LOCAL HISTORY: STOREY, Henry Wilson. HISTORY OF CAMBRIA COUNTY PA. Vol. 1 The Lewis Publishing Co., 1907. Contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by Martha Humenik. There is an HTML version of this book, with page images, on the county web site: http://www.camgenpa.com/books/Storey/v1/ Copyright 2006. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm _______________________________________________ CHAPTER XXIII. COAL, COKE, RAILROADS AND LUMBER. The earliest evidence of the discovery of coal or that a coal bank was open in the county appears on the endorsement for the warrant for the William Barr tract of land, which was the old farm owned by Louis Von Lunen, in Moxham, now a part of the city of Johnstown. The endorsements made by the deputy surveyor general are as follows: "Date of Warrant, April 3, 1769; name of warrantee, William Barr; number of acres, 300. Remarks: On the south side of Stone Creek (Stony-creek river), opposite to the Stone Cole bank. Returned, &c. 31st October, 1788." At that time there were several inhabitants in this vicinity, and within five years Joseph Johns acquired the Campbell tract of land and made a settlement upon it. Mrs. Ann Linton used coal as a fuel for domestic purposes while living in Johnstown in 1822. Three years later, Matthew and Michael Myers opened a coal bank west of Lilly, and operated it before the construction of the old Portage railroad. The coal was mined more especially for blacksmiths' use in the Juniata valley, and was carried across the mountains on pack horses. William Tiley opened a bank near it some years after. Prior to July 3, 1839, Charles Murray had a coal bank in operation on the land of Samuel Singer, near Vinco. It was on the public road leading from Johnstown to Ebensburg. The usual fuel for domestic purposes was wood until as late as 1860. It was the principal fuel for locomotives until after that date, but coal began to be common in the fifties. Coal banks along the railroad in Croyle township have been in operation for many years, yet until 1885 there was none near Lovett's station, which is a few miles south of South Fork. Prior to that date the coal for domestic purposes had to be hauled from the Heitingfelter bank, or the Erb bank, which were on the Solomon's Run, a distance of eight, miles. On April 3, 1843, the court of common pleas approved the proceedings of William Rodgers to condemn a strip of land leading from his coal mine, then on the land occupied by John Farren, to a point on the west side of the culvert on the Alle- 574 HISTORY OF CAMBRIA COUNTY. gheny Portage railroad, near the foot of Plane No. 4, now Lilly. The mine was about 300 yards from the road. The diagram accompanying the report shows that the coal road led up to the Portage railroad, evidently for the purpose of shipping coal by rail. Samuel Lemon, the father of John and Samuel Lemon, of Hollidaysburg, opened a mine near the foot of Plane No. 5, west of the Summit, and shipped coal on that road at a very early date. The Lemon seam of coal was named for him, as he was the first person in this locality to work it. In 1840 there were 41 coal miners in Cambria county, of whom 35 were in Washington township; three in Johnstown, and three in Conemaugh township. The first coal operators at South Fork were Jacob C. and George B. Stineman, Samuel Paul, Joseph Croyle and Richard J. Hughes, who organized the South Fork Coal and Iron Company in 1869, and opened the first vein of coal for the purpose of mining and shipping. At this time, about one hundred large cars, averaging forty tons to the car, are being shipped daily from South Fork and its immediate vicinity, which includes the Ehrenfeld mines. On January 1, 1862, it was noted in the newspapers that the Pennsylvania railroad had just added 200 eight-wheeled cars to its rolling stock for the increased trade of the Westmoreland Coal Company, whose mines were at Irwin and Shafton. Eight wheel cars at that time carried from nine to ten tons of coal. The first official record of the bituminous coal mined was kept in 1820, when there were 3,000 tons mined in Maryland. Twelve years later the output had been increased to 12,000. The federal records show that it began in Pennsylvania, Missouri, Indiana, Alabama, Iowa, Arkansas, and North Carolina in 1840, when there were 464,826 tons mined in Pennsylvania, and three tons in North Carolina. The coal in the northern part of the county began to be developed in 1882, when the late Judge Dean, who was then president Judge of the Cambria courts, purchased coal along the Clearfield creek and built the "Cresson, Clearfield and New York Short Route R. R.," which was chartered December 19, 1882, to extend from Cresson to Irvona. It was thrown into service May 1, 1886, and was subsequently purchased by the Pennsylvania railroad, now forming a part of the Cambria & Clearfield division. The coal was bought for about five or 575 HISTORY OF CAMBRIA COUNTY. seven dollars per acre. The road known as the original Ebensburg