1898 - Coalmininghistorypa.org

Ko. 11. BUREAU OF MINES. liXluajority of thciu if the j'as ever exploded, and it needed ouly a«spai-k of any kind to do it. Consequently Chief llickey was notifiedto come up again. The chief got permission to use some extra hose.He took 500 feet from the Century s, 150 from the Crystals, 350 fromihe Niagaras and 400 from the Liberty s, and brought the Centurysup with their wagon in order not to deprive the North End of protectionin case of fire. At 11 o'clock he had the last spark quenched.As soon as the fire broke out Foreman McCutcheon went intothe mines and claims he had but little difficulty in getting the mentogether. The mules balked when the smoke came down the shaftand they had to be left to their fate. After the men were resuced,Foreman McCutcheon and his assistant, M. Eckersley, went downthe second opening to make an examination. They could not enterihe Clark vein on account of gas. The fan and air passages willhave to be rebuilt before another attempt can be made to enter theworkings.''J'he mtni inside when the fire broke out were John Donnelly, ofDak street, a brattice man; John Dougherty, of Marvine street, aminer; Dennis Gallagher and John Bibbes, miners; James Hawley,adriver boy and 18 Polish laborers whose names could not be ascertained.All except two were in the bottom vein. They didn'thave a minute to spare. .Indirectly all of them owe their lives to Mine Inspector Roderick. /At his instance the mines were closed down last winter because/there was not a second opening from the bottom vein, as required by/law. The main shaft is situated in the angle formed by the Laeka-1wanna river and the Ontario and Western Railroad, a few hundred!feet north of Parker street. Its depth is 505 feet. Mr. Roderick\had to go to court about it. By his attorneys, Willard, Warren &Kuapp, he applied for an injunction to restrain operations until as