From Wilkes-Barre News, April 27, 1885:
A COAL BREAKER BURNED
A Spark Starts a Fire That Destroys $30,000 Worth of Property
POTTSVILLE, April 26 [1885] –A spark from an engine on Friday night started a fire that consumed the breaker, slope-house and several adjoining structures at West Brookside Colliery, owned by the Philadelphia & Reading Coal & Iron Company. The breaker was the largest in the region. It was erected in 1877 at a cost of about $60,000. Last week it shopped 6,581 tons of coal and gave employment to 700 men and boys. Two hundred miners will be retained to work at the old colliery, the remainder being thrown out of employment for three months, or until the breaker is rebuilt.
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News article from Newspapers.com.
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