branch between Cresson and Ebensburg was opened in 1861. Its charter was issued May 5, 1859, as the "Ebensburg and Cresson R. R." In 1887 the late Governor Hastings, ex-Governor Beaver, J. L. Spangler and others began to develop the coal in the Hastings district along the Chest creek. The coal and the necessary mining rights were acquired at about the same prices. On January 13, 1887, the Cambria & Clearfield R. R. was chartered for the purpose of hauling this coal to market, and the first track completed from La Jose to Hastings on September 24, 1888. It joined the Pennsylvania & Northwestern R. R. at La Jose, and the Pennsylvania R. R. at Bells Mill. In 1889 the branch from McGees to Glen Campbell was opened for traffic. In order to have better facilities for taking the coal to the main line, the Pennsylvania R. R. built the main stem of the Cambria & Clearfield division from Garway to Kaylor station, including the Susquehanna extension from Bradley Junction to the Junction of the Walnut Run Branch, and put it into service on August 1, 1892. The extension from the Junction of the Walnut Run Branch to Cherry Tree was completed and ready for business May 22, 1893. The Blacklick district was opened about 1892, by ex-Judge Barker and associates. A large plant was erected at Vintondale, to which town the Blacklick Branch was extended on October 30, 1894, and to Wehrum, August 29, 1902. On June 1, 1904, Dilltown was connected with Blacklick on the Indiana Branch by a road following the Blacklick creek. All the railroads of the Pennsylvania R. T. in the county north of Cresson are operated as the Cambria & Clearfield railroad division, which extends into Indiana county. Its first superintendent was D. H. Lovell, from January 1, 1893, to October 8, 1894, when he was succeeded by Frank Firth Robb, who remained until January 1, 1899; F. P. Abercrombie till August 1, 1900; L. W. Allibone until May 1, 1902; J. M. Baker, till November 1, 1902, and who was succeeded by Ernest J. Cleave, the present superintendent. Coal has been shipped from South Fork since 1870, but the district between that coal town and Windber was not opened until July 31, 1891. The late James J. Fronheiser and Judge M. W. Keim, in 1887, were the pioneers in acquiring coal lands south of South Fork, which at that time were worth from seven 576 HISTORY OF CAMBRIA COUNTY. to ten dollars per acre. About 1890 the Berwind-White Coal Mining Company, one of the largest producers of bituminous coal in the country, came into the South Fork and Somerset districts and opened several mines in the vicinity of Windber and Scalp Level. The South Fork R. R. was opened for passenger traffic in August, 1897, and operated as a part of the Pittsburg division. In June, 1907, about 355 loaded cars came from the South Fork Branch on week days, two-thirds of them being 50-ton steel cars. There are also about 100 cars shipped from South Fork and vicinity, about 800 from the Cambria & Clearfield division, and about 300 from Portage, Lilly and Gallitzin. All this coal is taken to the eastern markets, excepting 20 cars, which go west over the Pennsylvania R. R. This amount does not include the shipments on the N. Y. C. R. R. The county of Cambria is among the largest producers of bituminous coal in the United States. Its output for 1902 was 10,561,835 tons; 1903, 10,942,496; 1904, 10,829,087, and in 1905, 12,600,891 tons. In Pennsylvania it is only exceeded by the counties of Fayette, Westmoreland and Allegheny, and has 130 mines, the largest number in active operation. The next highest is Clearfield with 127, and Westmoreland with 118. Of those in Cambria 113 are on the lines of the Pennsylvania railroad; 13 on the New York Central; three on the B. & 0. R. R., and one on the P. J. E. and E. R. R. In 1905 the average number of days the mines were in active operation was 211, and upon this basis there were 59,719 tons taken out every working day, which is equal to 14.56 acres mined from a three-foot seam. The railroads required 1,492 forty-ton cars to haul it to market. The average prices for all kinds of bituminous coal at the mines in Pennsylvania, per short ton, were: In 1901, .99 cents; 1902, $1.08; 1903, $1.18; and 1904, 96 cents. There are various grades of coal, some of which bring higher prices; for instance, the average selling price for the best Miller seam coal in 1906 was $1.40 at the mine, while the ordinary coal was $1.16. On this basis the net value of the output at the mine, in Cambria for the year 1905, was $16,160,642, which is about one-twenty- ninth value of the entire production in the United States. The wages for picked mine coal for 1906 were sixty-six cents per gross ton, and machine mined coal was five-ninths of that rate with an addition of a half cent per ton. The average 577 HISTORY OF CAMBRIA COUNTY. tonnage of coal mined per man per day in 1905 was 3.24, and the average for the year was 684. This average is based on 211 days during which the mines were active, and the larger number of miners only worked eight hours per day. The railroad rates per gross ton to Boston are $2.60; to New York, $1.80, and to Baltimore, $1.55. The market value for the best Miller seam coal in New York in 1906 was $3.20 per ton; in Baltimore, $2.95, and in Boston, $4. The county of Cambria is the third largest coke producing county in the state, being exceeded only by Fayette and Westmoreland counties. The coke producers for 1906 were: Tons. Ovens. Cambria Steel Company 345,643 260 Pennsylvania Coal & Coke Company 346,149 887 Altoona Coal & Coke Company 14,707 70 Cresson & Clearfield C. & C. Company ... 