Indiana Weekly Messenger
November 11, 1874
Executor’s Notice
Letters testamentary having been granted the undersigned on the estate of Jonathan Adair, late of Cheryhill twp. dec’d, notice is hereby given to all persons indebted to said estate to make immediate payment, and to those having claims aginst the same, to present them duly authenticated for settlement.
Mary Adair,
Executrix.
A Frightful Death
A dispatch from Pittston, Pa., says:
A few days since four men, strangers, desiring to see the interior workings of a coal mine, entered the Columbia tunnel near Rough and Ready Mine, at this place. Some distance from teh entrance the passageway diverges, leading in one direction into the working part of the mine, and to a large unused chamber in the other. This chamber has been abandoned some time, and, as a consequence, has become filled with fire damp and other noxious gases arising in a coal mine. The visitors being without a guide, found their way along the dark and slimy passage by means of a lantern, carried by one of the party, and took the tunnel leading into this infested chamber. Entering it, they walked about until they began to feel the effect of the poisonous gases.
Aware of the prevalence of fire damp in mines, they knew at once the cause of the peculiar sensation and endeavored to find the way by which they entered the chamber, in order that they might escapte. Before the entrance could be found three of the party were obliged to succumb to the influence of the fire damp, and fell to the gournd. The fourth, carrying the lantern, found the passage, and succeded in reaching the outside gallery, but in a weak condition. He soon recovered after coming in contact with the purer air, and at once set himself about the rescuing, if possible, of his companions, He was fearful that if he left the mine for aid they would be dead or beyond the hope of resusitation before he could return, so he determined to re-enter the noxious chamber and drag his friends forth into the air himself. Hastening in, he discovered by the dim light cast by this lantern the prostrate bodies of his three companions. Hanging the lantern on one of his arms by the large carrying ring, he grasped two of the senseless men by their collars, and being a powerful man, and nerved to still greater strength by the circumstances, he pulled them out inot the main passage. Pausing a second for a breath of fresh air, he again rushed into the chamber and drew the remaining man out. Losing no time, he dragged his senseless friends toward the mouth of the entrance to the mine, taking one several feet forward, then going back and bringing the others one at a time, until he brought them to the fresh air in at the entrance. Before he got them out, he was rejoiced to notice signs of returning consciousness in them all.
It was some time after reaching the mouth of the mine before the three men were able to comprehend their situation and to realize that their escapte for the very jaws of death was almost miraculous. Aid was procured for them, and they were taken to one of the hotels in this place, and their remarkable adventure made quite a sensation in Pittston.
In the same fatal chamber was enacted a fearful tragedy on Friday, Westly Willis, a young man who had just hired out to work in the mine, while awaiting orders, thought he would take a look at things inside.
Unfortunately he was not aware of the fire-damp chamber, and followed the passage directly into it. No sooner had he entered the place, when the gas was exploded by Willis’s mine lamp on his hat, and the young man was hurled out of the chamber against the jagged side of the gallery. The report was heard for a great distance round, and the passage was soon filled with startled miners. Willis’s body was found mangled and mutilated so as to be almost unrecognizable. His face was burned black, and nearly every bone in his body was broken. He was the only support of a widowed mother and crippled brother.
A Worthy Citizen Killed
Mr John Elder, of Blacklick twp., was instantly killed on the railroad last night. He was attending court at Greensburg, having a suit there with a man named Thompson Dodson. Having occasion to go to Latrobe last night and missing the train, he started to walk. While on the railroad, a train came along the track on which he was walking. The pilot of the engine struck him, and he was instantly killed. He was a highly respected citizen, and his sudden and untimely death will be mourned by a large circle of friends and relations.
MARRIED
Coleman – Lucas – On the 27th ult., by Rev. M.J. Sleppy, Alexander Coleman to Miss Maggie Lucas, all of Indiana.
Kerr – Beck – On the 14th ult., by Rev. M.J. Sleppy, James Kerr, of Pittsburg, to Miss Lizzie Beck, of Indiana.
McGuire – Conn – on the 29th ult., at the Lutheran parsonage in Cookport, by Rev. Lisehaupt, Mr. Christophe C. McGuire to Miss Elizabeth A. Conn.
Also on the same day, by the same at the residence of Josiah Langham, are Samuel Baker to Miss Mary Ann Tangham, all of Indiana county, PA.
Dunmire – Smith – On the 29th ult., by W. T. Crawford, Esq., Mr Jacob Dunmire to Miss Mary Smith, all of Canoe twp., Indiana county, Pa.
DIED
McLain – On the 4th inst., after a few hours illness, Mrs. Mary R. McLain, wife of C.C. McLain, of thi borough, aged about 50 years.
Deceased has an effectionate husband and a little daughter – her only child – to mourn her death. She was an excellent woman in all the relations of life. Some sixteen years since she entered to this place as the wife of Mr. Mc., and was entirely ?? in the community by her pleasant demenour and kind christian intercourse, she soon found a place in the hearts of our people. The bereaved husband the motherless daughter have the sympothy of the community.
About Author
