The Pottsville Republican of February 10, 1939, reported on the progress of the recovery of the bodies of three men buried in a mine cave-in at Good Spring, Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania.
RECOVER BODY OF ONE MINER
Rescue Workers Still Working Tirelessly To Locate Bodies of To Others
Rescue workers at 2 o’clock this morning recovered the lifeless body of John Dietrich, 23, of Gratz R. D., [Specktown] from the bootleg coal hole near Good Spring in which he had been trapped with his brother and another companion Wednesday at noon.
Dietrich was found crushed against the side of a “buggy” in the slope of the mine, apparently having tried to get away from the fall. The body was bruised but death is believed to have been caused by suffocation as the sides of the mine car protected him from the full force of the fall.
Deputy Coroner Schultz, of Tremont, released the remains to Undertaker Hoover of Berrysburg.
Rescue workers in relays have been toiling without letup since the father of the Dietrich boys, 65, spread the alarm after he himself had barely escaped with this life.
Last night the body of one was sighted but it was not until early this morning that it was known definitely that it was John Dietrich and not until 2 o’clock that it was recovered.
Rescue workers estimated they had about twelve more feet of the fall to clear before they reach the level in which the other two men, Lee Dietrich, 22, and Norwood Howard, 18, of Gratz, R. D., are entombed, when they brought the body of John to the surface this morning.
The entrance to the heading, in which the trio were trapped is made along a slanting slope on a crudely constructed ladder; this was filled to within thirty feet of the top by the original fall and, after the miners had cleared this slope, they went to the bottom and started to tunnel and timber upwards the section in which the men were trapped.
Miners coming in from the coal hole on the Good Spring Mountain, at 2 o’clock, Friday, in which two of the three miners trapped at noon Wednesday, are still entombed, reported that the work was progressing slowly.
The Westwoods Colliery sent a load of planks to the scene of the rescue work, and the miners tunneling towards the section in which the men are trapped are timbering as they go.
There is a constant trickle of coal dirt into the workings, and this impedes the work, giving the rescuers that much more to clear.
Mine Inspector Hilbert, of Pottsville, is supervising the work during the daytime and recently appointed Mine Inspector Ditzler, of Tremont, is undertaking the task of supervising the work by night.
The inclement weather and the ice-sheathed roads kept many folks away from the workings, Friday, and only a handful of 20 to 25 persons was there, compared with the 150 there the day before.
The work of rescue was given fresh impetus during the morning, Friday, when a sheepskin coat was uncovered, but there were no other signs that the other two men were being neared.
Old time miners in that section say that the fall of top was so great that the walls of the heading were pushed inward, pinning the men in a debris filled section.
Rescue Work Dangerous
While there are more than 35 men on the rescue crews, work is slow as only three of them can work at a time. The debris is shoveled into a mine car in the slope and then it is hoisted to the surface with an old auto engine that had been rigged up outside.
P. Joseph Brennan, head of the Independent miners, who with Peter Paletto and John Koehler of Hegins, is directing the rescue work, said it was necessary to install several sets of timber and great care must be used as falls threaten almost constantly. Brennan said the men were driving toward the surface then the fall occurred, crushing them. The bottom of the working did not drop out as was first feared.
Brennan said rescuers estimate the bodies of the other victims will be found within 15 or 20 feet of the spot where John Dietrich was recovered. Recovery of John’s body leads miners to believe that it was Lee Dietrich who had been trapped and whom Howard was trying to help when the second all occurred, burying all of them.
The mother of the boys, Mrs. Edward Dietrich, is grief stricken. The two brother were to have taken as brides in the spring, two sisters, Loretta Howard and Mary Ellen Howard, brothers of the companion who was trapped with them in the coal hole.
The Salvation Army of this city [Pottsville], under Major Arthur West, has been at the scene of the fatality since shortly after midnight Wednesday, with coffee and sandwiches for the rescuers.
The nearest point of contact by telephone is the W. E. Jones Store. Here the rescue workers rest and eat a lunch between shifts in the confines of the slope. The store is a gathering place for the workers, relatives, friends and neighbors of the entombed men, and those seeking information are treated courteously by the store’s genial owner.
Edward Dietrich was working at the top of the slope. The two sons were down in the mines making coal for their nephew, Harold Dietrich, Lykens, R. D. [Specktown], a trucker, who markets the coal. Norwood Howard was the engineer at the improvised slope.
The scene of the tragedy is on Good Spring Mountain, on the Good Spring–Valley View Road, the slope is located about 2 miles off the road in the woods.
Rescue workers are re-timbering the slope and they have to be be cautious, for their own lives are endangered as the top of the slope is steadily falling in.
Edward Dietrich, father, Harry Dietrich, William Dietrich, and Marlin Dietrich, brothers of the entombed boys and their nephew, Harold Dietrich, and Isaac Howard, father of the other boy have kept a constant vigil.
The boys’ mother, Mrs. Edward Dietrich, is under the doctor’s care suffering from heart trouble, as a result of the shock.
John Dietrich is a graduate of the class of 1935 Lykens Valley Vocational School, Berrysburg, and Lee Dietrich also graduated from the same school, the class of 1931. John was unemployed and this was his first experience in coal mining. Lee, until a month ago was employed as a machinist at the General Motors Plant at Maryland. He had little experience in mining.
The Dietrich youths are the sons of Mr. and Mrs. Edward Dietrich and have the following brothers and sisters: William Dietrich, Lykens, R. D. [Specktown];Earl Dietrich, Norfolk, Virginia; Harry Dietrich, of Valley View; Marlin Dietrich, Shamokin; Lauren Dietrich, Baltimore, Maryland; and Laura Dietrich, at home; Mrs. Charles Schoffstall, Gratz.
They were affiliated with the Simeon Lutheran Reformed Church.
Norwood Howard is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Isaac Howard and has the following brothers and sisters: Richard Howard; Mark Howard; Eugene Howard; Harold Howard and Donald Howard, twins; Loretta Howard; Mary Ellen Howard; Pearl Howard and Fearl Howard, twins; and Alberta Howard.
Religiously, he is a member of the Lutheran Church, Berrysburg.
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