SAVED FROM DEATH

Evening Post, Volume CXVI, Issue 28, 2 August 1933, Page 14

SAVED FROM DEATH

WAIHI MINERS' ESCAPE

THANKSGIVING SERVICE

Threatening skies did noti pi-event lundreds of townspeople gathering at the Waihi Hospital grounds on Sundayafternoon to give thanks for the re:markab}e escape from death of the twelve minors: who were involved in the accident at. the Waihi mine on Wednesday, when a cage broke away and fell hundreds of feet before coming to rest about 1450 feet from the surface, reports the "New Zealand Herald.'" ' ; . The.men. concerned,many of whom bore evidence of their injuries, took part in the ceremony from the verandah of the hospital. They wcro in cheerful mood, nnd received many congratulations, from their friends and relations. The Mayor (Mr. AY. M. Wallnutt), after expressing appreciation of the message of sympathy and:good cheer received from their Excellencies, sa.id that the occasion was one for rejoicing, not for mourning. The men's escape had been a remarkable one and, so far as ho knew, nothing in the history of gold mining was parallel to it. How twelve men, after falling over 1000 feet jn a cage, had been saved from a horrible death ho could not conjecture. They had had one chance in a million, Wt that one chance had fallen to their lot. Theirs had been an awful experience, and all people, not only in Waihi, but throughout the Dominion, wished them a speedy recovery. That Waihi had hitherto been free from such, accidents, said Mr. Wallnutt, was a great silent tribute to the precautions taken by the management of the mine, the men themselves, and the mining inspector. Ho referred to the splendid -work performed after the accident by the medical- men, tho members of tho St. John Ambulance Brigade, and the matron and staff of the hospital, alsto the men who had assisted in the rescue. Their behaviour liad been heartening and their work magnificent. In conclusion, Mr. AVnllnuM said ho liad been informed by tho mine management that a full inquiry into the cause of the accident would be held.

A twenty-nine-year-old Prague woman has obtained a divorce because her husband spent all his spare time billing1 and cooing with his pet pigeons. -