1898 - Coalmininghistorypa.org

No. 11. FIFTH ANTHRACITE DISTRICT. 149Jeddo, IVi., was instantly killed by being eruslK'd between an enii)tycar and the rib of tnrnout near the foot of the slope. He was as nsnal-talking beside the empty car for the i)urpose of unhitching the same,and when nearing the bottom the car jumped the track, pinninghis head between the car and the rib, crushing his skull and causingalmost instant deatli.John Dolan, oiler, age 17 years, was employed oiling machinery atthe Siu'ing Mountain colliery breaki'r No. 1. NVhile thus engagedon November 2S, 1S!IS, ho evidently had been oiling the journals ofthe pea coal jig and u](on returning slipiied and f(^ll, his clothingcoming in contact with the main line shaft, winding his clothingabout it in such a nuinner as to cause instant death. I'pon examinationit was found that his neck had been broken and his rightfeboulder dislocated. The exact cause will always remain a mystery,for in this case, as in many accidents about the mines, the only onet^iat could have thrown any light upon tlu' cause of the accident wasthe Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company at Tunnel No. 1,the victim himself.Evan L. Jenkins, mine foreman, age 34 years', was employed byNesquehoning.He was making a tour of the Mammoth workings and at 11.45A. M. he came to the bottom of a chute which had been rejtortedto him as being through to the surface, and being very anxiousto learji the condition of the top of said chute, he was met here byJohn McLaughlin, a miner, who remarked that he did not think ita very safe way to travel as yet; that the man who drove the holethrough to the surface did not care to risk it the day before, but wentu[) the regular traveling way and tilled the chute from the top down;still the only reply Jenkins made to McLaughlin was that he wouldrisk it anyway, and started up the chute, leaving McLaughlin on thegangway. The colliery being idle in the afternoon, Jenkins was notmissed until he failed to return to his home in the evening, when thefamily became alarmed and a party went in search of him; theywent directly to the place where he was last seen by McLaughlin;the party went up the chute; finding no trace of him in the chute,and seeing the chute filled with coal, concluded that he was in it. Soa plank was removed from the side of the chute, and when severalcars of coal was allowed to run down the manway his body wasdisc(>vei'ed in a standing position, he having been smothered in theloose coal.The exact cause of this accident will remain a mystery, but Ionly surmise from a practical standpoint that after Jenkins reachedthe head of the chute, he concluded to go through to the surface, andwhich making the attem]>t was carried by a rush of the gob or loosea victim to suffocation.coal back down the chute where he fellAnthony Peteoski, a miner, aged 35 years, employed at Harwoodcan