Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1881-08-25

of the explosion; I have seen him since;
he is safe"
"Oh. thank God-thank God p she
cried, tears starting to her sweet brown
eyes.
Something told me to get her away
from the mouth of the pit, but it was
hard to do. At length I left her trying
to console an old woman whose three
sons had gone down few hours ago,
hale, hearty young men, and who might
be blackened corpses for all she knew
burned and bruised past hope of re-
cognition even by their mother
As [ returned to the shaft, dull,
booming sound came suddenly from
undergraduate earth shook-a roar
like the blast of q thousand cannons
was heard, and huge masses of inky
smoke rose above the fatal pit. A sec
ond explosion had taken place.
Screams from the women rent the air,
and above them all, ringing out, l heard
the voice of Lille Hardwick clear as a
bell:
ooh, papa, papa"
My heart stood still; crowd of men
had gathered round me, another party
going down to help the dying men be-
low.
No one tried to stop me now; but
could not go without one word to Lii
lie. If [ went to my death let her at
least know how loved her. She was
by my side and I caught her hands in
mine.
"Lillie, [ will try to save your father
If cannot, l Will die with him."
ooh, thank you," she said, looking
straight into my face. "Come up alive
for my sake"
With these words ringing in my ears
| jumped on the lift and was soon spin
ing downward into the vault of dark
ness and despair. The air was thick
with nOisome vaDOrs, and we could dis
tinguish nothing at first; but after
awhile our lanterns revealed huge
masses of coal thrown out of place, i'm
prisOning men in living tombs, for with
out fresh air life could not be sustain
ed.
On every side the mine had been rent
and torn, and instead Of the wide pass
ages where the men worked all was
blocked up with debris, and large shafts
of wood used to stay up the mine lay
torn an twisted, proving the fury of the
power that destroyed them.
We gazed at each other in mute des-
pair-then Selling any implement that
came to hand begand to work with a
will. | never knew / could handle a
pick before, but certainly made q
good progress, and succeeded in burst
ing open a lead, one Of the most i'm
portant in the mine.
'Here!" / shouted, as / found a num-
Der of men piled together "Come and
help me out with them. Some of
them at least are alive"
By the yellow light OF the lantern |
recognized the party that had gone
down to the rescue. Lilies father first.
He was insensible but still breathed;
his arm was doubled under him and
broken; what other injuries he had
sustained | could not tell.
He was placed in the lift and 1t oOk my
place beside him; as many of the other
men as the lift would accommodate
were laid there and we were soon on
our way to life and light.
The first face | saw on gaining day
light was Lilies, in fact l saw it as l
gazed upward anxiously; it shone white
and pure above the dark abyss of woe
! from which we assembled like star oil
! hope.
When we came into the light and
| she saw her father lying in my arms
as ! knelt to support him, she proved
! her courage by neither screaming MOI
fainting. She assisted me to lift him
out and place him on litter that had
been provided.
! / examined him now and found that
/ in addition to the broken arm Mr.
Hardwick had sustained other injuries
none of them necessary fatal, still
/ placing his life in great danger. at
tended to his wounds and had him re,
moved to his house, which was for
tunately near. Then returned to the
mine. All that woful day! as. the SUI
set that night there we're sorrow and
weeping in almost every humble home
in the town.
/ l lost no time and the other doctors
were also kept busy. | visited Lilies
father about every two hours and ad,
ministered such remedies as | thought
were needful. l asked Mrs. HardwicB
if she wished another doctor, but she
answered:
ooh! no. You saved my husbands
life and have every confidence IL
your skill Let the other doctors at
tend to the rest Of the poor men"
We had all of us enough to do that
/ day and many DAYS after
No more explosions followed, but al
the wounded men were not rescued al
once, Some of them were buried
among the loose masses Of coal, and
had to be dug out.
Many who were given up for lost
were brought up alive after all hope
had been abandoned. But the valley
was full of sorrow and grief, too painful
to dwell upon
attended Mr. Hardwick through the
long illness that followed, and with the
help of God brought him back tc
health AMI strength as the hawthorn
was in bloom, and the robins began
their spring songs among the old elms
saw Lille daily, and her sweet face
/ became dearer to me every time I me-
her. She found time to visit among
those on whom the hand of God hac
been laid, speaking words of comfort
and healing. y true womanly woman
such as are given to bring men near
er to God than aught else can do.
1t was a beautiful balmv evening
when paid my last professional WISH
to her home-the perfume of spring
violets in the air and the dewy mist O.
early nightfall lay over the valley.