88 Taylor & McCoy C. & C. Company 74,059 234 J. Blair Kennerly 25,087 50 Madeira Hill C. M. Company ... 20 Clearfield Bituminous Coal Corporation 3,160 ... Oak Ridge C. & C. Company 55,490 100 ------- ----- 864,295 1,709 The bituminous coal trade of New York includes properly, not only the city itself, but the country along Long Island Sound. New York Harbor embraces the coal docks from South Amboy to Weehawken. The supply of coal for the harbor goes there by rail from the Clearfield and Broad Top regions and western Pennsylvania, Cumberland. The Beech creek or Northern Clearfield coal does not go to New York City, but goes to the large cities in central and western New York, while the Pennsylvania railroad controls the city and harbor trade for Clearfield coal. The bunker trade--the supply of coal to steamers, coastwise and foregin--at New York, is practically in the hands of two or three large companies and is chiefly supplied from Western Pennsylvania, which includes Cambria and Somerset coal. Among the many tests made by the Department of the Interior at Washington in 1905, were two from samples taken from mines close to Johnstown. The first was from the Miller seam of coal, and from what is termed the "run of mine," from mine No. 3, at Ehrenfeld, which is operated by the Pennsylvania Coal and Coke Company. The chemical analyses of the two samples, one from the mine and the other from the loaded car ready for shipment, were: Vol. 1-37 578 HISTORY OF CAMBRIA COUNTY. Mine Sample. Car Sample. { Moisture 3.49 3.09 3.51 { Volatile matter 16.12 16.66 16.82 Proximate. { Fixed Carbon 74.68 74.79 73.04 { Ash 5.71 5.46 6.63 { Sulphur .95 1.18 .94 { Hydrogen 4.56 Ultimate. { Carbon 80.70 { Nitrogen 1.26 { Oxygen 5.91 Calorific values determined: Calories 8,064 7,993 British thermal units 14,515 14,279 The second analyses were made from coal taken from Eureka mine No. 31 at Windber, operated by the Berwind-White C. M. Company, seam B (P). Steam test samples. { Moisture 1.10 0.59 { Volatile matter 15.80 16.61 Proximate. { Fixed Carbon 75.49 76.76 { Ash 7.41 6.04 { Hydrogen 4.20 4.28 { Carbon 81.98 83.94 Ultimate. { Nitrogen 1.36 1.27 { Oxygen 3.56 3.56 { Sulphur 1.49 0.91 ( Ash 7.41 6.04 Calorific values determined: Calories 8,055 8,196 British thermal units 14,499 14,752 HISTORICAL NOTES RELATING TO COAL AND COKE. 1758. Coal discovered in "Coal Hill" opposite Pittsburg. 1788. A "Stone coal bank" on the Stonycreek river at Johnstown. 1802. Coal first shipped from Pittsburg to Cincinnati. 1804. An arkload of Clearfield county coal taken down the Susquehanna river to Columbia. 1822. Coal first used for domestic purposes in Johnstown. 1825. Matthew and Michael Myvers opened coal mine west of Lilly. 1843. 973 tons of coal shipped over Old Portage E. E. and canal from the Allegheny mountain to the west, probably from the Samuel Lemon mine near the Summit, or from the Rodgers mine at Lilly. 1847. Virginia coal first shipped to Philadelphia--9,600 tons. 1853. Westmoreland coal first shipped over P. R. R. 1854. February l5th Pennsylvania railroad ran first through train from Pittsburg to Philadelphia. Prior to this it used a part of the Portage railroad on the mountain. 1855. Broad Top district opened. 1858. Gas coal from Irwin first shipped to Philadelphia. 1862. Clearfield district opened. Tyrone & Clearfield Ry. 579 HISTORY OF CAMBRIA COUNTY. completed to Powelton. The Mill mine of Cambria Iron Company opened in August. 1864. The T. & C. Ry. extended to Philipsburg. 1869. Coal at South Fork first mined. 1872. Somerset coal in the vicinity of Cumberland shipped east. 1873. Five cents per bushel paid for mining coal at Pittsburg. Coal-cutting machines operated in England. 1879. Slope mine of the Cambria Iron Company abandoned in May. 1886. Berwind-White Coal Mining Co. incorporated. Judge Dean first shipped coal from the Frugality district on the Clearfield creek. 1888. Coal mines along the Chest creek in the vicinity of Hastings opened and coal shipped eastward. 1891. Coal first shipped from the Windber and Scalp Level district. 1894. Vintondale Colliery on the Blacklick creek shipped first coal. 1902. Clearfield coal sold at mine for $7.50 per ton. 1903. Clearfield coal fell to $1 at mines. 1905. 41.66% of coal mined in Pennsylvania by machines. 