The Kemper herald. (Scooba, Miss.) 1875-1908, 1906-04-05
.ENTOMBED FOR
TWENTY DAYS
FRENCH MINERS LIVE ON DE.
CAYED FLESH.
SEQUEL TO THE DISASTER
The Disaster at the Courrieres had its
Sequel When Thirteen Miners Were
Taken Out Still Alive After Suf'
fering Unspeakable Horrors.

Lens, GRANGE. The disaster at the
Ciurrieres coal mines had startling
sequel when thirteen miners were TAX
en- out alive after having endured un-
speakable horrors during twenty days
of entombment. The story Of the sur
vivors, SO far as it has been told dis
closed that they lived for many days
on putrid horse meat amid total dark
ness and in the stencil from scores OF
decaying corpses. The presence OF
human flesh would have speedily lore
ed the surviving men to resort to the
last desperate extremity if they had
not been rescued. The survivors were
sturdy young miners from II to %
years old, except their leader, Henri
Nemy, who is 3S years old. All show
The terrible effects Of their experiences
being emaciated, exhausted and al
most blinded. Their rescue caused a
temporary nervous lucldity during
which they greeted their relatives and
graphically related their sufferlngs.
THE doctors then forced quiet upon
them fearing the result of fever and
poisoning from their having eaten de-
.cayed horse flesh. The survivors
brought up portions of the decompos-
ed horse meat.
Nemy, who was the most lucid OF
the miners who escaped, graphically
described their imprisonment as fol-
lows: :
"After the explosion I CROPPED my
way about, stumbling over bodies and
seeking refuge from the gases. L
found some comrades sheltered in a
remote niche. We ate earth and bark
for eight days and then the provisions
gave out.
awe continued to grope among the
bodies seeking for anoutlet from our
prison, but were forced back time
and again.
"We found some hay, which we ate,
and two days after we found dead
horse, which we cut up and ate with
the hay and bark. We suffered most
for the want Of water. Finally we
became desperate and separated into
three parties and communicated with
each other by shouts. |
A survivor named Martin said:
"We suffered intensely from cold.
The chamber above us was burning
but it did not temper the cold In the
lower gallery"
Another rescued man, Lefever, when
asked if he had slept, replied:
I'VE never closed our eyes. Some
times we dozed, but Nemy, who took
command, would not permit us to
Sleep"
Nemy displayed his watch, which
he had wound up regularly through
out his Imprisonment.
There were touching scenes as wives
and mothers greeted those whom they
had long given up as dead. Crowds
besieged the hospitals to which the
men were taken, cheering the surviv-
ors and imprecating the Ineffective
nature of the salvage work that fol-
lowed Immediately after the disaster.
The rescue of these 13 men revived
the hope in many families that 9th
ers are alive, and the relatives of those
whose bodies have not been recovered
clamorously demanded that efforts be
redoubled to bring out any possible
survivors.
There is report that in addition
to the E13 men who were brought out
of the mine, there were five others
who came with them almost to the
bottom Iof the pit, but were unable to
come further on account of exhausi
tion.
The total number of men missing
after the catastrophe was 1,212.
The bodies recovered approximately
numbered 300, and there are still un-
accounted for approximately 700. The
engineers explain that smoldering fires
prevented them from exploring rel
mote passages Of the mine, where il
was thought lthere could be no sur
vivors. The mine owners also claim
that the strike Of miners reduced the
number of rescuers available. Many
engineers and scientists agree that all
in the mines must have died long ago.
Engineer Laur, however, dissents, as
serting the salvage work has been de-
plorably insufficient, and he believes
that scores died of exhaustion owing
to poor work of the salvage compa-
nies.