The L'Anse sentinel. (L'Anse, L.S., Mich.) 18??-current, 1909-12-04

Cherry, Ill-The st. Paul mine was
sealed up Thursday and will not be
opened again for several weeks. This
action was taken when 1t became
known that the fire could not be con-
trolled. No attempt will be made to
rescue the bodies still in the tunnels
until the flames are under control.
It Is estimated that 204 bodies are
sealed up in the mine. A large mum
Der were located Wednesday in the
third vein level of the mine. Since
that time the danger Of the fire work.
ing through the coal deposits in the
second vein and up the face of the
main shaft has increased hourly and
so menaced the lives Of the firemen
and rescuers that the off1cials decided
to seal the mine.
There were angry mutterings among
the men and grief was displayed by
the women when the news spread
that the effort to recover the dead had
been abandoned.
Twenty-one men who It was believed
lost their lives when the fire broke
out were rescued after having been
entombed for seven days. One Of them
however, died soon after reaching his
home.
The news of the rescue of living
men swept through the village like a
telepathic wave. It transformed q
community which was groveling in the
deepest pits of woe into community
delirious with Joy, intoxicated with
hope When the men came forth from
the shaft they found the whole coun
tryside gathered to give them wei
come.
Gaze at Own Collins.
When their eyes, accustomed for 9
week to the inky blackness of sealed
UP mine, were able to take in the
sights around them, one of the first
things that they saw was the piled-ur
cofins in which, by all the laws oil
science and engineering, they were to
have been buried.
When they we're able to speak the
first words that left their lips were
words that brought up hope that hun
dreds of other men yet in the mine
might be still alive. During the long
watches of their own Imprisonment
they said they had heard sounds that
made them sure that the crannies and
corridors about them held living
men.
Third Vein Untouched.
Hope that there are other men alive
in the mine is based on the fact that
its area covers nearly square mile
and that the third vein has scarcely
been touched by the smoke. All the
men saved were in the second vein
Rescuers fought in the mine with
the energy of demons. They knew
that every minute, every second
counted They knew that in the case
Of the Fl brought up alive human
vitality was tested almost to the ut.
most. An hour longer and many OF
the 81 would have died. The rescu
ing parties worked amid the reek OF
sewer gas and the fetid odor Of dead
bodies, but in the face of the most ro
voting conditions worked until they
dropped.
Ten minutes Defore the nrst OF the
rescued miners came to the surface
the news that they had been saved
had been flashed like lightning over
the town. Workmen dropped theil
tools. storekeepers left their counters
the local banker directed that hi
vaults should be locked and deserted
the institution.
"The Men Are Alive"
THE men are alive" rang in {
scream through the streets. WomeI
dropped their work and, snatching vi
their children, ran to the main shaft
Hope and despair fought battle OF
every face. Men showed their excite
ment by shouting incoherent nothing