1906. Cambria Steel Company consumed 1,600,000 tons of coal. Cambria county was fourth in largest production of coal, and third in the largest output of coke. Foundry coke ranged from $2.50 to $3.25 per ton. Furnace grade, $2.75 to $3 f. o. b. at ovens. Average price for best Miller seam coal at mine, $1.40; ordinary quality, $1.16. Net value of coal at mouth of mine in 1906 was $16,160,642. Below are the columnar tests made in different parts of the county by John Fulton, the eminent mining engineer of Johnstown. They show the different seams of coal, their thickness and depths. Tests Mos. 1 and 2 include the different formations between the coal seams. The Coke Yard or Lemon seam at Johnstown is about 302 feet below the surface, while in the bored hole near Vinco the same seam is 393 feet. There are about twenty feet and eleven inches of coal in No. 1, and seven inches less in No. 2. However, some of the beds are too thin to work. It will be observed in No. 3 the thickest seam, which is locally known as the Clarion or B bed, is seven feet and five inches, but it runs out about the Blubaker creek. The average workable seams have about three feet and nine inches of coal. Johnstown Section. Bored Hole Section, Near Vinco, Jack- No. 1. son Township, No. 2. Prosser's Knob. Ft. In. Ft. In. Earth and rock 16 Sand stone 20 Sand stone 7 Shales 35 Slate 35 580 HISTORY OF CAMBRIA COUNTY. Sand stone 10 Sand stone 7 Shales 8 Slate and black slate 42 Silicious iron ore 3 Coal, slate, etc. 16 Shales 68 Sand stone 40 Red Shales 10 Black slate 5 Shales 12 White sand stone 7 Slate and sand stone 10 Slate 5 White sand stone 26 White sand stone 18 Shales 13 Slate and sand stone 195 Sand stone 20 COKE YARD SEAM COAL 5 COAL 3 Slate 29 Shales 4 Sand stone 10 Drab sand stone 7 COAL 3 Shales 2 Slate 18 Johnstown iron ore 2 COAL 2 Shales 22 Slates 53 Calc. iron ore 10 COAL 2 Fire clay 2 Black slate 34 Shales 8 COAL 3 Fireclay and shales 4 White slate 15 Shales 15 Sand stone 15 COKE YARD SEAM, OR Black slate 24 LEMON COAL 3 COAL 3 Fireclay 1 Fire clay 4 Shales 5 Slates 5 Sand stone 10 Sand stone 4 Shales 5 COAL 2 Kidney iron ore Sand stone 6 Shales 15 Black slate 6 Sand stone 15 COAL 1 Shales 3 Blue sand stone 20 Limestone Seam COAL 2 6 Black slate 8 Fire clay 6 COAL 3 Lime stone 3 Slate 31 Shales 17 Gray sand stone 8 Sand stone 21 White sand stone 7 Slates 4 Black sand stone 4 CEMENT SEAM COAL 3 6 Shale red rock 7 Fire clay 9 Sand stone 24 Lime stone 5 -------- Fire clay 7 755 4 Slates 16 Black slate 11 COAL 3 Black slate 1 COAL 3 Black slate 13 COAL 9 Fire clay 4 Sand stone 17 Slates 6 PEACOCK OR MILLER SEAM COAL 3 6 Fire clay 3 Slates, shales, etc. 66 Sand stone 4 Slates 6 COAL 6 Fire clay 3 Gray sand stone 28 White sand stone 15 Drab and black sand stone 10 COAL 2 Black slate 1 8 Fire clay 4 Slates 3 Carb. iron ore 1 Shales 5 --------- 651 581 HISTORY OF CAMBRIA COUNTY. 3 4 5 1½ miles south- 1 mile west of 2½ miles west Coal Beds west of Carroll- Carrolltown, of Carrolltown. Town, Lee Lu- R. McCombries’ Anna Powell ther’s farm. farm. farm. Thin Thin 1’ 6” Thin E. 4’ 0” 3’ 6” D. 3’ 0” 4’ 6” 4’ 6” U.C. 3’ 0” 3’ M.C. 6” 1’ 8” 2’ Thin Thin L.C. 2’ 0” B. 7’ 5” 5’ 4’ A. 1’ 10” 3’ --- --- --- --- --- --- Total 23’ 3” 11’ 2” 20’ 0” 6 7 8 5 miles north- Coal Beds west of Carroll- 1 mile south of 1½ miles south- town. Charles St. Boniface. west of St. Bon- Miller farm. Helfrich farm. iface. Thin Thin Thin E. 3’ 10” 3’ 8” 4’ D. 4’ 5” 4’ 4’ 6” U.C. 5’ 1’ 4” M.C. 5’ 5’ 6” Thin Thin L.C. B. 2’ A. --- --- --- --- --- --- Total 13’ 3” 16’ 0” 14’ 0” 9 10 11 Coal Beds ½ mile west of Head of Bluba- Near Blubaker St. Boniface ker Creek. O. Creek. Caleb Baker’s farm. Gray farm. Thin 6” Thin 6” Thin 4” 2’ E. 4’ 3’ 10” 4’ D. 4’ 2” 4’ 1” 3’ U.C. M.C. 5’ 6” 4’ 10” Thin 1’ Thin 6” L.C. B. 2’ 6” 4’ A. 1’ --- --- --- --- --- --- Total 17’ 2” 9’ 3” 19’ 4” 12 13 14 ½ mile from Fallen Timber, Coal Beds forks, Blubaker Frugality Clearfield Creek. Creek, J. Lant- on Clearfield D. E. Notley’s zy’s farm. Creek. farm. Thin Thin Thin 8” 6” E. 3’ 4” 3’ 1” 1’ D. 2’ 3” 3’ 2’ 6” U.C. M.C. 3’ 8” 4’ 4” Thin 4” 6” Thin 1’ L.C. 2’ 2” B. A. --- --- --- --- --- --- Total 12’ 5” 11’ 11” 4’ 0” THE MILL COAL MINE DISASTER. The third appalling loss of human life in Johnstown occurred on Thursday, July 10, 1902, caused by an explosion of gas in the Rolling Mill coal mine of the Cambria Steel Company, when 114 lives were lost within a few moments. The mine had always 582 HISTORY OF CAMBRIA COUNTY. been known as a safe one, and no serious trouble had ever been experienced since it was opened in 1862; it was in bed C, or the Cement seam of coal, which runs from three to five feet in thickness. At the time of the accident there were about 650 men working there, taking out 2,600 tons of coal per day. At the moment of the explosion there were about 450 men in the mine, and 150 of them were in the Klondike district. The mine was supplied with all the modern machinery and appliances for safety and was so regarded by all the workmen. A few days before gas had been discovered in small quantities in certain portions of the mine, but this was not unusual, as most mines have