The News-Herald. [volume] (Hillsboro, Highland Co., Ohio) 1886-1973, 1909-11-25
THRILLING ACCOUNT
OF the Finding Of the Living Men In
the Mine from a Brave Priest.

Cherry, Ill.-A graphic description
Of the discovery of the men from the
viewpoint of the rescuers was told by
Father James p. Henry. OF st. Mary's
church, Mendoza, III. Father Henry,
wearing miners cap and a flaming
torch, was down in the mine with the
rescue party. He said:
Just about O'clock. when we were,
rs near as ! can tell, 800 feet into the
gallery from the hosting shaft, our
party Stacked up because of a pile OF
debris in the way. Suddenly David
Powell said:
Listen boys, | thought / heard
something
1--WE were all silent. A faint pound
ing, as II coming through the thickness
of wall, was heard.
"'My God said Powell, 4 believe
somebody Is alive in there.
Some of the other. men replied
NO, that is impossible. Nobody in the
world thinks for a minute the men
could live down here for seven days
"'Well now | said, let's listen
again
ut was weird scene. The lights
on our torches kept bobblng up and
down as we labored and filed the
place with moving shadows.
Now, let's stop and listen again,
said Powell. Much to our glee the
pounding sounds came louder. A few
more digs IN shovelfuls brought down
the dirt from the top, and a little black
hole appeared before us.
1.-TWO C.. three OF us climbed over
the dirt and yelled: Are any of you
llive in there, boys?'
AN answer came back, Yes
Before another word could be utter.
ed the men began puliing at the dirt
again, and soon large gap appeared.
We yelled in to them: Hold one of our
torches
"How many OF you are alive In
there, boys? We will save you in a
minute.
"ln faint, husky voices, the men call.
ed back, YES, We are alive, and you
bet we are hungry. too. Have you got
some lunch out there?
81 crawled up as near the hole as I
could without interfering with the
men. ,t...
God bless you, men, we will get
you out in a minute and give You all
the lunch you can eat. Be patient as
you can
81 could not see anything back I'm
there, for the men were in total dark.
ness, so | climbed back and prayed
that God would make the number we
were about to rescue from the living
graves o. as many as possible.
1--WE kept yelling in to the men to
keep up their courage, promising them
that the way would soon be clear and
the cage in the boisting shaft was down
and ready to carry them to the sur.
face
"One OF the men inside answered
back: Most OF us are all right and
feeling fine, but there is one poor fel.
low in here-a Frenchman called
Frank-who is almost gone and I'm
afraid he will be dead In a few min.
utes If he does not get some fresh air.
when the pile of dirt finally tum.
bled down some of the men were stag.
gered by the thrush OF air and the
lights from our torches. For during
seven days they had lived in total
darkness.
with a shout we jumped over and
met them, throwing our arms around
their necks and almost lifting them
from their feet. Their Joy was ineA
pressable. They pounded us on our
backs and continued to laugh and cry
aloud until the whole place rover.
berated with the cheering
I'VE wanted TO carry the men to
the hosting shaft In our arms, but
they insisted they were strong and
well enough to walk out themselves.
The only trouble was they we're prac.
pcally blinded by the torchlight. We
threw blankets over their heads. and
started to escort them.