THE ENTOMBED MINERS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVI, Issue 14224, 22 November 1909, Page 5

THE ENTOMBED MINERS.

A REMARKABLE RESCUE.

SEVENTY FOUND ALIVE.

SCENES AT PIT'S MOUTH.

WOMEN FIGHT MILITIA.

By Telegraph.—Press Association.—Copyright.

(Received November 22, 1.30 a.m.) New York, November 21. Workmen at the Cherry mine, at the Spring Valley, Illinois—in which* 460 miners were entombed by a; fire and explosion last week, and of whose rescue alive all hope had been abandoned—demolished a wall of debris yesterday and found 78 of the men alive, 67 in one section and 11 in another. i • .

The news spread like lightning, and crowds of women . were soon fighting the militia in their eagerness to reach the pit's mouth.

The rescued include William Cleland, a brother who was one of the rescuers bringing him to the surface without recognising him.

When the survivors were ' first reached it was thought that they were dead, but one raised his hand and the rest were found breathing, and all were hurried to the shaft and stimulants administered.

Some , of the . faces were black with smoke and slightly scorched. Their safety is due to their walling themselves in.

All hope of the rescue of any of the men had been abandoned, and it was proposed to pump carbonic acid gas into the mine. There were frantic protests against this by the relatives of the entombed men, who believed that some might still be alive, though this seemed impossible with a fire raging in the colliery for several days. A search party, consisting of fourteen men, went down the shaft to explore the workings, but only one returned to the surface, and he told a fearful story of his experiences below. The rescue from what seemed certain death of these men is certainly one of the most remarkable in the annals of mining disasters.