some; however, special warnings were posted announcing this fact. The poisonous gas had collected in that part of the mine properly designated as section "No. 6, Right," in the Klondike district, which was opened in 1897. It is about two miles distant from the main entrance on the Stonycreek river, and underlies the farms of Yost Hochstein and Samuel Harshberger, near Roxbury. About 11:20 a. m. the explosion took place in No. 2 room of sixth right heading off the Main south or Klondike heading. Two men were working in the room with five others in the immediate vicinity, one of whom carelessly lighted a match, and in an instant these lives were taken, excepting a few who lived for a few days. The machinery for operating the Cappell fan, the compressed air and other appliances, is located at the escapement opening at Mill Creek, 3.35 miles from the main entrance. The width of the mine is 1.78 miles, with an area of 2,300 acres, and having 95 miles of low pressure and 4 miles of high pressure pipes for distributing the compressed air. Immediately after the explosion was heard by the mine foreman and fire bosses, who were outside of the danger line, they formed a rescuing party and started for the Klondike. These heroes were William T. Robinson, mine foreman; Henry L. Rodgers, Griffith Powell, John Retallack, Joseph Tomlinson, John C. Whitney, John B. Thomas, Thomas L. Foster, fire bosses, and William Blanch, foreman of laborers. Five of them who died from the effects of the carbonic oxide gas were: William Blanch, John R. Thomas, Joseph Tomlinson, John Retallack, and John C. Whitney. Two others, Robinson and Rodgers, became unconscious and fell while in the dark chamber, but were rescued, and two 583 HISTORY OF CAMBRIA COUNTY. others, Powell and Foster, escaped through an old passageway to the Mill creek opening. These gentlemen had not gone far until they came in contact with the deadly current. Whitney was the first to feel its effect, but they all pressed on to give aid to the unfortunate men who might be living. In a few moments Whitney faltered and fell, when Powell and Foster, seeing that his condition was serious, started to take him back, and succeeded in carrying and dragging him for two hundred yards, when he became helpless. They were losing their strength; the deadly current was pressing them, and they were compelled to lay their friend along the passageway, and make their escape by an abandoned route to Mill Creek. While Powell and Foster were endeavoring to save Whitney as related, Rodgers, Blanch, Retallack, Tomlinson, Thomas and Robinson continued on their mission, and reached cross-heading No. 5 and replaced the brattice. A very strong current of deadly air coming upon them at this point, had its fatal effect on Retallack. Rodgers and Robinson started back with him, but they did not go far until all of them were overpowered and fell, but were rescued by parties who had come in from the Mill Creek entrance. However, Retallack did not revive. Tomlinson left the party at No. 5 to go to No. 4 to cut off the dreadful gas, but he was never seen alive. His body was found the next day, lying between two miners with a hand on each arm of his fellow workmen, as if he had been leading them to pure air and safety. While Rodgers and Robinson were closing the brattice at No. 5, Thomas and Blanch went on to No. 6 to close others, which are nearer the Klondike, but they, like poor Tomlinson, never returned. The next day their bodies were found among thirty of their companions. While the men underground were mingling with death, assistance was coming from the outside. Marshall G. Moore, mining engineer, A. G. Prosser, his assistant, and George T. Robinson, superintendent, with Josiah T. Evans, mine inspector, William H. Morris, John Daniels, John Donaldson, William J. Williams, Charles Crocker and William Gardner, and Drs. Geo. W. Wagoner, B. E. Longwell, H. P. Tomb, Charlies E. Hannan, C. B. Millhoff, F. B. Statler, J. S. Taylor, J. B. Woodruff, Emlyn Jones, J. B. Lowman and Dr. Updegraff of Bolivar, with many citizens, arrived at the Mill Creek entrance. 584 HISTORY OF CAMBRIA COUNTY. Rescuing parties were immediately formed, and each started on its route to reach the stricken men. The physicians were carrying small tanks of oxygen, strychnia and other remedies to stimulate the heart. They remained in the mine until the living were rescued. On Friday afternoon, about twenty-seven hours after the explosion, the party with whom William Gardner was searching, heard a plaintive cry for help from a dark recess where it was almost impossible to see, and upon search they found three men who had apparently lost their reason, with their eyes glistening like demons. Drs. Woodruff and Updegraff gave them stimulants, and food being provided they soon revived sufficiently to tell of their terrible sufferings and how they escaped death. They were not in the path of the current and attempted to reach the outside, but were soon overcome and protected themselves by getting