Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 19, Number 89, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 15 July 1898 — DIE 'NEATS THE LAKE [ARTICLE]

DIE 'NEATS THE LAKE

Terrible Disaster in a Tunnel Under Lake Erie at Cleveland. ELEVEN lES LOSE THEIR LIVES. A Elat of the Victims—The Disaster la Cauied by an Explosion of GasHeroic Rescuers Very Nearly Perish Also. • ’ —i Cleveland, 0., July 12.—The lives of 11 men were snuffed out in the twinkling of an eye Monday evening in the big waterworks tunnel that is being constructed under the bottom ■ of Lake Erie, as a result of an explosion of gas. Following are the names of those who were killed: John Parks, foreman, 32 years old and ■ single; James Parks, brother of John, 30 years old and single; John Fradey, an Italian, 22 years old and single; Tony Brunetti, Italian, 22 years old and single; Emerson Smith, bricklayer, 44 years old, married; John McCauley, 21 years old, married; William Tucker, colored, 26 years old and single; Gus Wattz, 26 years old, wife and several children; Frank Clements, married, with several children; John , Italian, 18 years old and single; Frank Haney, married, aged 22. Not the First Time. The tunnel is an immense affair, being projected to extend outward from the shore for a distance of four and a ' half miles,' and it has been under con- ! struction for more than a year. The ' work has been attended with great difficulty. About six weeks ago there was an explosion of gas in the shore end of the big hole, which killed eight men and injured a number of others. ■ S ion afterward a big pocket of quick-

sand was struck and work was stopped for some time. The contractors then asked for permission to deflect the course of the tunnel from the route fixed by the city engineers, but it was refused. Work was finally resumed and had progressed uneventfully until Mpnday evening, when this latest and most horrible accident came. One Lived to Tell the Story. ' The explosion occurred at a few minutes before seven o’clock Monday evening, but nobody will ever be able to tell what caused it, or how it happened, for every witness is dead and the bodies of all are lying where they fell, 6,000 feet out under the lake. The only man in the tunnel who escaped death is Con O’Donnell, a lock tender, who was stationed 3,700 feet from the shore. He heard the explosion or series of explosions. He says there were ten of the shocks and the concussion was something terrible, for it threw him off his feet, and for hours he was in such a dazed condition that he could scarcely remember what had happened. He finally groped his way out and told what had happened. Close Call for Rescuers. Two men, Patrick Varner and Martin McCauley, were the first to venture in the tunnel after the accident occurred. They made their way to a lock 5,200 feet from the shore, but were there overcome by the gas and fell to the floor When they failed to return, a young man named James Clements, son of one of the men who was killed, and who was employed as a mule driver, went to their rescue He found them almost unconscious lying over a mule cart, and succeeded In helping them to the well at the shore end of the tunnel. The would-be rescuers say that all the lights were out beyond the 5.0G0 feet lock and that they could not go any further.