Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania
Lehigh & Wilkes-Barre Coal Co. Explosion
October 29, 1896
ANOTHER MINE HORROR
Fatal Explosion of Mine Gas in South
Wilkes-Barre
SIX DEAD BODIES RECOVERED
Of these Two Were Leading a Part of Rescuers—it
is Feared That Twelve Others Were in the Mine,
and Have Surely Perished.
WILKES-BARRE, Pa. Oct. 30---A terrible
explosion of gas occurred in No. 3 mine of the
Lehigh and Wilkes-Barre Coal Company in South
Wilkes-Barre yesterday afternoon.
Six men are known to be dead and three
injured. It is not yet known how many men were
in the mine at the time of the explosion, but
twelve are reported missing and it is believed
all of these have perished. The dead who have
been brought to the surface are:
William R. Jones,
fire boss
John Joseph, Assistant Mine Foreman
Thomas Owens, Miner
William Lacey, Rock Miner
James Herron, Laborer
Joseph Worth, Fire Boss
All leave families. They were horribly burned
and hardly recognizable.
The cause of the explosion will probably
never be known. The mine was idle for the day.
Usually there are 400 to 500 men employed in the
mines. Had they all been at work when the
explosion had occurred the loss of life would
have been fearful.
The only men in the mine yesterday afternoon
were the company hands and fire bosses, who were
at work in the rock tunnel changing the air
course. The place was very gaseous, and men
worked with safety lamps. It was believed the
gas was ignited by a blast.
David William’s,
the driver boss was at the head of the slope,
500 feet away, when the explosion occurred, and
was hurled some distance and injured. He was the
only one in the vicinity who escaped alive.
The explosion was so severe that it was
plainly felt at the mouth of the shaft. The roof
of the fan house was blown off and all the
airways and brattice inside were wrecked and
blown away.
The alarm was promptly given, and hundreds of
men, women and children rushed to the mouth of
the shaft. The grief of the womankind who had
husbands, sons or brothers in the mine was
heartrending.
The work of the organizing rescue gangs was
begun without delay. It was a perilous
undertaking as the sequel proved, but no man
faltered. Fire Boss
William R. Jones and
Assistant Mine Foreman
John Joseph selected the men for the
first party, and themselves led the way. All
were overcome by the dread afterdamp, but not
until they had found
Driver Boss David William’s. All
except Joseph succeeded in reaching the foot of
the shaft and were removed to the surface, but
the old fire boss.
William R. Jones succumbed to the
deadly firedamp and died in half an hour after
being brought out. John
Joseph, the other hero became
separated from the first party, and the second
rescuing party found his body and removed it to
the surface.
A number of company men who worked in a
different part of the mine reached the surface
by the No. 5 shaft and also another opening. It
is not thought possible to reach the four men in
the rock tunnel until the air currents are
opened.
Superintendent Lawall
and other officials of the Lehigh and
Wilkesbarre Company were early on the scene.
Lawall believes there maybe six men inside yet,
but an old miner insists that there are twelve.
It is the general supposition that all are dead.
A rescue party of twelve men in charge of
Mine Foreman John F. Jones
is slowly making way to the rock tunnel and
building an air passage to the entire distance
to insure safety. The mine damp is very bad, and
the work of rescue is progressing at great risk.
The News, Frederick, MD 31 Oct 1896
Transcribed by
Trish. Thank you, Trish!
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