in an old room. The air there soon became poisonous and their powers were fast declining and drowsiness was coming on. One of the men had carried his pick, and discovering the compressed air pipe, each one tried to make an opening into it, but their strength was not equal to the task; finally one of them succeeded in getting a small hole in it, when they all huddled around the aperture, gasping for the pure air which came in sufficient quantity to keep life. Again they started to make their escape, but the afterdamp forced them back to where they were found near the hole in the air pipe. The explosion was among the largest fatal accidents in mine explosions in the history of mining. There were 113 deaths among the employes of the company, and one more--John Steffan, a Slavak--who was in the mine in the search of work. Rev. Martvon, pastor of the Slavak congregation, confirms this statement, and states Steffan was buried from his church. The following is a statement of the number of deaths with their nationality and the widows and orphans who survived. The names of the larger number are complicated and in many instances unpronounceable to Americans. In addition to these names, those of Irish parentage were Michael and Philip McCann, William and Daniel Lees of English; Gotfried Hepke, Gustave Lavendrofsky, Michael Sabot and William Shanzek were Germans, and John and Jacob Crook, Americans. Nationality. Men. Widows. Orphans Polish 58 30 49 Slovak 25 18 37 Croatian 11 4 2 585 HISTORY OF CAMBRIA COUNTY. English 5 3 12 German 4 3 8 Magyar 4 3 9 Welsh 2 2 8 Irish 2 2 7 American 2 2 6 John Steffan 1 --- --- --- 114 67 138 It was a peculiar explosion; considering the great loss of men, the damage to the mine was insignificant. There was no injury to it except that the doors on both sides of Klondike, of which there were twenty-one, were blown down, and some other stoppings were blown out, but the doors were not blown to pieces, but thrown flat. The report was indistinct, and many of the workmen did not know it had occurred. One miner working in a room off the fifth right heading stated the concussion knocked him down and extinguished his lamp, but he relit it and went back to work. The men were at work on the following Monday. The greater number of the victims were found on their way out of the mine with their coats on and their dinner buckets in their hands. Mr. Moore is of the opinion, that had the concussion been more severe it is very probable it would have so alarmed the men working on the left side of Klondike that they would have hastened from the mine without delay, and thus probably reduced the appalling death list by perhaps two-thirds. The Journal of the Franklin Institute for August, 1904, has an excellent article from Mr. Moore, with maps, describing this explosion. THE BERWIND-WHITE MINE NO. 38 FLOODED. On Friday afternoon, April 26, 1907, this mine, located about, a fourth mile from Foustwell, was flooded, and seven men were penned in a passageway until the following Wednesday. While the men were at work the power suddenly ceased to operate the machinery. Michael Bolya, the very intelligent foreman, believed that a fuse had burned out, but sent one of his men to ascertain. He soon returned in haste with the astounding news that the water was pouring into the mine from an interior source. Bolya was familiar with the passageways and rooms, immediately collected his six associates, who were John Milhaly, John Hanas, Andrew Vartjin, Frank Susanj, Mike Slavic and George Mihaly, and started for the highest point in the mine, with their empty dinner pails and lamps. The 586 HISTORY OF CAMBRIA COUNTY. water overtook them but did not rise high enough to touch them at the point of safety. Superintendent Daniel Thomas immediately set powerful pumps to work, which save the men, but they were not able to reach them until the next Wednesday, during which time they had no food, but had found pure water dripping from the roof. On Friday Bolya kept tapping the air pipes to inform those on the outside they were living, but could not get a response until Saturday morning, when the welcome noise was heard that their signal was understood. The water was almost to the roof of the main passageway, and Bolya tried to run ten cars through it hoping to be able to crawl over them, but it did not succeed. Each of the men had a small miner's lamp, and by keeping one burning at a time had sufficient oil to prevent, total darkness. They could do nothing except wait at the high place for outside assistance. Many efforts were made to reach them, but all failed until on Wednesday Charles Ream made the attempt by wading through the water to his neck. Finding a most serious obstacle where the water almost came to a timber across the way, he placed his lamp on top of it and dived under; then re-taking his lamp he found the imprisoned men, and led them out the way he had entered. The Pennsylvania Railroad Company was incorporated by an Act of Assembly dated April 13, 1846. Among the