ENTOMBED FOR 12 DAYS.

Marlborough Express, Volume XLV, Issue 64, 16 March 1911, Page 2

ENTOMBED FOR 12 DAYS.

VIVID EXPERIENCES OF BURIED QUARRYMEN.

COURAGE ON CIDER.

PARIS, Jan. 23. At .1 o'clock this "morning, by the light of torches, and to the accompaniment of the cheering of the peasantry, two exhausted, but living, quarrymen were brought out of a quarry at Ven.esville, near Rouen, where they had been entombed for 12 days.

Such was the end of one of the most exciting races against time ever connected with rescue work in the mine. The men were buried 75 feet below ground by the falling in of a shaft, and ever since then 50 men have been working in relays to bring off a rescue.

It was impossible to make use of the original shaft, so a new one had to be bored. First one, then another, was begun, but each time some unforeseen obstacle prevented success. At last, with the fourth attempt, there were fewer difficulties, and yestelday evening the men at the

~Msx>m of tfe new shaft wer« able to f^nifnftnicate with Bellanger and ; \Gtout^j|he'imprisoned men. !l'Them .there was an alarm and a despair when it waa- ' ?|Sunalt&at the new shaft waa tumbSix hours went by in. re- ■; aSairmg^and, strengthening the sides, andthiit^nce more the pick-axes got to!work. £t each pause the men. were,able to talk to Grout, who told them thai he and his comrade stilt had two large loaves of bread to eat, , drat^^«ex«,.>»w^ojit 4Vi any,.4?jnk. ... ,Th,ey liad oiily Falf a candle left to light them at their Work. Grout gave a vivid account of his imprisonment, .this jtiorning, after having slept 10 hours under thewatch and care of his wife. "BelIftnger thought it was all up," -he said, "but I had been in the same plight before, so when we found ourselves shut in I encouraged him tokeep a good heart. We had 60 quarts or cider and plenty of bread, but! had to tell yarns of all kinds to my comrade to keep" him from repeating those awful words, "We shall die of hunger." IN SILENCE. '•'For two days we lived in absolute silence, ea,tmg,and drinking very " little, allowing ourselves siich rations as would leave, us food and drink for a fortnight: Now and then we worked-^wdth. alir-pick-axes in.order to keep Ourselves warm, but we resolved not:,to work..much,, so that we might keep our strength in, reserve. "On»the.first day we faintly heard the thump of, pickraxes. Since then x we seldom lost the sound; but soon, owing to excitement and overstrain, we lost count—o£. the time. Several times wi.en the noise stopped ! waited L.-and.-listened When it began ; again we embraced each other and wept like children. "Our only trouble was. the .cold. We could .not; work for long together because we were too weak, but w© k bad to keep at it in order ,to stop the numbing gain in our limbs as the circulation began t*> cease. We could- have- done better if we had possessed brandy : and tobacco, ana as it wasr-we might have kept-up for eight days more; but now I want to sleep. '•■■ Twice or three times I slept threfe hours, but never more, 'arid I want to sleep three days on end if I can." Grout has a record for such -escapes, for this-is. the, third imprisonment he has suffered in the same-pit. The first time he was entombed for four days, and the second for a week. ~

"Half th».lawsuits that com© before the courts are. the result of the carelessness of business men," declared the Chief Justice -at the* -Wellington Supreme Court on Monday during the hearing of a case in which, it was shown that a building had been proceeded withy but no contract drawn up in writing. His Honor said that there should! have been an agreement in writing. What could have been simpler than to sit down and1 write a letter iii which c th©'terms of the agreement were set- out? All this litigation would; thus have been saved1. " It's your own faultentirely," declared his Honor, addressing counsel for the defendant, who admitted that_ all the trouble might have been avoided had a proper agreement been drawn up.

The organisation of zoological gardens in the vicinity of Auckland is reported to be now taking place. A firm of land agents report that a client from tho south, who has previously managed1 a "zoo," has completed the purchase of 5J acres of ground in the vicinity ,o? the Royal Oak Hotel, on which ho will.establish a collection of animals at an early date.