History of Carbondale, Pennsylvania, USA

We have some further details relative to the accident in the coal mines at Carbondale, of which we gave a short account on Wednesday. The Wayne Co. Herald, published in the immediate vicinity, says:
On Monday an immense mass of slate, about seven acres in extent, fell from the roof of one of the mines of the Delaware & Hudson Canal Company, at Carbondale, upon the workmen below.
The spot where the slate fell, was a mile from the mouth of the mine. Three persons were taken out seriously injured, one of whom, a boy, died soon after the accident. Of the others, hopes are entertained of their recovery.

The boy who died was riding a horse at the time of the accident, and is supposed to have been pulled by the force of the air rushing toward the mouth of the mine -- the horse was also killed. The other persons who were taken out were also injured by the rushing of the air. About one hundred and fifty men who were at work mining, some distance from the place of the accident, escaped --...

Carbondale, a city of Luzerne county, Pennsylvania, is situated at the head of Lackawanna valley, and near the source of the Lackawanna river, 30 miles N. E. from Wilkesbarro, and 145 miles N. E. from Harrisburg. A railroad, 17 miles long, connects it with Honesdale. This is the most populous town of Luzerne county, and the principal market of Northern Pennsylvania. In 1851 it was incorporated as a city, and preparations are making to build a city hall. Many handsome buildings have been erected here within a few years, and the population has rapidly increased. The Lackawanna valley, which is a continuation of the fertile valley of Wyoming, contains extensive beds of coal, which, in the vicinity of Carbondale, are about 20 feet in thickness. About 600,000 tons of coal are annually taken out from these mines by the Delaware and Hudson Canal Company, and it is estimated that they pay out $1,200,000 in a year. The coal is drawn up several inclined planes by steam-engines to the height of...

From Our Own Correspondent.

Scranton, Tuesday, April 2, 1872.

To prevent an accident in or about a coal mine is almost an impossibility. Outside is the breaker, towering to an altitude of 100 to 150 feet above the mouth of the shaft or slope. The breaker, constructed entirely of timber, becomes in time as dry as tinder, and liable from the least cause to be consumed by fire or to be blown down by a heavy gust of wind. Inside of the mine the accumulation of gas, the fall of top coal and premature blasts make it a dangerous place for men to be employed in. Still hundreds and thousands of men and boys are found ready and willing to engage in the risky work of digging and bringing coal from the mine. Constantly the news is heralded of some unfortunate miner losing his life, or being terribly injured, the last of which occurred yesterday afternoon, during the prevalence of a tornado.

The scene of the present disaster was the Lackawanna breaker, half a mile from Carbondale, and...

Three Men Killed and Several Others Injured in a Wreck.

A frightful wreck occurred on the New York, Ontario and Western Railroad, at seven o'clock a few nights ago, at a point in Pennsylvania between Carbondale and Mayfield.

An engine, while trying to make a switch, crashed into a passenger train going in an opposite direction at full speed.

The engineers and firemen escaped by jumping, but were slightly injured.
CHARLES FINNEGAN, of Carbondale, a man named BURKE, of Jermyn, and another whose name was not learned, all of whom where[sic] passengers, were killed.

Several others passengers were painfully hurt.

Carbondale, a city of Lackawannaco, Pa., situated on the Lackawanna River, near the north end of the Lackawanna Valley, 16 miles N.N.E. of Scranton, and 15 miles W. of Honesdale. It is on the Delaware & Hudson Rail road, and is the south terminus of the Jefferson Branch Railroad, which connects with the Erie Railroad at Susquehanna. It contains 8 churches, a national bank, 2 graded schools, a Catholic academy, a savings-bank, printing-offices which issue 2 weekly newspapers, 3 foundries, a brewery, and 2 planing-mills. Here are beds of coal (anthracite) about 20 feet thick. These mines are owned by the Delaware & Hudson Canal Company, who send large quantities of coal to New York. It is drawn by steam engines on inclined planes over Moosic Mountain, which is about 850 feet higher than the valley. Much coal is also transported to Binghamton by the Jefferson Branch Rail road. Pop. in 1880, 7714; in 1890, 10,833.