John Cline & Williams boy

CLINE, WILLIAMS

Posted By: Renee L Rimmert (email)
Date: 2/3/2019 at 20:03:52

Appanoose Times
Thursday, June 16, 1881

Death in a Mine.
Last Thursday afternoon the news was received here of the death of John Cline, and his brother-in-law named Williams, a boy of about fifteen, from damps in an old abandoned coal mine. The exact particulars cannot be ascertained as there was no one else present, but it appears, that the mine was abandoned, and they had been taking out the lumber to use for other purposes. On Thursday forenoon they went with a team to haul away the lumber, and not coming back for dinner, Mrs. Cline went to the mine, which was not far distant, and found the team, but no men. She sent for one of the neighbors supposing them to have gone down and been shut in by caving in, as the props had been taken out; the neighbors came and before going down to see, looked down the mouth of the mine and saw them both laying at the bottom, dead. The shaft was only about eighteen feet deep, and a light lowered to a certain depth burned freely, but when lowered a foot lower, went out instantly, showing that the line between the good and foul air was clearly defined. From the position in which they laid, it seemed that the boy had gone down the ladder and when he struck the foul air, had fell, and John in attempting to rescue the boy, was himself overcome by the damps. He was a steady, industrious man and a good citizen. He leaves a wife and five children.