Los Angeles herald., 1906-12-31
ENTOMBED MINER
SERMON 'SSUBJECT
REV. A. S. PHELPS DRAWS
COMPARISONS
Declares Earnestness Of Rescuers
Toillng Against Fearful Odds,
ls a Rebuke to Halt
Hearted Christians

"The Rescue Of Lindsay Hicks" was
the subject of Arthur S. Phelps last
night at Central Baptist church, AL
varado and Plco streets.
Taking as his text Jonah 2:6: "I
went down to the bottoms of the
mountains; the earth with its bars
closed upon me forever; yet hast thou
brought up my life from the pit o
Jehovah my Cod" he said: 1.-THE news
papers are full of sermons. Lindsay
Hicks, the coal miner in Edison Camp
No. 1, near Bakersfield, has passed
from the obscurlty of his back-country
birth in Kentucky, and his aimless
wanderings about the state of Califor-
MIA, in less than three weeks into a
national fame. How little a man
knows Of his future! Yet he carries
that future in large measure in his
own b, iom. The man who has the
mettle in him will rise to his oppor-
tunity.
"His was terrible experience A
miners life is dangerous at best Like
the Irishman who responded to the
reporters question after the mine ac-
cident Were you and your compan-
ions calm and collected?'
HE answered.: 1t wor loike this:
wor calm and Pat, he wor collected
But every life Is attended with danger.
At 7:s0 on that fatal Friday morning
there came a sudden avalanche of
earth, gravel and rock and he was
entombed alive in the heart of great
mountain. 1t was the case of a man
against a mountain, and the mountain
on top.
"I have seen men entombed this way
under a mountain load of their sin.
They were mining for pleasure, their
purpose to leave the gravel and take
the ore; but they got both. One, two,
three days pass, and no sign from the
outside world. Lying in a niche which
has been carved by nature, he dreams
of the outside world. The rats are de-
vouring the bodies of his dead COM
rades, and waiting for him.
1.-THE birds fit among the branches
of the trees, but he hears not their
merry twittering. The sun shines in
glory in the heavens, but it's light is
not for him. In his Fathers house
there is bread enough and to spare,
and he perishes with hunger.
Some One Cares
"The first ray of hope lies in the fact
that some one cares. Ten brave men
and true are tunneling night and day
into the heart of the mountain. If
you are not Christian. stop and thank
Christian friends are tunneling the
mountain with their prayers and eff
forts. At 4 o'clock Monday morn
ing Foreman Davis hears a rat-a-tat
on the rail of the skip! Some one is
alive under that mass of stone! To the
blind diligence of the search party
comes the cry for help from the buried
darkness. So the man has a part to
play in his own deliverance. God
doesn't carry men to the light of day.
1.-THE men now work with an awful
intensity. Well says daily paper, 1T
was battle not unworthy of the
gods A tube is made to carry sus-
tenance, and a musical instrument
plays jolly tunes to Danish despair. En-
tertainment plays part in the saving
of any man. Against fearful odds they
toiled, yet they kept faith and hope.
Hicks will be rescued tomorrow be-
gan to be heard about the streets of
Bakersfield. Earnestness like this is q
rebuke to the half-hearted zeal of
many a Christian for his friend who
is down and under. The Edison COM
pany left no stone unturned Since it
was discovered the man was alive, the
vast development work of the COM
pany entirely ceased, not a wheel
turned, and no man has labored at
anything else.'
How good helping hand looks to
the man that is down. Thank God
you're here. The sight of that hand,
said Hicks, is the finest ching I have
seen in all my life,' as the tears fell
down his cheeks. Oh, the joy of de-
Hverance. Hear him. Don't these
words sound like those of soul that
has found the Lord Christ: I guess /
am the happiest man in. the world to-
night. 1t was God who saved me. No
one else could. You need not think
that my mind was affected by my i'm
prisonment. I want to return and
help. dig out my poor companions who
are buried all around me- He is to go
over the country to tell his wondrous
story of deliverance. That $500 a week
would not open the mouths of some
Christians"