The Brandon news. (Brandon, Miss.) 1892-1961, 1906-04-05
ENTOMBED FOR
TWENTY DAYS
FRENCH MINERS LIVE ON DE.
CAYED FLESH.
SEQUEL TO THE DISASTER
The Disaster at the Courrieres had it
Sequel When Thirteen Miners Were
Taken Out Still Alive After SUI
fering Unspeakable Horrors.


Ciurrieres coal mines had a startlin
sequel when thirteen miners were tax
en- out alive after having endured I'M
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 day
on putrid horse. meat amid total dark
ness and in the stencil from scores
'decaying corpses. The presence o.
human flesh would have speedily fore
ed the surviving men to resort to the
last desperate extremity if they ha
not been rescued. The survivors were
sturdy young miners from IL to 2,
years old, except their leader, Henri
Nemy, who is 39 years old. All show
the terrible effects of their experiences
being emaciated, exhausted and al
most blinded. Their rescue caused 2
temporary nervous lucidity durin
which they greeted their relatives ans
graphically related their sufferings
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 | CROPPED my
way about, stumbling over bodies and
seeking refuge from the gases [
found some comrades sheltered in a
remote niche. We ate earth and bark
for eight days and then the provisions
gave out.
eve continued to grope among the
bodies seeking for anoutlet from our
prison, but were forced back time
and again.
eve found some hay, which we ate,
and two days after we found a 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:
eve 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:
eve 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 Ii men revived
the hope in many families that 9th
ers are alive, and the relatives of those
whose bodies have not been recovered
DANGEROUSLY demanded that efforts be
redoubled to bring out any possible
survivors.
There is a report that In addition
to the 13 men who were brought out
of the mine, there were five others
who came with them almost to the
bottom Of the pit, but were unable to
come further on account of exhaus.
ton.
The total number Of men missing
after the catastrophe was 1,2l2.
The bodies recovered approximately
numbered 500, and there are still I'M
accounted for approximately 700. The
engineers explain that smoldering fires
prevented them from exploring re-
mote passages of the mine, where it
was thought there 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
sorting the salvage work has been de-
plorably insufficient, and he believes
that scores died of exhaustion owing
to poor work of the salvage compa.
MES.
20 aaEErfM CHATTANOOGA