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S. M. Heaton & Company
Cuyler Colliery Roof Fall

Raven Run, Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania
April 6, 1885
No. Killed - 10

1885 Pennsylvania Annual Report and News Articles from the Period  PDF Format

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Ten Men Buried, with No Hope of Saving Them
Marion Daily Star, Ohio
April 8, 1885

Shenandoah, April 6. -- This afternoon one of the gangways of the Cuyler Colliery, at Raven Run, operated by S. M. Heaton & Company, caved in without warning entombing ten miners.  The cave was caused by a sudden crashing of the timbers.

The names of the ten men entombed are:
  • Frank McLaughlin
  • William Anderson
  • John Anderson
  • Henry Mervine
  • Benjamin Maurer
  • Nicholas Purcell
  • Barney Smith
  • Michael Herrity
  • Daniel Kenny
  • John Cavanaugh
The entombed men all have families, and the cries of the wives and children fill the air.  Exploring parties report the mine a complete wreck, and all hope of rescuing the imprisoned miners alive has been abandoned.

The slope is seven hundred feet deep, and is divided into four lifts.  The ten men now in the mine were in the lower lift, and the place is closed to the bottom.




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