Los Angeles herald., 1908-01-19
ONE DRIVEN
MAD BY NEWS
OF DEATH
LONG IMPRISONMENT UNDER
GROUND ENDS
REscUERs SUCCEED IN REACH
ING LOWER LEVEL
After Days Of Hard Work Force Re-
leases Laborers Who Have
Been Buried Under
Tons of Rock

B. Associated Press.
SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 49,
A private dispatch received in
this city late tonight states that
at 10 o'clock the three men who
were entombed in the Alpha shaft
at Ely, New, on December 9,
were released.
At the time of the entombment
the men were at work on the
1100-foot level when cave-in oc-
Cured which blocked the shaft
and killed fourth man. For
over six weeks the men have
lived on provisions sent to them
through a six-inch- drainage pipe.
ELY. New, Jan. 1S.-Desperately lighting
with an armed maniac, two of the miners
entombed 1000 feet below the surface of
tho earth in the Alpha shaft here have
during the last nine hours, several times
narrowly escaped death at the hands of
their maddened companion.
Late Yesterday afternoon sounds of bat
tie reached the ears of the party of
rescuers who for nearly two months have
striven day and night to reach the inn
| prisoned men.
| All work stopped temporarily and soon
word spread that one of the three men
| had gone mad.
| A few minutes later the sound of an ex-
cited voice came through the tube which
had beer showed down the shaft to carry
food and water to the men, and the
rescuers learned that one of the miners
had lost his mind as the result of re-
celving news earlier in the day that his
mother was dead
Driven Mad by Letters
The word taken to the crowA at the
upper end of the shaft was That the
| miner had acted strangely after receiving
the news and had kept to himself during
the greater part of the day. About
| o'clock in the afternoon his companions
noticed that he ha6 picked up a heavy
miners pick, and with this was advanc-
ing upon them. Fearing he meant to
! take their lives the frightened men
shrank TO one side of the shaft. where
they stood together awaiting the ox-
pected attack.
For some time the maniac stood facing
the miners and then struck his pick into
the earth with fierce oath. As he did
/ so the miners sprang upon him, and for
several minutes desperate fight waged
The miners sought to gain control of the
pick, while the nadman fought with
might and main to retain possession of it,
Wrest Pick from Maniac
At last one of the miners succeeded in
wrestling it from the man, but a second
later the madman sprang to the opposite
side of the shaft and armed himself with
a heavy steel crowbar, the only remain
| ing weapon In the mine.
/ At the time the miner was shouting this
news up the narrow pipe which connects
him and his companions with the outer
world the two armed men were standing
about twelve feet apart, each watching
the other and prepared for any move
Late last night solid ground was reached
| in the shaft Timbers which had fallen
! from above were wedged in the shaft
holding back the debris and leaving an
opening large enough for the rescuers to
crawl through.
They descended on a ladder to point
| 760 feet below the mouth of the shaft
The opening extended farther but just
how far is not known. The ladder broke,
and this prevented further exploration.