The Emporia news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1859-1881, 1875-03-05
AKANaaa HER0.
From the St. Louis Gl0be.-EditOrial.

Inc etlckful or s14f0rmatl0n III the
Associated Press dispatches con-
corning the recent coal mine fire at
Usage City, Kansas, contains but q
stingy idea of the horrors attending
that event, as related by the local
papers. The fire broke out about
midday, and when first discovered
the main shaft of the mine was in
| a blaze, with thirty-fi7e men and
boys at work beyond and beneath
the flames, nearly forty feet below
the level of the EARN. lii II few
minutes the wl.oic population OF
the place rushed 10 me scene and a
! thousand ,3r more men. wo mea sud
children-Ihr rciaiives, friends ani
neighbors OF the eHtnnbed miners
were gathered atz,ite mouth Of The
burning shaft, supplied wiiil fear
and anguish. All the wells in The
town had nearly run dry weeks be
fore, and scarcely enough water
could be obtained to subdue the
heat above ground, much less to ar
rest the conflagration inside the
mine. Thus matters stood for two
awful hours, when q railroad en-
CINE arrived with q full tank, which
was hurriedly emptied into the
shatt, and a gsee shout of hope
went up FROM. apIe. At this
iuncture a rSnmon dooliged. Ike a
spectre, from the DIsee and smoke,
and fell in a swoon at the very edge
of the shaft. An hour later two
more men cried up through the
flames for help, and Il ladder was
lowered to them, up which they
made their way to the top and were
dragged forth, alive. but burnt and
blackened beyond recognition.
three were now saved, but twenty
nine others were still below, and
the fire was not yet under control.
The terrified crowd stood agast for
few minutes, and then suddenly a
panic of despair seemed to sieze
them, the stifled means of the Wo
men and children breaking out
afresh, and the men drawing back
from the mine with blanched and
averted faces.
The supreme moment of the
emergency had come, and the one
man to meet il was there, thank
God. as he always is. His name
this time was Marks--William
Marks-and he stepped to the front
with the promptness and modesty
of a true hero. "Fasten a rope
around me and let me into the
shaft" he said. The proposition
was appalling, but the quiet courage
of the man tied every tongue and
stiiled the agony of the tremulous
crowd like a special providence.
Down he went into the horrible
cavern, without another word, and,
reaching the bottom, freed himself
for his search in the entries diverg-
ing from the main shaft. At al
most the first step in the sitting
darkness he stumbled upon the in
animate form of one miner, in a
coal car, which he pushed to the
entrance, secured the rope around
the body, called to those above to
hoist away, and in q moment the
man was safe. Further search soop
revealed the whereabouts of the
remaining twenty-eight, and slow
ly but surely Marks piloted them to
the mouth of the mine and deliver
ed them, one by one-many insensi-
BILE, but all aliVe-out of the Jaws
of death into the hands of their
wives and children. Then, when
the last one had been rescued, he
came to the surface, scorched and
blinded and nearly snffscated, and
stood there silently among the
cheering townspeople, the master
of the situation.
Thus the peril was surmounted
without any sacrifice of life; but
the heroism was there all the same. |
The rescue of the helpless miners
and the escape of the man who
scoFned death to save them spoiled
the perfection of a tragedy; but
the destruction of all concerned
could not haYe added to the radi-
ance which belongs to the superb |
and unselfish bravery of William
Marks. He was only a common
workingman facing a duty to his
fellows, but he met that duty like a |
Roman monarch, and made grass
hopper-scOurged Kansas splendid |
for one day with his conquering |
courage. He probably never heard |
of Cato pausing sword in hand to |
welcome death; or Cleopatra put
ting on a crown to make a royal |
ending; or even of Hays Jim |
Bludso or Harte's Flynn of Virgin
ia. He merely saw and felt the i'm |
minent need of risking one life to re- |
deem twenty-nine other lives, and |
coolly accepted the challenge. He |
was the right man in the right place
at the right time. May he live |
long and prosper.