Eagle Shaft Mine

The people of Wyoming Valley have scarcely recovered from the horror occasioned by the terrible loss of life at the West Pittston shaft, and yet they are again excited by a similar catastophe which occurred on Monday. From the somewhat confused reports in the Scranton papers of yesterday morning we glean the following facts relation to this recent mining calamity: About ten o`clock Monday morning the people of Pittston were horrified by the announcement that an accident had taken place at the Eagle Shaft, owned and operated by Alva Tompkins.

The news spread like wild fire and thousands of people were soon on their way to the scene of the disaster. Reports very as to the nature of the casualty and up to our hour for going to press it had not been definitely ascertained whether there had been an explosion of fire damp or an extra ordinary fall of coal. One thing was certain, however, and that was the painful fact that a large number of human lives had been lost. All day yesterday efforts were made to find out the character and extent of the accident, but owing to the impurity of the air and obstruction to communication in the mine the work was slow and discouraging. The following persons were in the mine, and there is not the slightest probability that one of them will be taken out alive:

Edward Owens

Thomas Leyshon

David Harris

Richard Owens

Evan Jones

James James

Benjamin Davis

Robert ?ngles

Martin Manion

Robert Williams

James and John Morgan ( my great great grandfather and his 16 year old son)

Patrick Quinlan

Thomas Reese

Thomas Rice

John Reese

David Owens

Five of the above David Harris, James Morgan,Thomas Leyshon, Evan Jones and Robert Williams have been taken out dead near the bottom of the shaft. The other miners were at work in a remote part of the mine, and their fate can be easily conjectured. Mine Inspecter Bewitt was on the spot and a rigid investigation into the cause of the disaster will be made.

©1997-20161997-2016 by Mary Ann Lubinsky for the PAGenWeb Project, and by Individual Contributors

 Mary Ann Lubinsky
County Coordinator

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