commissioners named in the act to carry it into effect were John Linton, William A. Smith, John Matthews, John Fenlon, Peter Levergood, Edward Shoemaker, Stephen Lloyd and Richard Lewis from Cambria county. Whenever they succeeded in getting subscriptions of $7,500,000 to the capital stock, and the sum of five dollars paid on each of the 150,000 shares at $50 par value, the governor was authorized to issue the charter. There was great difficulty in raising that much money. The company was permitted to increase the capital to $10,000,000, for additional improvements. It was a single line road at first, but as rapidly as was possible was made a double track, although across the bridge, where the stone bridge now stands, west of the Johnstown station, it was a single line until about 1862. It was constructed in sections. On September 17, 1850, it was completed from Harrisburg to the "Mountain House," a mile east of Hollidaysburg, where it connected with the Portage railroad over the mountains to Johnstown. In August, 1851, a 587 HISTORY OF CAMBRIA COUNTY. section of twenty-one miles west from Johnstown was completed and with the portion constructed east from Pittsburg, left a gap of twenty-eight miles, which was closed on December 10, 1852, when cars were run through from Pittsburg to Philadelphia, by using a part of the Portage road. Until 1851 through traffic was transferred from the Pennsylvania railroad to the Portage road at Johnstown, but after the section to Lockport was completed that year the transfer was made at that place. Passengers and freight were transferred by teams from Beatty's station to Lockport. The road from Conemaugh to South Fork was used by the Pennsylvania railroad, and the Portage railroad, which were connected by a bridge constructed across the Conemaugh river just west of the overhead bridge at flint place. The transfers of cars were made at the basin. The old bridge was taken down about 1875. In 1854 the net earnings were $1,462,376; in 1874, $15,029,077, and in 1905, $40,531,582. The old Pennsylvania railroad tunnel at Gallitzin was commenced October 14, 1851, by Thomas Seabrooke, the principal engineer. It is 3,612 feet in length, and was used as a double track roadway until 1898, when the cars and engines being made too large to allow for two tracks, the Portage tunnel, which was completed about 1855, was relined and two tracks laid through it for the eastbound traffic. Its length is 1,630 feet. The old tunnel was used for the westbound travel until the new single line tunnel was completed in May, 1904, by W. H. Brown, chief engineer; C. S. d'Invilliers, engineer of construction, and P. F. Brendlinger, the contractor. The first tunnel was completed early in 1854, and on February 15 of that year the first train was run through from Pittsburg to Philadelphia over its own line, with the late Thomas dark of Pittsburg, formerly of Johnstown, as the conductor. George W. Munson was the first agent at Johnstown. The freight and passenger station stood near the location of the old freight station until some time during the war, when the passenger depot was moved to its present site. When the road opened for through all-rail business on February 15, 1854, Mr. Munson was also the Adams Express agent. In December of that year there were but two passenger trains each way daily, except Sunday, when there was but one train, and in 1856 the trains each way had been increased to three. The fare at that time was two and a half cents per mile, costing $1 to Altoona; 588 HISTORY OF CAMBRIA COUNTY. $4.25 to Harrisburg; $6.95 to Philadelphia, and $1.95 to Pittsburg. There were but two daily mails each way, except on Sunday, when there was none. The mail to Somerset was tri-weekly, and to Berlin but once a week. In March, 1857, there was a reduction of passenger trains to two each way, which continued until the following February, when the Johnstown accommodation was added, which made the run to Pittsburg in four hours. In August, 1859, there were three through trains and two locals each way. On January 1, 1860, John B. Henry succeeded Mr. Munson, and in June, 1864, Robert G. Given was his successor, who continued until F. S. Deckert assumed the position, September 1, 1868. Mr. Deckert acted as such until 1870, when Thomas H. Nichols was appointed the passenger agent, and Mr. Deckert remained as freight agent until May 21, 1901, when he was succeeded by John J. Bowden, and Mr. Deckert became the passenger agent. On the death of Mr. Nichols, John L. McClellan was appointed passenger agent, who in time was succeeded by W. A. Donaldson, Charles Buchanan and Thomas H. Watt, who was appointed in March, 1889, and resigned November 17, 1900, when Mr. Bowden took his place, and continued until the exchange was made with Mr. Deckert. It is probable the most remarkable accident ever occurring on any railroad happened on the Pennsylvania road, about three-fourths of a mile west of Mineral Point, and about six miles east of Johnstown, about 2:30 in the morning of