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Engineer Jacob W. Fine was working his 14th hour at the Auchincloss No. 1 shaft in Nanticoke when 10 miners were killed the morning of Nov. 2, 1904.
				Fine was responsible for lowering and hoisting cages into the shaft which, at a depth of 1,800 feet, was considered to be the deepest in the anthracite coal field of Wyoming Valley.
				&ldquo;Four loads of miners were sent down and the ten dead crowded on the fatal fifth trip of the carriage, laughing and jesting, unconscious that death awaited them with open arms at the foot,&rdquo; reported the Wilkes-Barre Times evening edition on Nov. 2, 1904.
				An 11th man who got onto the cage was pushed off by the shaft&rsquo;s headman as the law allowed only 10 men on each carriage.
				&ldquo;When the signal was given, Engineer Fine began lowering the men as the empty carriage coming up on the other side, sort of like a see-saw, one carriage descended and the other carriage ascended. When the descending carriage with the miners reached a few hundred feet, the engineer found to his horror that the speed of the engines were increasing and that he was unable to control them,&rdquo; the Wilkes-Barre Times reported.
				Fine was in the engine house 200 feet above the shaft and attempted to warn others on the surface where the empty carriage would shoot out of the shaft.
				&ldquo;The men at the surface began scattering as the ascending mine carriage dashed up and over the shelve wheel, carrying part of the iron frame work and splintered timber with it, then soared like a black bird of death to the engine house, tearing a big hole in the wall and wrecked the engine house and engines,&rdquo; the Wilkes-Barre Times reported.
				Rescue efforts immediately got underway.
				Charles Swartz was in a coal vein that branched off the Auchincloss shaft and risked his life by climbing down toward the water, yelling if anyone was alive.
				&ldquo;There was no sign in answer to his calls, no rapping or noises, all black and silent,&rdquo; the Wilkes-Barre Times reported.
				Swartz continued to climb down the shaft finding the wrecked carriage at the depth of 1,300 feet. The carriage had no flooring.
				Rescue efforts turned into a recovery.
				&ldquo;The bodies were fished out with grappling hooks from the water at the bottom of the 1,800 foot shaft, and nearly all were mutilated beyond recognition by the fall,&rdquo; reported the Wilkes-Barre Times on Nov. 3, 1904.
				Nine bodies were removed from bottom of the 1,800 feet shaft on Nov. 3, 1904, with the 10th body recovered on Nov. 12, 1904.
				The Auchincloss shaft was owned by the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad.
				During a Luzerne County Coroner&rsquo;s Inquest about the tragedy, Fine testified he had no idea what happened to the engines that hoisted and lowered the cages. &ldquo;When within about 40 feet of the stopping, I reversed the lever and the engines flew like lightening,&rdquo; Fine testified as reported in the Times Leader on Nov. 17, 1904.
				A coroner&rsquo;s jury of six men found the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad was to blame for violating an article of the Anthracite Mine Laws for having Fine work 14 continuous hours. The jurors determined Fine was fatigued at the time of the accident, the Wilkes-Barre News reported Dec. 4, 1904.
				A report by the Pennsylvania Mine Inspector&rsquo;s Office determined Fine was responsible for the deaths of the 10 miners when he turned off steam to the engines causing the cage to lower upon its own weight. When Fine realized the cage was not slowing, Fine turned on steam to the engines causing the cage to descend at an increasing speed, according to the inspector&rsquo;s report.
				The mine inspector did fault the D.L. & W. railroad for having only two hoisting engineers who were required to work 12 to 14 hours per day, and recommended the railroad company employ three hoisting engineers at all of its mine sites.
				Miners killed in the tragedy were: Bislen Poplews, 30; John Pisarick, 35; William Ashton Jr., 32; John Kenyon, 28; Joe Novick, 27; John Kempa, 20; Frank Selick, 26; Joe Caushen, 28; John Yellowskofski, 31; and John Ignatovich, 28.
				The Auchincloss Breaker was formerly located between Prospect Street and Lincoln Avenue adjacent to Middle Road.

Look Back: 10 miners killed at Auchincloss shaft in Nanticoke