American union. [volume] (Morgantown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1855-1859, 1856-05-24
RESCUE OF MEN BURIED ALIVE.

Iassl
The faay miners who wore bar;eJ 81
live IN the coal upinss bGao ", a nssvi,io
were resehed shnut one % clock Sa,sr-
day mnrnihk. and taken ff5m u cir dark
prison hop4S. ca
We quote az Ebllows.
Tho csving &c the coal bank. By
whfch they were shut in. took place
Two weeks ago last Friday. at abnuf =.
levcn O'Clock in the morning of,ha, day
Fso that they have been shut out from
light and pure air for nearly f.teen
days. They had only one dinner and
siter being shut up. found the dinner of
smother man, who had, with sixteen 9th.
srs. Al great risk. barely escaped The
catastrophe. 1t is not true that they
lived on the lamp oil. They had but
little Oft. One ofthe men swallowed
some Of the oil to relieve his throat
which had become very sore from
drinking the copperss water. So that
the marval remains Of four persons ies-
caed after two weeks depriya,ioe OF
food aud water, aud not i'm very bad
condition either, considering.
The excitement consequent on this
affair, has been at the highest pitch all
along the Muskingum. from GAINESVILLE
10 Marietta. There has never been less
than Ave hundred porsope ON the ground
AL wrought up to the must intense
agony of excitement. On Sunday last
there were over two thousand people
al the scene. From evety farm house
along the road, eager ehqnifies are put
to every returning visitor aud Zanes.
vile has been in ali intense fever on the
subject.
The cause of caving was the unskill-
full manner in which the bank was work
ed. Instead of working the vein, which
was four and half vein--to the or.
binary width Of about twelve feet. and
leaving at sho,t intervals pillars often
feet square 20 support the superincum-
bent mass of rock and earth--there were
large rooms made and few pillars left
and those small; so that when the crash
came. which it did with report that
sounded to the men Ire thunder, il
fairly pulverized the pillars and crushed
into fragments the rocks above. Upon
tho top of the bill, there were found
and perceptibIy extending tweAly to
thirty feet down. Perhaps these crew..
ces supplied the persons with pare air
land thuo enabled them to support
themselves with comparative ease. A.
gain the caving began at the mouth and
ran inwards, shutting in, perhaps com.
pressing, the air. There was consider.
able room for the men TO exercise in,
notwithstanding the cxtont Of the ca.
wing. ag
THE RESCUE.
Let 1t be known that these heroic
~orkmen were in constrnt peril oftheir
lives in all their weary fortDight's
work. Of course they had propped up
with timber as they worked in. but at
times the timber bent like reed under
the immense pressure, and, at times
gave way. The frsgmen,ary condition
ofthe rock prevented workmen from
making lhemselvessecure. They could
not work without light, and when on
Sunday, they had cut in 236 feet. and
were about to despair, owing to tho
bad atmosphere and the councils ofsome
who thought it too late to save the men
they took new vigor and new hope,
| aud still pressed on upiil Friday, when
the attention of the woikmen was ares
ted by knocking within. They paus-.
ed and halloed. Again and again hall
loed when the voices Of the entombed
were heard family in responsive huf.
rahl
The crowd without on the river bank
soon caught the cheering news; and
| 'Hurrah hurralip rent the air with
such joy tina, never awoke tho echoes
of the beautiful valley before. The
scene just then was most thrilling.
How differently it affects different men
this rapture of JOY. Some ran aside in
ly as lunaticsl Some whooped like
Aborigines Sumo capereo and ca
yorteed like dancing Dervishes in their
inspiration II was rare scene. aud
not discredlabe to our fallen human
nature.
The next thing 10 order was to hold
conversation with the entombed. The
first Ineligible question propoundod by
the insiders was:
"Was anybody killed by tbs ca,ingl"
"NoDe' said the workmen.
"Hurrah ! hurrah - was heard from
within. This jubilee of the entombed
was reported outside TO the crowd, who
responded to itby spontaneous hurrab
of their own.
1t seemed that tho men had picked
their way some twenty fee, within The
rocky fssures and were enabled to con.
we're pretty freely. The workmen warn.
ed them to retire within as thoy were
IN imminent danger. Edgin said he
wouldn't bulge till they told them what
is the day end hour, and how long they