Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-11-21
brought down the dirt from the top,
and a little black hole appeared before

brought down the dirt from the top
and a little black hole appeared before
us.
Entombed Men Answer Calls.
Two or three of us climbed over the
dirt and yelled, Are any of you alive
in there, boys?'
AN answer came back, Yes
Before another word could be ut
dirt again. Soon large gap appeared
I'VE yelled in to them, Hold one OF
our torches
How many of you are alive in there,
boys? We will save you in minute
I'm faint, husky voices the men called
back. Yes, we are alive. and you bet
we are hungry. too. Have you got some
lunch out there?'
II crawled up as near the hole as ]
could without interfering with the men.
God bless you, men. We Will get
you out in minute and give you ali
the lunch you can eat. Be patient as
you can
Il couldn't see anything back in there.
for the men were in total darkness. So
I climbed back and prayed that God
would make the number we were about
to rescue from the living grave as many
as possible.
by that time the hole was wide open.
A dozen pair of glistening eyes shining
out from black faces appeared In view.
Encouragement Given Them.
1--WE kept yelling in to the men to keep
up their courage, promising them that
the way would soon be clear The cage
In the hosting shaft was down and ready
to carry them to the surface.
Zone of the men inside answered back:
Most Of us are all right and feeling fine.
But there is one poor fellow in here-a
Frenchman called Frank-who is almost
gone. I'm afraid he will be dead in q few
minutes If he doesn't get some fresh air.
when the pile of dirt finally tumbled
down some Of the men were staggered
by the thrush of air and the lights from
our torches. for during seven days they
had lived in total darkness.
with shout we jumped over and met
them, throwing our arms around their
necks and almost lifting them from their
feet.
''Their joy was inexpressible They
pounded US on our backs and continued
to laugh and cry aloud until the whole
place reverberated with the cheering.
I'VE wanted to carry the men to the
hosting shaft in our arms. They insist
ed they were strong and we'll enough to
walk out themselves. The only trouble
was they were practically blinded by the
torchlight. We threw blankets over their
heads and started to escort them.
Given Sacrament and Dies.
MY first concern was to get after the
poor little Frenchman who was reported
dying. 1 found him outstretched on his
back breathing his last. Holding a torch
over his face. which was black from SCOT,
1 said: DO you give your soul to God:
HE answered: Yes I am afraid / will
never get up alive
That was true. ] administered the
last sacrament. In minute he was
dead.
Il then joined the others and walked
toward the shaft. There occurred then
one of the greatest acts of heroism I ever
heard or read Of 1t can hardly be be-
lieved
Walter Waite. one of the men we res.
cued. on hearing that there were others
alive in another part Of the mine, threw
off the blanket with which we had cover
ed is head and souted: Well, then, by
God. l am not going out of this mine
until l get the others.
I'VE demonstrated, saying that for him
to remain down there longer would mean
his death.
I'VE will take you up to the fresh air
and give you some nice warm food and
then maybe we will let you help us do
the rest of the work But Waite pro-
tested. We actually had to use force to
get him into the cage. All the way up
he shouted: Let me go down and help
get up the Others
All this time those on the surface
had. as during the last three or four
days, a firm conviction that everybody in
the mine was dead Nobody conceived
of any other possibility. 1t was a great
JOY then to cry up the shaft:
We've got some men alive. Hoist her
up quick
the men into a Pullman car standing
near"