February 23, 1907. The train was the Chicago Limited, commonly called the "Flyer," in charge of J. D. Small, engineman, and M. W. Forbes, conductor, and which makes the run between New York and Chicago in eighteen hours. It consisted of three Pullman vestibuled sleeping cars and a combination baggage car, and was making its usual speed of fifty-three miles per hour down the mountain. Suddenly the cars left the track and ran along the rails for about a hundred yards, when the three sleeping cars slid over a forty-foot embankment with a slope of about a foot and a half to one, on to the ice in the Little Conemaugh river. There were fifty-four passengers in the cars, and the crew, and nobody was killed. One or two passengers were seriously injured, but not fatally, and several were bruised, but the marvelous feature is that it did not cause a single death. The weather was intensely cold; the ground was frozen so that the cars skidded over it, and the ice was so thick the cars did not break it. The general belief is that the accident was caused by 589 HISTORY OF CAMBRIA COUNTY. the dropping of a brake rigging on the tender, which threw the cars off the track altho the engine did not leave the rails. The Baltimore & Ohio railroad constructed the Somerset & Cambria railroad as a branch of its Pittsburg division, which extends from Pittsburg to Cumberland, with the point of intersection at Rockwood, a distance of 45.1 miles from Johnstown. The track was completed between these points on December 16, 1880, and the first passenger train over it left Johnstown on May 23, 1881, in charge of Conductor Smufz and Engineer Dayton. There was but one passenger train on the branch leaving Johnstown at 10:20 a. m. and returning at 9:18 p. m. It is a single line road and has a heavy grade to Geiger's Summit, the point where the proposed South Penn railroad crosses it. The several elevations are: Sea level at Johnstown, 1,170 feet; Ferndale, 1,190; Kring's, 1,239; Hooversville, 1,671; Stoyestown, 1,771; Geiger's Summit, 2,204; Somerset, 2,101, and Rockwood, 1,808. The Beech Creek railroad, operated by the New York Central railroad, extends from Williamsport to Rossiter Junction, where it connects with the Buffalo, Rochester and Pittsburg railroad. A joint line between Mahaffy and Patton, which has been extended to Cherry Tree and Westover, between the New York Central railroad and the Pennsylvania railroad, has been constructed especially to take out the coal. The first shipment of coal over the New York Central which reaches the main line of the latter company at Geneva and Lyons, between Rochester and Syracuse, was on September 1, 1893. In the chapter on Rivers and Rafting the cutting and marketing of the white pine timber in the north of the county has been noted. The Tribune for March 22, 1861, in referring to the lumber trade, says: "We are told that Clearfield creek and its tributary streams are filled for miles with logs cut in this county and intended to be floated out into the Susquehanna, and thence to different points. The creek is so compactly filled in many places as to be completely bridged." There are still a few small tracts of virgin white pine in Carroll and Barr townships, and a little in Allegheny. About 1870 white pine was sawed and hauled to Ebensburg, where it was sold for $14 to $18 per thousand. Thomas Griffith began to deal in hard woods as early as 1850, and at his death was probably the largest hard wood dealer 590 HISTORY OF CAMBRIA COUNTY. in the country. In August, 1879, the hard wood timber on the lands of the William M. Lloyd estate, in the northern part of the country was sold at public sale. The pine, cherry, poplar and ash on 233 acres were sold at the rate of $2.65 per thousand feet, board measure. The white oak on about 1,000 acres brought two cents per cubic foot, and the red oak on the stump one dollar per thousand. The mountains were well filled with hemlock, which was sold as low as five dollars per thousand feet delivered on the cars or brought into Johnstown or Ebensburg, but at the present it is selling for $22 per thousand. In the decade following 1850 there was a fair market for oak, cherry, ash and poplar lumber; maple and birch have been in demand since 1887, and beech for the past seven years. As early as 1852 the oak forests of this county attracted the manufacturers of hogsheads for the molasses and sugar trade from the West Indies. That year Charles N. Peary, and two years later, A. A. Barker and other gentlemen from the New England states, came here and established "shook shops" wherever good oak could be secured, especially at Johnstown, Conemaugh and Carrolltown. A bundle of shook consisted of enough staves to form a hogshead, which had been shaved and put together and prepared for everything but the heads, and then taken apart and bound with hickory to facilitate their transportation. At the end of fifteen years the shook trade began to decline, and in 1875 it had altogether ceased to be a factor in the lumber business.