Carbon County, PA
Miscellaneous News Paper Articles From the Past
The Adams Sentinel (Gettysburg, Pennsylvania)
May 5 1851
The extensive powder mills of Messrs. Donetzger, near Mauch Chunk, Pa., exploded on Friday week with a terrible noise. One man was instantly killed and several others very badly wounded. The buildings were shattered to atoms.
The Adams Sentinel (Gettysburg, Pennsylvania)
November 30 1857
A "Beef" War
The citizens of Mauch Chunk have been waging a war against their butchers, because of the high rates at which they retailed their beef in the market. The upshot of the matter has been the forming of a Beef Association, with President, Directors, Treasurer, Secretatry, &c., who purchase the cattle, prepare the beef, and dispose of it at cash prices, at from six to nine cents per pound. The butchers, thereupon, tried to starve the people into submission by absenting themselves from the market, but as the "Association" had plenty of good beef on hand, the attempt proved a failure.
The Adams Sentinel (Gettysburg, Pennsylvania)
December 5 1860
Railroad Accident
A sad accident occurred about noon of Thursday last, on the Beaver Meadow railroad, about six miles from Mauch Chunk (Pa.) The usual train, consisting of one baggage and one passenger car, left Mauch Chuck about 11:15 pm. The car was full, many of them having left with the intention of spending Thanksgiving day at different places on the line. When opposite Beaver Creek Dam a rail broke, and the trucks having been thrown from the track; the passenger car was tossed sideways into the Lehigh river, down an embankment over fifteen feet in height. Many of the inmates of the car were ladies. So sudden was the shock that four of these were injured so seriously as to be unable to escape from the broken car after it had reached the river. Five persons, as far as known, were either killed by the fall or drowned. Their names are as follows" Robert Nichels, conductor; Mrs. Farrow and sister, of Beaver Meadow; Miss Smith and sister, of Mauch Chunk. As soon as the car settled in the water the roof was broken open by those of the train hands who were uninjured. A number of persons were extricated through their agency. The water was about twenty feet deep at the spot. Many of the passengers escaped through the windows, and several jumped from the car in its rapid descent. The locomotive and remainder of the train did not leave the track. It appears singular that the rail, which sustained the weight of numerous heavy coal trains, should have broken during the passage of a light passenger car.
The Indiana Democrat (Indiana, Pennsylvania)
October 19 1876
In Weissport is a man named William McDaniel, who carries a pistol on his person, and while descending a ladder on last Wednesday, form some unknown cause, the weapon was discharged, the ball passing through the owner's head killing him instantly.
Chester Daily Times (Chester, Pennsylvania)
June 12, 1877
On Saturday, the miner boys, to the mumber of 1,100 employed at the seven collieries of the Lehigh Valley at Wilkesbarre companies, in the vicinity of Coaldale and Lansford, in the Upper Lehigh region, struck against the reduction of wages which went into effect June 1. At noon today a mass meeting of the men was held at which a committee was appointed to ascertain the amount of the reduction proposed. The collieries were all idle there today.
New Oxford Item (New Oxford, Pennsylvania)
November 12, 1897
Landsford, Pa., Nov. 8 - John Simon, the last of the five unfortunates who were suffocated by escaping coal gas while asleep Thursday morning, died during the night without regaining consciousness, although the attending physicians did everything in their power to save his life.
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