Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania

Mine Explosion

March 3, 1890

FIRE IN A MINE

Seven Men Cut Off from Escape Have They Perished?

Wilkes-Barre, Pa, March 4- Seven men were driving gangways in a long tunnel of the South Wilkes-Barre mine of the Lehigh and Wilkesbarre Coal Company yesterday when the driver boy, JAMES THOMAS, ignited the gas with his naked light. An explosion followed and set fire to the heavy timbers in the tunnel, and JAMES, although badly burned, rushed forward to give the alarm but the fire had made such headway that the men could not get out, and it is thought that all have perished.

A great force of men are engaged in fighting the flames. There is bare hope that the men have locked themselves in a chamber and may be rescued.

There is great excitement at the scene where the wives and children of the entombed men are weeping and moaning. The names of the men are JAMES THOMAS, THOMAS WILLIAMSON, HUGH DUGAN, MICHAEL FERRY, FREDERICK CULL, THOMAS MCDONALD, and JAMES CAMPBELL.

WILKESBARRE'S HORROR

Floods Pouring Into the Volcano of Coal.

ENTOMBED MEN MUST BE DEAD

It is Said No One is to Blame, and That Expense Has Not Been Spared in the Attempts at Rescue Two Miners Fatally Injured

Wilkes-Barre, Pa., March 6-There is no change in the situation at the South Wikebarre Colliery, where eight men are entombed, and hopes of getting them out alive is gone. That the men are dead is now about certain, but there seems to be good ground for believing that they passed into an air course where they were subsequently overcome with smoke and gas, and where probably they died.

A Long and Tedious Delay.

Under the present condition of things in the mine, with the blazing tunnel widening and strengthening the barriers to thorough investigation, there is no telling when a search mission will succeed in deciding the fate of the victims. The flooding process continues, but there must be long and tedious delay before the fire will be subdued by this means.

Mine inspector WILLIAMS and other officials are revolving their schemes, the adoption of any one of which will probably be soon decided upon. Steam appears to be the speediest method suggested and will, no doubt, be enlisted

The Searchers Will Not Give Up.

In the meantime, all is being done that is possible toward getting information as to the fate of the missing men, and until every device is exhausted the search will not be abandoned. There are now eight or ten streams of water being poured down the air shaft. Engines Nos. 2 and 3 are at work, as well as the Kingston fire engine. The two former are stationed at plugs and the latter is drawing water from the main sewer. In addition a donkey engine has been erected below the Vulcan Iron works and is pumping water from the creek. The five inch mains from the Crystal Spring are also pouring their streams under pressure into the mine.

Great volumes of bad smelling smoke, gas and steam continue to pour out of the air shaft. The stream is produced by the stream of water which is being poured down the Stanton Shaft. this makes it way through the blazing portion of the mine and meets the rapidly rising water below.

No One to Blame.

In a conversation with Mine Inspector WILLIAMS he said "There is no one to blame for this unfortunate accident. The boy who touched off the feeder probably stumbled and fell. This brought his lamp close to the mouth of the feeder, which took fire. Since the accident the Lehigh and Wilkesbarre Coal Company has spared no expense in attempting to reach the spot where the bodies are supposed to be. The officials here have been willing to adopt any measure for relief at any cost and every man who went down with the rescuing party will be liberally rewarded."

The Trenton Times, Trenton, NJ 6 Mar 1890

PROBABLY ALL DEAD

1p.m.-There is no change in the situation at the burning mine. It will take fully four days to flood it. The supposition now is that the men did not get very far from where they were working, and if this is the case their bodies will never be recovered, as they in all probability by this time are burned to a crisp.

The entombed miners are; MICHAEL FERRIS, single; FRANK CALL, fifty-five, wife and seven children; HUGH DUGAN, married, wife and several children; THOMAS JAMESON, single; THOMAS MCDONALD, single; THOMAS WILLIAMS, married, wife and two children; THOMAS MCDONALD, driver, and JOHN MCNEALIS, single.

The Trenton Times, Trenton, NJ 6 Mar 1890

March 2, 1890, In the same colliery, eight men were imprisoned, and died before they could be reached by the rescuing party.

The Fort Wayne Sentinel, Fort Wayne, IN 4 Mar 1890

Transcribed by Regina Moore.  Thank you, Regina!

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