Seward weekly gateway., 1906-07-28
MINER SURVIVES
 FIERCE TORTURE
Blinded By Dynamite Billy IIOgag WanderS for Two Days
 in Total Darkness.
RESCUED AND WILL RECOVER
Lone PrOSpeCtOr Has Narrow Escape From Horrible Death on
 Knight Island.


 Blinded by an explosion of nitro glycerine which mangled his face iDt. strips of bleeding nesh tore one cyr from its socket and temporarily dc stroyed the vision of the other, -waa- ing through tide water in ,ightle,- groping to find his cabin to obtain 8 stick of dynamite to end the horrible | torture of existence, wandering two days about the beach without food or water in pursuit of his grim purpose, rescued finally by two other men and taken to a surgeon who dressed his wounds, restored the sight of his re maining eye after five days of inde- scribable suffering, and now cheerful and ambitious as ever at the prospect of returning health, this was the eN- perience of Billy Hogan, proSpector or Knight island, as nervy man as ever shook off the hand of death when it rested upon him.
 Early in July Billy Hogan and Jack Whalen went to Knight island tu prospect for copper, They decided that they could accomplish more by working separately and Whalen went away into the hills while Hogan eN- plored the coast around Dryer bay. One day he thawed some dynamite hot water and later went back to thaw more. He had thoughtlessly left lu the can the water in which he h&o thawed the first sticks. As usual part of the nitro-glycerine had been drawn off in the thawing process and ioated on top of the water. Hogan built 90 fire under the can to heat the water and as it burned slowly he blew into jt to fan the embers.
 Flame Blinds Him
 Suddenly a flame rose and curlcd around and over the top of the can. As Hogan drew back the flame ignited the oil on top of the water in the can and fierce explosion and blinding flash in Hogan's face hurled him vio- lently to the ground, cut his face into ribbons and left him sightless.
 Realizing his plight and made desperate by the frightiul agony ana belief that his sight was gone forever Hogan in moment decided to end his life. He had no weapon with him and his only resource was to grope his way to his cabin and secure stick of dyna- mite. The powder he had with him was frozen and useless.
 The cabin was two miles away. To reach it Hogan was obliged to walk along the beach, and in places where the hills jutted in the water, to wade. The thought of drowning himself never occurred to him in his half crazed state. While wading he stepped beyond his depth and sank under the water When he came up the salt wave had cleared his remaining eye of clotted blood and for moment he could see. He located the open beach and made his way to it but before be reached it his sight was lost again.
 Gropes for Two Days
 For two days Hogan wandered about the beach in racking torture, blindly trying to find his way to his cabin with the fixed determination of killing him self with dynamite, but he was unable to reach the spot. Then two pros pectors came along in boat, saw and rescued him and took him to Latouche, where his face was dressed as well as possible. The first large boat which came along was the survey steamer Taku, which carried him to Ellamar. A surgeon there dressed his wounds and found that while one eye had been literally torn out of the head the other was uninjured.
 Hogan suffered no permanent injury beyond the loss of one eye and the disagreement of his face. H. A. Ingalls,, who saw him at Ellamar and brought the story to Seward, says he was in cheerful mood and expects to be out prospecting in short time. He is considered by all who saw him soon after he was rescued as nervy a man as ever walked. The prospectors who found him wandering on the beach, blind, and suffering indescri- ble agony, say that he was walking about silently, and never uttered a moan on the journey to Latouche or when his wounds were dressed.