Another tragedy befalls Somerset County

Tragedy continues to stalk Somerset County. There was the terrorist-hijacked Flight 93 that crashed near Shanksville on September 11, 2001, and the Quecreek mine accident of July 22, 2002, where nine miners were trapped for 72 hours. Now we hear of the death of a key figure in the mine episode, Robert T. Long, caused by a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Long, 37, of Boswell took his own life on June 9, 2003. He played a paramount role in saving the nine trapped miners from their entombment, but he himself apparently plummeted into the depths of despair.

We remember Pennsylvania Governor Mark Schweiker pumping his fists skyward to rally optimism when there was despair. Also there was the euphoria experienced by everyone watching TV on an early Sunday morning when they saw the miners being lifted to safety from the rescue cage upon reaching the surface. Why would a local celebrity—even at the national scale—want to take his own life? There was the story that Long pocketed $150,000 in a movie-rights deal, the same amount that each of the nine miners collected. A controversy supposedly arose that several of the miners were bitter about Long's award. After all, he did not suffer the same peril as them, and remained in relative safety on the surface. Could such an argument have depressed Long?

During the Quecreek rescue operation, there was great responsibility placed on this young man's shoulders and he was under the glare of the nation's—and the world's—spotlight. His knowledge of surveying and math had to be accurate in selecting the location to drill. At the onset of the mine accident, Long received a call that there was a problem at the Quecreek mine and that he was needed right away with his Global Positioning System (GPS) equipment. Three years prior, he was hired as an engineer technician, and was skilled as a surveyor, using the training he gained as a surveyor in Florida for 10 years. When his engineering firm, based in Somerset, purchased an expensive GPS System, Long familiarized himself in the use of the equipment. At the Quecreek mining site, Long set up his GPS surveying equipment. Global positioning satellite systems are a high-tech device used in everything from minivans to smart bombs. They work by triangulating radio signals between a low-orbit satellite, a fixed point, and a third (and often moving) point.

About one hour after he arrived at the site, Long drove a stake into the ground where a lifesaving air hole for the miners was to be drilled. One and half hours later, he heard that a drilled bit had reached the tunnel. Soon he was thrilled to hear pounding on the drill bit from the miners below. An error of a few feet either way and the mining tunnel would have been missed completely. With the successful first hole located, a second, larger hole could now be drilled. It would be a 30-inch hole required for the rescue cage to accommodate the trapped miners 200 feet below the earth's surface. After his heroics, it seems strange that the miners would quarrel with him about the movie-rights payments. They must have realized that they owe their lives to Long's knowledge and expertise.

We may never know the answer to the mystery surrounding his desperate act. Robert T. Long leaves behind his wife, Michelle, and three children.

Click here for a story on the heroic rescue of the miners last year. Click here for details on last week's tragic turn of events.

— Frank Charney

Computer age syndrome

I was teaching my six-year-old daughter how to unbuckle her seat belt. She asked, "Do I click the square?" I said yes. She asked me, "Single click or double click?"

Thought for today

Someone asked: What do a light bulb covered with mud, a window covered with soot, and a life spotted with sin have in common? The answer is: They are incapable of allowing light to shine through them for the benefit of others. Regardless of how bright and pure the light, the net result will be darkness until the dirt is dealt with. The problem is not with the source of light, but rather with the vessel thorugh which the light is shining.

— Anthony M. Coniaris
Daily Vitamins for Spiritual Growth

The Nanty Glo Home Page and all its departments are for and by the whole Blacklick Valley community. Your feedback and written or artistic contributions, also notification about access problems, are welcomed. Click here to reply.

 

To send a reply to this email, to the whole list, click here.

To write to the webmaster/editor, click here.
For HELP: please send questions or requests about your list membership to
THIS address (click here), NOT to the whole list by hitting "reply."

To JOIN or REJOIN the list, click here.