The front page of the Pottsville Republican, February 9, 1939, reporting that three men from Gratz, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, were buried in a bootleg mine cave-in near Good Spring, Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania. The mine cave-in was described and the article told of other mining accidents that occurred about the same time in the same vicinity.
THREE MINERS BURIED IN BOOTLEG MINE CAVEIN
Three Gratz Men Are Caught by The Collapse of Their Mine Near Good Springs; Two Are Brothers
Schuylkill County’s “graveyard of the anthracite” – the area about Good Spring — claimed the lives of three more bootleg miners yesterday, two of them brothers.
Rescue workers toiling without letup since Wednesday afternoon have given up hope for Lee Dietrich, 26, John Dietrich, 23, and Norwood Howard, 18, all of Gratz, R. D., trapped in a bootleg coal hole on the mountain there.
The father of the two Dietrich boys, Edward Dietrich, 65, narrowly escaped with his live when the coal hole started crumbling about him as he fought his way to the surface.
Late Thursday afternoon, the rescue workers had penetrated the shaft to a depth of 70 feet, and hoped to reach the entombed men late in the afternoon or early evening.
There is little hope entertained that the men will be alive when reached, as no sounds have penetrated from their underground tomb.
Fifteen men were working to timber the section and the steady fall of top hampered their work and endangered the lives of the workers and spectators.
Several hundred people crowded to the scene of the mishap, and their presence also caused the top surface to shift.
The brothers, both unmarried, were working in the shaft which is situated on the mountain between Good Spring and Donaldson when one of them was apparently trapped by a slide.
The other tried to release him but failed and shouted to Howard on the surface for help.
Howard descended into the mine, 60-foot deep, to see what was wrong.
When he failed to appear within ten minutes the father also went down into the mine to investigate.
When he reached the bottom of the shaft there was nothing but desolation, the mine having caved in.
He shouted but got no answer. Only a rumble greeted him as more of the earth began to slide.
Father Has Narrow Escape
Quickly he started climbing the ladder to the surface. The earth caved in as he climbed, at one time trapping his feet, but he fought on and finally after a desperate struggle reached the surface and spread the alarm.
“I know the boys are gone,” the elder Dietrich said. “No one could have lived after such as slide as occurred in that mine.”
Dietrich told rescuers who immediately began to assemble from nearby coalholes that the accident occurred about 11:30 yesterday morning.
He said the boys had stopped work at this time and shouted to the surface where he and Howard were working, to send down their lunch kits. A short time after the kits had been sent down there arose a muffled shout and Howard went down to investigate.
Believes One Trapped
The father is of the opinion that one of them was trapped and while the brother and Howard tried to release him, the entire mine caved in, burying all of them alive.
Within a short time a crew of rescuers estimated at close to half a hundred had begun the work of rescue, but it is said that it may take four days before the bodies are recovered.
Shaft Filled for 20 Feet
The shaft has been filled to a depth of 30 feet with debris and there is a possibility that the bottom of the mine may have “dropped out” precipitation the three into old workings that lie beneath. If this is the case, it may take weeks before they are found.
The Dietrichs are experienced miners and worked for a time at Lykens and Williamstown. They have been working as independent miners for the past several months.
In the Dietrich family in addition to the father and mother there are three surviving brothers and two sisters.
Howard was the eldest of 13 children and is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Isaac Howard. The group lived on a farm two miles west of Gratz [Specktown].
Scene of Many Fatalities.
The spot where the cave-in occurred is close to the area in which Lester Lengel of Ravine, bridegroom of a month, was trapped several weeks ago and the body not recover until days later.
A Lykens father and son also lost their lives near there a short time ago when they fell into their water-filled mine when overcome by the fumes of a pump they were using to remove the water.
A year ago a Keffers man was not drowned there and his body not recovered until the services of a navy diver were procured.
Man Killed at Williamstown
The accident to the three Gratz men was the second major tragedy to occur in the West End during the day.
Buried beneath tons of coal and rock for more than eight hours, the lifeless body of John Lopecka, 41, of Wiconisco, was removed from the Williamstown mine of the Susquehanna Collieries Company about 4 o’clock yesterday afternoon by rescuers who worked frantically from 8:30 in the morning to reach their fellow worker who was caught in a rush of coal in the No. 1 slope.
Lopecka was robbing “stumps” when the rush occurred.
George Warlos and Sam Steiner, both of Williamstown, were with Lopecka at the time of the accident, but they were not caught and sounded the alarm. Immediately workers began rescue but it was not until late in the afternoon that the body was reached.
Deputy Coroner George R. Wren, of Williamstown, said death was caused by suffocation and released the body to Undertakers Reiff and Helt of Lykens. He said an inquest will be held later.
Lopecka was married, and is survived by his widow and one child.
Rumor of Second Fatality
A persistent rumor was circulated in the Hegins Valley and Good Spring Mountain section Thursday morning of a second bootleg coal hole accident occurring early this morning.
Two men were reported instantly killed when the top of their mine hole caved in.
Deputy coroners and funeral directors, however, were not notified of any fatality and a careful check of every source in the Valley failed to bring forth any definite news on the reported fatality.
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News article from Newspapers.com
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