The Plymouth Republican. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1878-1901, 1901-08-22
FIVE DAYS
Spent by Two Men in a Tunnel
Under Lake Erie
Mysterious Signals Reveal Presence OF
living rlcn In the Tunnel at Scene
of the Cleveland Crib Disaster and q
Thrilling Rescue is Effected

CLEVELAND, Ohio, Aug. 20.--
After beins confined in the tun-
mel under Lake Erie since We'd
nesday morning, when fire de-
stroyed crib No. 2, two men were
yesterday afternoon taken out
alive. They are Adam Kest, %
years old, of this city, and a man
named Eugine, 43 years old, who
resided at the crib, but has rela-
tives living in this city. They
are now lying semiconscious at
the Huron street hospital, where,
with careful nursing, the physi-
clans say, they will soon recover
their former strength and prob
ably be none the worse for their
thrilling experience.
Shut eff from the upper worlt-,
the men knew nothing of the ca
tastrophe that killed so many of
their comrades and imprisoned
them. They knew that some
thing had severed their connec-
ton with tle crib. They knew
that beyond the air lock behind
which they had taken refuge the
air was too foul to breathe But
they supposed that the trouble
was only temporary. Each day
they expected to have their com-
rades come down the tunnel bent
on rescue.
When their signal for help,
tapped on the air pipe, was at
first answered from the crib,
Kest and Eugine were preparing
to eat raw mule meat. Their de-
liverance came in the nick of
time to make unnecessary this
desperate resort to keep them
alive.
At the hospital Eugine and
Kest were permitted to talk for
short time, and they related some
of their experiences. They said
that they did not know there had
been a fire and they could not
account for their plight unless
some accident had happened
which would soon be repaired. AS
the time passed by, however, and
time heightened into days, the
men were beginning to fear that
they were doomed to die, either
by starvation, suffocation, or
drowning. Their tapping on the
pipe to attract possible attention
was done with little hope of its
being heard, but fortune favored
them and their presence was
realized when a number of men
who were at work repairing the
burned crib heard the faint noise
away down ulsder ground, and
Immediately set out to rescue the
unfortunates.
1--WE gave up more than once"
said Kest: I'VE lost track of the
time. l didn't know whether
it was six days or three.
The gas must have made US
sleepy. We slept a lot, I know.
We did not know whether it was
day ornight down there.
''The darkness was awful. We
tried to get out several times.
Each time the gas drove US back.
At last we decided that it was
get out or die, and we made
try, tapping or the pipe as we
went along"
According to the story of these
men, the first intimation Eugine
and Kest had of the fatal Wednes-
day morning which saw the crib
burned was the shutting off of the
lights. The two men were work
ing far in advance of the gang,
and when the latter made
their rush for safety Kest
and Eugine were sitting down
behind the air lock waiting for
the lights to be turned on again.
They did not hear the shouts and
cries of their fellow prisoners.
Nome Folks win Suffer.
PORT TOWNSEND, Wash, Aug.