The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1879-05-15

MItu Ilo lccI Oh TIE TOunuS anu DlS DaCk
against the wall, with Saturdays Her
aid in his hands. John was sitting in a
chair also. About them were several
friends, who had called to express con.
gratulations over the fortunate end Of
last weeks terrible explosion. The res.
cued men welcomed your correspondent,
and said that they would give any infor.
nation they had 1'he interview was
conducted mostly with John Green.
VIVID DESCRIPTION.
"When did you first know of the fall
and who told you first"
ut was Wednesday morning, at about
two o'clock, should think, wnen John
Clark, the doortender, came running
back and told us OF the falling roof. 1t
was, you may we'll imagine, startling
intelligence. We did not hesitate long
what to do. Grabbing what was next
to us we made hasty exit from the
heading and ran back through the gang
way for half mile suppose. Here we
met the fall. 1t seemed as if the whole
thing from the surface had come down.
1t looked pretty blue. Then We tried
another way. We thought of several
routes, but every time we found the way
closed up. We finally concluded that if
we could get to the foot of the nlainwav
which leads from the Fulton gangway
up the Davis gangway perhaps We could
get out. We feared that we could not get
to the foot, but we did, and felt first
rate until we found, rs we wer. up hill,
that it was closed. 1t was on Wednes.
day when it fell in. We had no time.
piece with us and could only guess the
time. Every minute seemed an hour.
We would get sleepy and then wc thought
it might be the regular sleeping hour
We'll, we tried to dig out the mainway. We
dug and dug on our hands and knees for
hours, and perhaps had got through fifty
feet of it, but there seemed to be no end
to j. and we we're becoming exhausted
10 add to this, in our weakened condi-
ton, was the fact that the roof kept fall
ing all around us. We did the best we
could by propping, but it came down ali
the time, and we were in the danger
of getting caught in the place and crush
ed to death. We held consultations, and
the only conclusion we could arrive at
for long time was that we were lost.
Then we would hear noise and halloo.
but soon discovered that instead of
friends coming to find us that it was the
falling of the roof and perhaps the
dropping of water. We found an old
vest near the branches of the road where
the air was good, where we stayed. The
air was good then until about an hour
before we were found this morning, when
it became light and clear, because of
broken down air conductor. When we
were found We were putting up the brac-
ing so as TO conduct the air again in its
regular channel. We had safety lamps
to prospect about tho mines with, and
could have built a fire. Where we stayed
we were not troubled with gas at all.
although we knew it had accumulated in
some places. We heard noises when the
miners began TO work upon the coal.
Again and again we heard it, and it
sounded like an explosion, and then we
made up our mind that tho men were
trying to find us. We could also hear
the men at work in the old slope and we
raped TO them. Our courage stiffened
up and we felt first rate. Then the noise
stopped and we dio not hear them for a
long time. We got disheartened again
We thought, may be, they had become
discouraged and had given us up. 1t
was pretty tough to believe, but what
else could we do. We knew they had
been working for us, and when we didn't
hear them any more we had to believe
that something was the matter and that
they were giving up. On Friday felt
the worst. l had not though; before this
that was going to die, but H. came over
me that day. We all thought before
this that we we're lost, but it did not
seem to be so bad TO me as on Friday.
When began to think about it tell you
the tears were not far from my eyes"
THE BRAvEsT OF THE LOT.
Glow did the door boy, Johnny Clark,
stand it?"
Gle was the best of the lot. He's q
brave, good-hearted boy. We all felt
we'll Of Johnny. He's AS good man as
any of US. He never whimpered, only
would get down and he'd feel bad. Itell
you it's pretty hard place to be in, and
most anybody would feel glum under
such circumstances"
ALL THE FOOD GONE.
We ate up all our food on Tuesday
night, expecting, Of course, to get our
breakfast at home in the morning, but
it was q long time till that morning.
All day Wednesday we worked and tried
every way TO get out and didn't think
much OF eating. but on Thursday we be-
gan to get pretty hungry.
KILLING THE MILE.
"What was to be done, was the ques-
ton. We held consultation and it
was unanimously agreed that the mule
must supply our food. We had tied the
old fellow up, for he was getting
hungry, too, and eating the props
and timbers. Besides, when q mule
gets mad he will attack man. We led
the poor old fellow out and i knocked
him down with hammer, and Billy
Kinney, his driver, cut his neck with an
axe. We did not skin the carcass all at
once, but peeled it off as we required it.
We had no salt, but it was a Godsend
that we had the mule. We would have
starved il he had not been there, and
they eat horse meat in France, you
know. The water was first rate. 1t
came to us through the roof, and it was
as pure az we could ask it. BY fire we
cooked the mule meat in our dinner
buckets. This morning, when we could
hear no blasting, we thought it was Sum-
day and the men had stopped working,
but we found out since that it was be-
cause they dared not fire for fear of set
ting the gas on fire and burning u.s.
They did not come out where we expec-
ted they would strike, and it frightened
us, because we knew where they touched
it was full of gas. IF we had not left our
regular stopping place in the old breast
to go and fix up the broken down airway
they would have had hard time finding
lis.