The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-11-18

A.l.. s.ln pur.I.s ..d wene. wrlnx

Cherry, III. Now E.--After claiming
them for four days. the st. Paul mine
In which are still entombed the bod
! les of 800 or more miners as result
OF last Saturdays disaster. today refus-'
ed to yield up it's dead
litter failure to devise any satisfac-
tory meth Cd of recovering the bodies
attended the work OF the rescuers.
Tonight the interior of the mine was
burning almost as fiercely as ever the
lifting of the lid over the. mouth of
the hoisting shaft indicating by fire.
Quent puffs of smoke the fury of the
Smothered flames.
The two companies of State troops
sent here to prevent possible disorder,
remained all day idle in their cars ex-
cept for guard duty about the mine and
sleeping cars at night.
An important conference lasting Ave
hours at which there were present
federal. state and local mining experts.
was held today. The meeting was CALI
ed in response to a feeling that efforts
should be made to penetrate into the
mine and bring up the bodies at all
hazards. But at its conclusion 1t was
found that no immediate descent could
he made into the gas and heat flied
cavern without risk of killing the
rescuers.
1--WE met nothing but obstacles in
orr Efforts" declared State Mining In
spector Thomas Hughson. The sitiia-
ton is most distressing.
Confer Over situation.
The conference Gas attended nv
President A. ]. Earring of the c. NJ &
st. p Railroad; George S. Rice, of
Pittsburg. of the UNIFIED States geologi-
cal survey; j. w. Paul in charge or
the government mine rescue work; Illi-
nois State Mine Inspectors w. w. Lit
tie and Thomas Little; Indiana Nine
Inspector James Apperson: Ohio Mine
Inspector George Harrison; Missouri
Inspector Nicholas; G.. W. Graer of the
State Mine investigating commission
and others.
Various schemes were proposed.
Among them was one to open up an air
shaft distant from the hosting shaft,
which hitherto has been worked. and
by means of gigantic fan produce a
false air current which would carry
the gas and heat away from the shaft
down which 1t was intended to send
the rescuers.
Some of those who opposed this de-
clared the entire project for rescue
would have to be indefinitely postpon-
ed They asserted that the internal
fires were intense. that 1t would be
useless to risk more lives and that In
fact the mine would have to be sealed
before the mine could be cooled on.
It was q day Of hope and abandon
ment of hope.
scores of women continued to finger
about the ground. SO great has been
the anguish and mental strain during
the last four days that. It Is feared
many>women are on the verge of in
sanity. One woman. who declared
she had had dreams and visions of her
husband and brother still living In
the mine, snrieked piteously implor-
ing the authorities to open the shaft.
and then fell senseless in>fhs street
Determined to show the people ev-
erything possible was being done, the
authorities threw open the mine COM
pany's grounds and allowed crowds
to gather near the shaft. Details of
what was being done were publicly
announced. As Mining Engineer Rice
lowered a thermometer through a
bore in the shaft to test the degree of
neat, another man stepped forward
and announced through a megaphone:
s0ne hundred and fourteen degrees
near the top"
At the bottom of the 300-foot shaft,
lot degrees were registered.
why" cried chorus of voices,
'that's good they can go down in
that. We can stand ia degrees in the
sun; surely they'll go down In that. :"
II was explained tnat OWING 10 Tire
gas in the mine oxygen helmets would
have to be worn by the rescuers, and
that much lower degree of tempera-
ture than that in ordinary conditions
was necessary for those who wore he'll
NETS. Moreover. 1t was said that If
the seal was opened the fresh air
rushing in would fan the fire and be-
fore the rescuers could get down flames
might be leaping high.
Uneasiness II Felt.
A third company of militia was made
ready today for the guarding OF the
mine and cars of the railroad officials
tonight! The demonstration Of feel
ing on the part of the survivors of the
.entombed miners served to create con-
siderable uneasiness.
This led Sheriff Skoglund to take Inn
mediate action, and at dusk he asked
the railroad off1eials to move the troop
cars. which had been stationed several
hundred feet from the mine up beside
the special cars which are serving as
a temporary hotel.
81 want to assure everyone who has
any fear for his safety that he win
be protected" said the sheriff after