The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1901-08-14

skull and some bones. The bodies Of two
other men lay close to those which were on
their knees and it looked as If they never
knew what happened to them. They must
have been suffocated before the flames
reached them. AS soon as the five bodies
were discovered the tug Kennedy returned
to the harbor at once and notified the cor
oner Of the discovery.
While this was going on ways and means
were being devised to reach the men i'm
prisoned in the tunnel, whose air supply
had apparently been shut off entirely by
the burning of the compressed air machin-
cry. At times it was thought that voices
could be heard down below and the life
savers and the firemen peered down with
ears intent, but the sounds ceased again.
AT the mouth of the shaft 1t was like
furnace and the iron work was red hot
from the flames. The water that was
thrown on 1t turned into steam at once.
Finally after deluge of water had been
thrown on the smoldering shaft entrance,
a voice was heard from the bottom call
| ing for help. A line was quickly dropped
| down the shaft and as it tightened a
| shout of Joy went up from those about.
| Slowly the man was raised. 1t was Will
| liam Curry Of Canton. His pallid face.
| covered with slime, his staring eyes and
heaving chest, told Of the horror of the
| hours he had spent in the tunnel.
| AS soon as he could gasp Curry said:
| They are all at the bottom Of the shaft,
! hurry up.
In quick succession seven others were
| brought up from the foul and sitting air
| Of the tunnel All were in a most pitt
| able condition. They reported that two
| other men were lying unconscious at the
| bottom of the shaft. A workman voIun-
| teered to rescue these men and he was
| quickly lowered into the shaft
l In n -Four h.
| were brought up more dead than alive.
Others Dead.
One or two men are supposed to be-
| lying dead in the tunnel, too far away
from the shaft to be reached Tugs that
hurried out to the scene as soon as the
, fire was discovered, succeeded in rescu-
ing no less than twenty men, who were
| found clinging to the wreckage and ropes
| tied to the burning structure
The tunnel which has been under
course OF construction for several years.
and is still far from complete, has been
the cause, all told, Of the loss of more
than thirty lives. Four years ago an ex-
| pIos1on In the shore section of the tun-
mel resulted in the suffocation Of eighteen
! men. Two years ago In similar acct
4 dent several more men were killed near
| the scene of to-day's catastrophe which
! adds at least ten names to the death list
| The fire to-day was due to an over
/ heated boiler smoke stack The boiler
! exploded soon after the flames broke out.
| The crib itself was Of pine timber built
| up straight from the waters edge. The
men, who were asleep in their hunks,
sprang up to find themselves in the midst
| OF the flames. Down in the shaft, under
the lake, eleven men were digging away,
unconscious Of their danger until the air
/ supply was cut off,
Superintendent Kingsley of the water
| works department, who is in charge Of
| the rescue work at the crib, believes four
men are still imprisoned under the lake.
every effort will be made to rescue them.