Mexico Missouri message., 1909-11-25
TWENTY SAVED AND 1893 MISS
ING, IS CHERRY DISASTER
RECORD.
BLACK DAMP STAYS RESCUE
One Of Rescue Party Reports Hearing
Voices on other Side Of Cave
In-Elghtesn Victims Were
Buried Sunday.

| the record at the ST. Paul mine.
Ten dead were brought to the sur
! face Sunday, and thirty-seven more
dead were located in the second level,
but were not brought up on account
| OF black damp.
James Lewison, of Peru, one Of the
members OF the rescuing party, de-
clared at midnight he had heard a
human voice on the other side OF the
! cavern. He said he had heard the
voice plainly, although 1t sounded as
though 1t was far away. Lewiston
Immediately called the attention of
the other workmen to the place from
which the voice came, but they could
hear nothing.
Il would swear that / heard some
one calling through the cave-in." said
he. 1T sounded like they were far
away, or were so weak they could not
shout loudly. Those people are alive,
and the sooner we get to them the
better because l do not think they
can last much longer"
What had promised to be Cherry's
real day of thanksgiving. ended in a
night Of hope deferred, or despair.
At the end OF the day no living man
or boy had been AIDED to the list Of
the twenty rescued Saturday.
Church Bells Toll for the Dead.
All Sunday the toling of church
bells Tesounded in Cherry and Spring
Valley. Eighteen bodies were in
TERED in a field south of the town.
At the mine a dozen coffined vic
tins remain awaiting removal,
while a score of caskets were piled
near by for bodies which are to come.
The gamut from deepest despair to
an hysteria of hope was run when
twenty miners. almost to the hour,
were brought to the surface alive Sat
urday.
At midnight a fire started in the
mine, cutting of the rescue work.
Fire apparatus had to be lowered and
stream of water again turned into
the mine. 1t was feared the living
would be killed, but the fire was soon
under control.
The heat was intense. r. E. Max
well, mining engineer in the rescue
party, was overcome and had to be
hurried to the top. During the night
the bodies of forty dead have been
taken from the east entry.
Dawn broke with the bearers of
stretchers moving from the pit mouth
to the tent which served as a morgue.
with bodies swollen and scorched al
most beyond human semblance. Forty
! of them had been brought up and
most of them identified, when the
marvellous report shot through the
| PROSTATE community: They've found
! them alive-they'ye found them alive"
In a moment the morgue was de-
serted, scarcely to be revisited, while
the crowd, fairly insane with the
great hope which had sprung like a
miraculous fame from the ashes of
despair, rushed to the pit All thought
was of the men who were alive.
From the top of the hosting shaft
to the sleeping cars drawn upon the
side tracks, was a distance Of about
$50 feet Between the crowd, held
back by the militia, formed a gang
way 1t was along this line that the
women, looking for lost ones, gazed
into the faces of the survivors as
they passed throughout
AS night drew on, the whole scene
was revealed only by pale moon
light and the pickering lights of
torches worn on the caps of the res
cuers. Each time, as the signal
sounded from the hoist for the cage
to come up from the mine, the noise
of the crowd subdued into murmur-
ing expectancy.
Hoist her up" came from the
depths. Hoist her up" repeated
the engineer overhead.
Then the men and women pressed
forward against the line of soldiers
and ropes, determined to get as near
as possible to peer into the faces OF
the survivors as they marched by.
The machinery stopped. The cage
was up and a dozen torches shed a
dingy light on it's passengers. There
stood the rescuers, wearing shiny
rubber coats and white caps. Between
them, wrapped IN militia blan,
kets, they held the rescued men
some standing, others carried in arms
Slowly the procession moved through
the gangway.
A burst Of applause started from
the crowd, but raised hand from the
militiamen brought silence.
1t was a critical moment for the
hopes of many. Mothers ana wives
stretched forth their arms murmuring
Billie" or Frank" or James" are
you there; speak to me, am here"
The blankets over the bodies OF the
men hid their faces and prevented
Identification from. the crowd. Not
receiving reply, the women tore to
wards the sleeping cars, imploring
and begging any one to give them
good news