Ref: Town and Country Newspaper Pennsburg, Montgomery County, PA Saturday - August 19, 1905 QUARRY LANDSLIDE CAUSES 13 DEATHS A landslide in the limestone quarry of Mill A, of the Lehigh Portland Cement Campany, at Ormrod, on Wednesday afternoon, caused the death of thirteen or more men and many others were injured. The men were all foreigners, most of them Slavs, having their families in Austria. The quarry in which the accident occurred was opened five years ago. It is now a great hole 1000 feet long, 100 feet deep and from 300 to 400 feet wide. The accident occurred just five minutes before the signal was to be given for the men to stop work for dinner. Thirty-five men were working with pick and shovel when the slide came booming down the side of the bank and covering all but three or four of the gang. So rapidly did the avalanche take place that no warning could be given nor could the men escape. It required but a few seconds for the rocks to build the graves of these men. The falling masses reached across the entire quarry and the bodies recovered were all found within a radius of ten feet on ! the south side, showing that they must have been running in the direction of the slight embankment on the south side. Huddled together in every possible shape six bodies were found in one heap. Three of the men were alive. Two of the men stood while the other was lying. A high boulder hung over them but had not fallen over sufficiently to crush them. One died soon after taken out and two were brought to the hospital. The legs of the dead were interwound peculiarly. One poor fellow who had been calling for help cried fork, fork as they reached him. A fork used in the work had pierced his body. When he was taken out and the fork was loosened he died. All possible effort was made to get the men out as quickly as possible but as some of the masses of rock weigh as much as ten tons it will require some days until the last body is recovered. On removing the men the dead bodies were removed to a morgue and the injured were taken to the hospital at Allentown, where it was found tha! t each of the six brought, was suffering from a fractured thigh. Some of the bodies taken out were mangled beyon recognitiond. In one case the body was cut in two, half of which was taken out while the other part was pinned under boulders that it will take days to remove. The avalanch was caused by the heavy rains of Tuesday night and could not be foreseen. The rescue of the bodies is particularly dangerous as it is known that five dynamite charges, each sufficient to move hundreds of tons of rock, are under the debris. This may explode and endanger the lives of the rescuing party, which is made up of several hundred trained quarrymen. DELEGATE ELECTION By order of Charles D. McAVOY, County Chairman, delegate elections will be held in the various election districts throughout the county on Saturday evening, September 9. The election for Pennsburg district will be held at the Pennsburg Hotel. Three delegates will be elected. The convention will be held in the Opera House, Norristown, on Tuesday September 12, when the county ticket will be nominated. The ticket will include Register of Wills, Recorder of Deeds, Clerk of Courts, two County Commissioners, Poor Director and two County Auditors. DEACONS ARRESTED James NESTER, August REINHART, Daniel CONRAD and John GRACELY, four of the deacons of Huffs Church, Berks County, were arrested this week on complaint of Peter WERST, a member of the Church. They are charged with digging away a cement wall and exposing the body of the son of WERST to the weather. By a special act of the Legislature the minimum penalty for the offense is six months in jail and a fine of $100. CALF'S LEG IN PLASTER-OF-PARIS On the arrival of a carload of cattle at the Pennsburg station on Tuesday morning, consigned to J.P. HILLEGASS, it was found that among the lot was a three-weeks-old calf with a broken leg. A.L. BAUM the veterinarian was called who put the broken leg into a plaster-of-paris cast. The young animal is hindered in its walk but it is believed that the bone will knit and the calf escape without injury. FARMER SWINDLED A bunco game was worked by a slick stranger on a farmer of New Hanover township, a few days ago, but the victim does not care to have his name known. During the afternoon one day last week a man in a fallingtop buggy and a gray horse drove into the barnyard of the farmer and asked to buy a horse. He said the one he was driving had been purchased from Howard VANBUSKIRK several years ago but that it was getting too old for use. A horse that the farmer had for sale was shown and finally bought for $125. A check on the Schwenksville Bank was given in payment. The name signed to the check was that of one of the best known families of New Hanover township. The purchaser claimed that he resided on what is known as the Rock Road between Pottstown and Swamp. The horse was given without hesitation and the check taken in exchange. On presenting the check for payment at the Schwenksville Bank it was learned that the signer did not have any funds in bank and never had. Thinking that Mr. ! VANBUSKIRK might be able to give some information in regard to the stranger, the farmer went to Pottstown to inquire. Mr. VANBUSKIRK could not recall that he had sold the horse as claimed. A trip was taken along the Rock road but no trace could be found of man or horse. MOTHER SHOT CHILD IN FACE Complying with the whim of her six year old daughter, Ella, to pull the trigger of a revolver which was supposed not to be loaded. Mrs. Frank YERGEY, of Norristown, shot the child in the chin with a 22 calibre bullet. An examination showed that the chin bone was badly splintered but no further injury done. The wound will likely leave a bad scar. PICNIC OF SUNDAY SCHOOL CLASS The teachers training class of the New Goshenhoppen Sunday School, of which Mrs. William DIMMIG is teacher, held a picnic at MARKLEY's Mill on Thursday afternoon. The class consisting of twenty-two members, was taken to the picnic grounds in MILLER's four-horse coach. The outing was enjoyed by the entire party. TRAIN TRAPS THREE Frank GORMAN, his wife and 17-year-old daughter, Lizzie, of Norristown, were run down by a fast express train in the Trenton Cut-Off Railroad, on Wednesday evening, at 8.30 o'clock. Mr. and GORMAN were instantly killed while the daughtir had both legs crushed, four ribs broken and received injuries to her head. INJURED BY MOLTEN IRON By the exploding of molten iron spilled in a lot of water by a tilting ladle at the foundry of M.H. TREADWELL Company, Lebanon, on Tuesday evening, five men out of a lot of forty were seriously injured. Two of them are fatally burned. The force of the explosion was terrific. The entire city was shaken up and great excitement prevailed. COW HAS HYDROPHOBIA A valuable cow owned by William ESHBACH, of Palm, was bitten a few weeks ago by a mad dog. On Monday the cow suddenly became mad and was killed immediately. Other cows throughout the neighborhood were bitten by the same dog and a general outbreak of hydrophobia is feared. WANT FISH HATCHERY Judge SWARTZ, of Norristown, and Senator ROBERTS, of Balla, are making an effort to secure a State Fish Hatchery to be located along Maucill's Run, near Port Kennedy. Two large springs feed the stream, and the water has a temperatiare of 52 degrees. If the land can be obtained, it is said that the hatchery is assured. JUSTICE THREATENED Justice of the Peace, William L. ELY, of Solebury, has received several letters marked with a heart pierced with daggers and a death's hand with a cross affixed. He is warned to prepare for the end. One of the letters is signed "Spirit O.K." A NEW COMPOSITION "Malta March" is the title of the latest composition by the well-known musician of Pennsburg, Miss Celesta TRUMBORE. The composition is well worthy of the title and of the composer and is meeting with approval in the musical world. MUCH MONEY ON INTEREST The report of the assessors just completed, shows that Berks county is one of the wealthiest counties in the United States. The 160,000 inhabitants have nearly $20,000,000 at interest. The exact figures are $19,847,007, on which the state tax is four mills.