being completely cngufed by
a cave-in Of old workings in the big vein
of the Won Storch collery.
OCCUPANTS FORTUNATE ESCAPE.
The escape Of the occupants was little
short Of miraculous. 1t was just about .
a. M and Mrs. Patrick j. Buckley, in
one of the houses, had begun to prepare
breakfast for her sons who were 10 80
% work at s o'clock She had lighted the
gas range and was going into the pantry
10 get some provisions when she felt a
sudden convulsiOn. the building pitching
forward toward the street.
Being a long time resident of a region
where the expression terra frma" has
become TO some extent obsolete, she real
ized at once that the house was going down
into a mine cave, and, screaming an alarm,
ran 10 the outside. moment later she
was followed by her husband 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 1t.
Meanwhile a crowd Of neighbors had as
sembled. and three fire companies had ar
rived on the scene. But, although 1t was
quickly ascertained that the Buckleys were
safe. nothing had been heard about the In
mates 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 A LADDER.
The two houses, built as one. were stead
fly sinking and, If anything was TO be done,
there was no time to be lost. young man
named Perry, the son Of neighbor, pro-
cured a ladder, and, with his fathers help,
lowered II in such a way that he was
enabled TO climb 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 lad
der to the surface
Thus no lives were lost. But scarcely
had the rescue been accomplished when the
whole building crashed down into shape
less mass and fire belched up through the
broken tiInbers above the roofs of houses
close by. The firemen quickly got into &C
ton, and the dwellings thus threatened
were saved, though considerably scorched.
OF course, the Stevens and Buckley fami-
Hes lost everything they had
Occasional items Of telegraphic news
printed in newspapers In other parts OF
the country have given no adequate notion
NJ the alarm felt in Scranton and other
uarts of the anthracite coal region on ac-
count of mine cave-ins One should realize
that Scranton itself is a large city, with a
population of 10000 souls, and over exten-
s,va areas 1t is built upon mere crust
The situation Is as II gigantic rats had
run vast systems of ramifying burrows un-
derneath the town, thus rendering the very
earth unstable.
BUT, as already stated, the same con-
dition of affairs exists in other parts OF the
Iackawanna and Wyoming valleys, many
entire towns being similarly undermined
The mine roofs in ,places-as in some parts
~ &erapton. SsoE %sxapapls=arer mot more