Little Falls weekly transcript. (Little Falls, Morrison Co., Minn.) 1894-19??, 1896-05-08
| BILL Y SMITH HERO.

3lj
The STORY or "a MAN WHO DIDN'T
KNOW VERY MUCH.
He simply Knew Enough TO DIE For 9th
- IA Terrible Mining Disaster which
showed the People Of Blantyre WHIST
was N staple Hilly.
His companions lit their cigars and drew
\ thcir chairs closer round the cosy stove,
Tor Hastings was ono Of the BEST story tell
ere on the road. .,i s;t sss
tTalking Of remarkable escapes, said
4 Hastings, q think / know very few to
beat that Of which the hero was poor half
Witted Bill Smith, whom I met at an ap-
8palling mining disaster In Scotland 10 OF
\ 10 years ago. AT that time was doing
my yearly round Of the manufacturing
towns In England to get u line on the
\ newest thing In carpets, and ran north 70
d Glasgow to visit some friends The dis
trict for miles around is fairly honey
Il cOmbed with coal mines One forenoon
the startling information reached the city
that there had been an explosion IN one o.
the pits at Blantyre, village seven or
eight miles away, and curiosity drew me
thither. ] don't believe III ever forget the
awful spectacle. Over 200 men were en-
tombed, great volumes Of smoke shot up
through the pit mouth and the wives and
mothers stood by rs near as they dared,
weeping and wringing their hands Tor the
doomed men below. 1t +
Rescue parties were quickly made up,
but they were driven buck repeatedly by
I the binding, choking fumes that belched
from the pit mouth. The cries OF the
women were heartrending as they entreated
the rescue party to 60 down. AS quickly
as human hands and human hearts could
do 1t fan was placed In position and the
cage lowered over the deadly shaft. Still
u the men, Injured as they were to danger,
ghrank back. Billy Smith pushed his way
through them. He was q big, strong,
lanky fellow, sluggishly good natured and
known In the village as the man who
didn't know much. He had wandered into
the village half a dozen years before with
dirty, limping our ut his heels. When
he was asked his name, he said 1t was only
Billy-nothing more. So they stuck Smith
to the Billy because 1t was easy and rugged
him out with full name. ys5
Haud the pup, he said quietly, 'and
let me gaze doom. An elderly woman who
had three sons In the pit blessed him with
the tears streaming down her cheeks,
while the n,en stood back abashed, and
half ashamed. Billy was lowered quickly,
and In few moments-it seemed like an
eternity to the wailing women above-he
signaled for the cage to be brought up. 1t
carried three men and q boy, blackened,
choking, but unhurt.
"A few Of the rescue party went down
with the cage again, for the shaft was
clearer now, and more Of the entOmbed
miners were quickly sent to the top. Then
the horrors Of the scene began to present
themselves. There had been great up
sheaval in the mines by the force Of the ex-
.plosion, and the passages were hopelessly
5choked up with tons Of fallen coal and
debris. More men went to the rescue.
They dug their picks into the awful wall
IN front Of them, urged on by the energy
soi despair. Night fell, but still the mo-
notonous ring of the picks struck through
the mine, which even now was the tomb
OF many strong man struck down In his
prime. Presently sort of opening was
l..;ide into the stubborn wall Of coal which
blocked up the way, and q mans arm pro-
truded. The victim was quickly dug out
and conveyed to the pit mouth. He was
beyond all human help. He was not badly
lnangled. He had simply been choked to
death by the fire damp. r.
AS the rescuers in the mine dug farther
into the opening they had made the deadly
fire damp rushed through and drove them
back. The fatal fumes pursued them, and
they hurriedly gave the signal to be drawn
up till the pit could be cleared Of the foul
air. Only half witted Billy Smith re-
manned. You see, he did not know much.
He flung himself on the damp ground and
lay there for hours, helpless and half con-
goious. BY and by his dull intelligence
told him Of the buried miners In their liv
ing tomb beyond. He took up pick and
dug, dug, dug-slowly at first, but some
God given feeling within him prompted
him to persistently work. For seven hours
he dug on till the ring Of his pick reached
the entombed men. Sweeter music never
struck mortal ears. They, too seized their
picks and dug through the black wall to
meet their resouer. Suddenly 1t fell
through, and q hole was left largo enough
for mans body to pass through. Day
was breaking at the pit mouth, when the
weary, wretohed watchers there were
startled to receive signal for the cage
1t was quickly lowered and came up pre-
sently with grewsome collection Of limbs
that had been torn Oh, dead bodies and
living men. .,is.
4 The work Of rescue now went bravely
on and the awful extent of the calamity
was soon discovered. A dozen or 90 more
miners were dug out alive and as each pit
load rpaahn6 tho month tho ronr,1e1 Yn}nara