The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-01-27
FINDERS RESCUE WORK
BITTER COLD AT SCENE OF
 MINE DISASTER.
Sixteen Men Came Near Losing Life While Endeavoring to Bring Up Victims of the
 Explosion.


 Pittsburg, Jan. 26.-Even the elements seem conspiring to prevent the work of rescue at the Harwick mine. Almost zero weather and a bitter, biting, cruel wind late in the afternoon swept down over the little valley where the mine is To- cated and nearly added another list of dead to the long black table already measured off. Not only was the work of search for the dead and living, if any are still alive, rudely interrupted, but cold, ice and wind nearly cost the lives of sixteen more men.
 At 3 o'clock this afternoon sixteen men went down into the shaft to do the work of bratticing, bolstering, tunneling and removing the debris that has so far barred their progress into the workings where the men were at laoor when the explosion came. Their. shift was sup posed to be of three hours only. Even al that it was hard task. Even before the buckets reached the bottom they were drenched with water, which the cold draught through the shaft soon turned to ice.
 Shortly after they were let down. two at time in bucket. temporary hoist that had been rigged up to bring up the oCOilS anu liC OCslup was NANCO NOWA the shaft. Then came the snow and cold. and again and again efforts were made to reach the living men at the bot tom of the shaft, but the wooden sides of the hoist, swollen by the water, stuck to the iron guide slide and then came hours of maneuvering to reach the bot tom.
 The men below had no means of warmth and many of them were stand ing in deep water. Every effort was made to lower the cage and finally it was loos- ened and got within twelve feet of the bottom. A timber blown across the way by the explosion was in the path. The men were within easy reach of a rope, but their fingers numbed and almost frog en by the cold. were unable to grasp the offered help.
 It was o'clock when the first three men of the party who went down at 8 o'clock were brought to the surface. Not one of them was able to walk so numb by the cold. and then they told of the experience in the mine below. Henry Beckert was one of the first men out of the cage.
 Tt was a frightful experience" he said We were too cold to work. There is ap- parently no one to rescue. We had a hard time to find many of the dead A SIIGu OL CAOlHlIlS anu dIlOIHcT LuSiSJ d jacket and a pair of overalls. but few bodies.
 When we left the bottom of the shaft there were twelve bodies lying there ready to be brought up. There are many others there and the bodies of many will never be found.
 "The south main drift, in which we worked gives little chance for many men who will be recognized.
 Tn the north main drift the way has been cleared for some distance, but we could not tell what was found there"
 Just before 10 o'clock the last of the rescuers was brought to the surface and as the last man was helped to the cage, Mine Inspector Tom Adams turned to the new rescuing party-three men ready to so down. and said:
 See that the timber that holds the cage from reaching the bottom is out of the way before you come up"
 The signal was given and they went down again into the mine.
 The Allegheny Coal Company. who owns the mine, made a proposition of it's own today. 1t has declared its purpose of establishing a cemetery, a half acre in extent, in which to inter the bodies of the men who were killed in the explosion.