The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1902-07-15
THRILLING SCENES ATTEND THE
HEROIC WORK
FOURTEEN LIVES SAVED
4 Day Of Horror ut John.town
Many Dead Bodies Have Been Lo-
Gated. But Only the Live Ones are
Fifty In a low Estimate Of the Less.
Inspiring Description of the Eff
forts to Save the Entombed Miners

4 AAS
been a day OF heroic rescues at the
rolling mill mine OF the Cambria Steel
company. Thrilling experiences attend
ed the efforts OF the forty brave and
daring fellows who went down into the
bowels OF the earth with a very faint
hope to spur them that still they might
be in time to restore L life some Of
those who are entombed. Death Iurked
everywhere around them. but undaunt-
ed they surged forward, swaycd with
the noblest OF human purposes.
The reward of their efforts was the
Saving Of the lives Of fourteen of their
fellow men and bringing them again
into the sun light and back TO loving
families.
Dead and manned bodies We're located
but no effort was made to bring them
out OF the vast theatre OF death until
every human energy was put forward
towards seeing that No living soul
might escape their aid. That done, the
dead were attended to and put in tram
cars brought UP and exposed to morbid
gaze while being transferred TO wagons
All nv ~ pc Int 10 IL I1OTsue.
Eighty-seven dead bodies were recov-
lerSd from the mine between daylight
and night all. Still z party of Off
lclalS and miners battled on. three miles
INSIDE the min Occasionally word
would come to the surface by some
mysterious means that another group OF
remains had been exposed to the vision
of the searchers. There remains dan
lgerous headings in the kIondike section
of the mine yet to be explored. No one
knows how many mole lead will be
found there. The min officials refrain
from guess work on the subject
A feeling prevails that $50 is a low
estimate Of the casualty lost Johns
town spent the day horror-stIuck. From
dawn to dusk flying ambulances coursed
the streets bearing grueso1ne burdens
from mine to mOrgue. from morgue to
homes.
Great throngs surged about the pit
mouth, the improvised morgue at the
armory, and last, the ST ECKER, homes of
the dead. Bulletin boards were eagerly
scanned for news from the scene of the
disaster. Exaggerated rumors of all
kinds prevailed. One report gained cir
lculation that disaster had overtaken the
lreScuing party which entered the mine
shortly after 8 o'clock. This proved n
of the entertaining yarns that had its
lorigin among the crowd at the pit
-
lated the details of he report by Off
lcials. 1t is difficult to picture with any
degree approaching Its full worth, the
work of rescue and the attending scenes
land incidents OF the day at the centre
of interest. How brave men went into
the jaws of death in it most horrible
form, ncountered their fellows trans
formed into raving maniacs by hour of
waiting in the pitch rkn Of the
learth's interior, lifted them moaning
from their beds of fallen % and then
bending and crawling on all tours,
carrying them a quarter of a mile under
lground to where cars could be reached
to take them outside.
Along in the early part on the after
moon cheering word came from the in
InermoSt receSSeS of the mine that life
fingered in some OF the bodies found.
THE rescuers made first for No. 4 left
heading which they had been unable to
lreach the night before. Desolate even
for the scene Of a mine interior was the
heading that stretched out for them
Falls of roof almost checked up the
heading but through and ove the debris
the brave men pushed their way In
the front young Patrick Martin, his
brother Peter, Philip White and several
lcousins of the Martins made their way.
Suddenly in an open -suace they were
startled by the maniac laugh which
Iemanated from a blacxened form that
rushed at them out of the
The man grasped firmly a pick handle
and tried in his frenzy TO beat down his
~lrescuers. He was overpowered and
dragged back to the main heading to
the cars. Thirteen other living men
were found in this chamber and physi-
lcians were quickly taken to the spot.
At 8 D. m, the train Of mine cars
lcame to the pit mouth where waiting
lambulances stood. Eight men were
. ~ &c nnd
half carried. wended their way to the
lambulances. They were all Poles One
big Swapping fellow among them col
Elapsed as he reached the ambulance and
doctors spent several minutes resusci-
ltating him. AS the men were driven
lhurriedly to the Cambria hospital the
train Of coal cars with the physicians
l~re-entered the mine. In another half
hour they came out again. this time
with six living, but almost dead miners.
lone man in his paroxysms had locked
his Jaws so that force had TO be en-
lployed to pry them open for the inser-
Ition of life instilling fluids. These SIX
lwere AXE in an unconscious condltlon
Ito the Cambria hospital One man
brought out with this ere d died just as
he reached day light. At that time
three more headings, believed TO be I'LL
ed with the dead, were unsearched-
Thirty nine bodies were lying within
reach in the main heading- Ihese were
drought out at 2:45 p III. Their bodies
lwere piled high in the coal cars and
lowered with canvas.
These remains were in a terrible state
showing that there had beeen SLOW
death in each case. One OF the men hac
his mouth and nose tied about by q
towel. The rest Of his face was burned
beyond recognition. The bodies OF al
were twisted in horrible shapes, r~cst o.
the arms being crooked so as ga snielc
the face. The only n who coCid On
identified at the pit mouth was nre DOS
Joseph Tomlinson-
One of the rescuers wn'
lcame out with this load of dead stateE
that fire was raging in parts OF IN.
mine that would take sometime TO quen
Most of those who were brought on
alive this afternoon had saved them
selves by crawling into a chamber an,
turning a valve on the compressed al
tnine linz which runs along the entry
IOne man was found dead with hi
hands clutched so tightly o
49,