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Frightful Tunnel Disaster

Frightful Tunnel Disaster image
Parent Issue
Day
26
Month
August
Year
1898
Copyright
Public Domain
OCR Text

Pittsburg, Aug. 23. - Eight men were killed, possibly ten, and five more injured, two fatally, at the Carnegie tunnel on the Chartiers división of the Panhandle railway. The accident was due to the wall of the tunnel caving in on a number of workmen. The dead are: John Jones, foreman, married and lived at Ashton, Va.; Felix Mills, laborer, married, lived at Glendale, Pa,; six unknown, all foreigners. Five men were injured. One of these, a negro, name unknown, was taken to the West Penn hosDital in a dying condition. One of the others is also expected to die. The men were part of a gang of sixty-eightiemployed by a contractor from Columbus, O. They were engaged in tearing out the tunnel on the Chaniers Valley branch of the Panhandle railroad, just west of the town of Carnegie. The work is be ing done entirely at night, in oraer not to interfere with traffic during the day. It has progressed for about a moncu without accident and was nearing co.ïipletion. The gang of workmen wei e engaged in loading the tia.n, used in hauling out the dirt from the tunnel A blast had been set off about an houv before. The men were preparing to pull down the west wall of the tunnel, had flxed a rope for this purpose and were preparing to drill some holes in it for blasting. Suddenly the wall feil over on them. Every man standing at that end of the big excavation was buried ■alive. Without an instant's hesitation the other workmen at once began the work of rescue. Felix Mills was one of the first taken out. He was still living and was sent to his home in Glendale. He died there about three hours later. The unknown colored man was next reached. A special train brought him to the West Penn hospital at once, but it was not thought he will live. The bodies were recovered rapidly after that. Seven of the men were taken out dead. The others are yet unaccounted for, and are supposed to be under a great pile of rock at the eastern end of the tunnel. Most of the men employed on the work are Italians. They go by numbers instead of name, and nothing is known of their family relations. Their fellow workmen were too busy seeking for more dead to identify any of the bodies. The dead were taken to the Carnegie morgue and prepared for burial.

Article

Subjects
Ann Arbor Argus
Old News