Tank's Poetry
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united states mine rescue association
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Tank's Poetry |
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Narrative: A crew digging a drainage ditch tore down a door that had been nailed shut across a room mouth, allowing the air current to bypass the section of the mine inside that room. The gas accumulated in about 2 hours and was ignited by the open lights. (From Adventures in the Mines, by T. T. O'Malley, 1891, p. 246) Following the sound of the explosion, flame rose far above the mouth of the shaft. Firedamp accumulated in one of the rooms and was accidentally ignited by a miner's lamp.
When the work of exploration began, it was found that the whole force of the mine, 39 men and boys, were stark and cold in death. The State inspector's report stated that, at 2:45 p.m., the explosion tore out doors, stoppings, and brattices and knocked out timbers. All men in the mine were killed. A crew digging a drainage ditch tore down a door that had been nailed shut across a room mouth, allowing the air current to bypass the section of the mine inside that room. The gas accumulated in about 2 hours and was ignited by the open lights. The mine was known to be gassy and was wet. Ventilation and gas testing were lax. Another Terrible Mine Disaster An Explosion of Fire-Damp Results in Thirty-Nine Deaths Wellsboro Agitator, Wellsboro, Pa. January 26, 1886 The shaft is 255 feet in depth and is divided into three compartments, two of which are fitted with cages and hoisting apparatus for bringing the coal to the surface while the third is the ventilating shaft. The main heading of the mine extends for 1,020 feet from the foot of the shaft in a southwesterly direction and parallel with it and from 75 to 100 feet east of it, is an air passage joining the main heading at the foot of the shaft and being also connected with it by cross drifts at intervals of about 100 feet. From this air passage the galleries or rooms extend for about 500 feet eastward, and in these rooms the unfortunate miners were working, being scattered pretty much all along the eastern side of the mine. Forty men composed the shift which went to work Thursday morning and of that number all but one are dead. The man who escaped is John Miller, who came up five minutes before the accident. The cause of the awful disaster is attributed to the removal by Albert McWilliams of a bulkhead across one of the ventilating galleries, which turned the fresh air from its proper course and permitted the accumulation of fire damp. When the explosion occurred the cages were at the bottom of the shaft and the tremendous force resulting from the combustion crushed them and the heavy timber lining of the shaft into a confused mass. The destruction of the cages obliged the rescuers to resort to the iron coal buckets as a means of reaching the level of the drifts and as they will hold but three men the work of removing the obstructions proceeded very slowly. At the bottom of the shaft the scene of the wreck and confusion was horrible. Men, mules, shattered cars, and all sorts of debris were piled up in confusion. Men trod on a body before they knew how near they were to the dead. From the wreck below it is supposed that the explosion was violent enough to blow the men out of the most remote room through the experts differ as to whether the shock would necessarily be fatal. The idea is advanced that the most experienced miners knowing the nature of gas if not killed at once would have thrown themselves on their faces, there being the least foul air on the floor. This gives friends some grounds for hope but it is so slight that it is to be encouraged. It is believed by some who are familiar with mines that the rooms in the extreme portion of the workings are comparatively free from gas and that they may have afforded refuge to those in or near them. These gleams of hope are met by the afflicted families with moans of despair. They do not hope. Friday evening four bodies were found at the bottom of the shaft and there was no longer any hope that any of the men would be found alive. The calamity fell with terrible force on the little town. The cold weather froze out the miners and they could not work for ten days and little if any money is coming to the men who are on the death roll. Few of them had any savings and their taking off will leave their families in destitution. The town is able to do little for the sufferers. A liberal charity can find here a good field for its kind offices. The Newburg Victims Eleven of the Ill-fated Miners Brought to the Surface Daily Gazette, Williamsport, Pa. January 26, 1886 The coroner, ex-State Senator John P. Jones, had his jury view the remains. They were identified by David Evans, the man who found the body, and then an undertaker placed the remains in a rough box and removed them to his place of business, where they were prepared for burial. Another Victim The cage was at once sent back down the shaft after the body had been brought to the surface, and in a few moments it returned with another body. Mr. Bens identified the remains as those of David Miller, cageman at the mine. His business was to attend to the running of the cars from the main entry back on to the cages, and his station was at the foot of the shaft. He was found lying partly on the base of the cage, with his head on the north side of the shaft. His appearance and injuries corresponded with those of Fire Boss Timmons, except that his flesh seemed to be literally torn from his broken bones and to hang loosely upon them. Ten minutes later, Isaiah Timmons son, William, age 14, was brought out. He was the door trapper of the mine and his business was to mind the door opening from a space about the foot of the shaft into the main entry. He was lying on his face about six feet from the cage. His bones were broken in several places and his heavy cloth trousers almost entirely torn from his limbs. Judging from the appearance of these victims, a very little more violence would have torn them into fragments. It is understood that one more body, headless, had been found by the explorers but was not identified by them. There is a general fear that another explosion may occur. The men coming out of the shaft say the cross drifts from the main entry to the air passage on its east side are filled almost to the roof with all manner of debris, forced toward the shaft by the strength of the explosion, and behind these barricades fire damp must have accumulated in the rooms in enormous quantities. The bulkheads and doors regulating the currents of air are also entirely torn away and these must be restored before ventilation can be secured. The names of the men and boy who were killed in the Newburg (Orrel) Mine Disaster:
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