Watertown leader. [volume] (Watertown, Jefferson County, Wis.) 1909-1911, 1909-11-26
Food Evenly Divided.

Under leadership of one Crescent such
food as remained in dinner pals was as
sembled and the men put on short ra-
tons. In this and subsequent measures
taken to safeguard the prisoners. an
Englishman, who had had previous ex-
perlences of the kind, shared leadership
with the Italian.
When the explorers. led by Duncan
Mcdonald, president of the Illinois Fed
grafton of Miners, broke into the tomb
IKE prison, the men were all seated, but
with the ray of light which shot into
their prison from the lights of the
searching party they jumped to their
feet and gave a feeble cheer
Inc excitement which prevailed among
the rescuers far exceeded that in evil
dence amongst those Snatched from the
Jaws of death. They said that when the
lowering temperature showed them that
the nre was out they had started to dig
their own way out, their barricade hav-
ing been almost impassably reinforced by
a cavern.
Women Faint on Ground.
When Spogatta was led to the dining
car he ran fairly into the arms of his
wife and two children. There was a
short hysterical torrent of endearing
words poured from her lips and then the
mother turned and kissed the feet of the
man who had brought him out Then she
pulled her children down and they per
formed the same ceremony of gratitude
The wife of another man tainted in her
husbands arms.
Rescued by Brother.
Among others rescued were John and
Joseph Pigetti, George and John Semrich
and William Waite, Il mine boss, and
William Cleland. Cleland was rescued
by Robert, his own brother, who carried
the man to the surface without recogniz-
Ing who he was.
Yells and cheers went up from all
sides and when one of the men with
blackened face thrust his head out of
the car, the crowd became so demon
stratiye that Sheriff Skoglund mounted
the platform and said:
Good people, please be quiet. Wait
till we get out the others. Any noise
or too much cheering may do harm. Be
patient as you can while we take them
out"
Among the rescued was George Eddy,
mine examiner for the company Thd
greatest credit is given him for his
work IN saving the entombed miners.
Dies of Injuries.
In one shaft blocked off from noxious
lost last Monday, and he attacked the
barricade, intiicting upon himself in
jurieS from which he died.
The scene around the shaft and the
company's offices was one of widest jul
bilation.
'Monahan is out" Billy Heinze Is
alive" These and other names of other
men rescued were shouted from man to
man, from group to group down the rail
road tracks and into the village, which
had suddenly been dragged from the
depths of despair to the pinnacle of hope.
Not a shopkeeper in the city remained
at his post. They Joined the throng of
women and children in the mad hysteri-
cal rush to the scene of what to the eX-
perts is regarded as a miraculous out
come of the disaster.
Lives Hang in Balance
Inspector Crawford OF the state board
of health, after being down in the mine
for half an hour, reported that sixty-sev-
en- of the live men were in a critical con-
dition. They were so weak they were
unable to stand the exertion of being
moved. All the doctors on the ground
and in the village were hurriedly called
and arrangements were made for them
to rush down into the mine where q tenn
porary hospital has been arranged.
Some of the men are so weak they can
hardly gasp" said DIR. Crawford "They
are unable to take any solid food. Such
artificial stimulants are being admins
tered as our small force VIII permit
William Cleland, one of the survivors,
none the worse for his experience.
I'VE made the most of our situation"
he said, sitting in the ear and surround
ed by nurses. "As soon as we discov-
cred fire last Saturday and that there
was no hope of escape, we retreated TO Ii
safe place where water could be found.
Fortunately some of the timbers behind
us burned out and this let earth and
rocks fall down, cutting us off from the
heat and gas. how the time went we do
not know. We must have been uncon-
scious part of the time.
Chew Bark from Posts.
81 remember soon after we shut in of
drinking great quantities of the seepage
that had dripped down into the gutter
and Of eating my lunch. After that some
of us pulled off the bark and kept
chewing it.
eve did not realize how serious was
our position, in fact some of the men
spent the time joking and said they
wished they had a pack of cards. 1t was
after we had drunk up all the water and
the seepage had run dry that we began
to pound on the wall to cause more to
drop down.
Experts Are Astounded.
Since Monday there has been no ex-
pert either of the schools or practical
mining who believed a soul remained
brought up showing suffcation and the
fact that there was still food in their
dinner pals seemed to indicate that
every life had been snuffed out in one
hideous blast of noxious gases
Only last night one of the most ext
perienced of government experts ex1
planned to a reporter how the st. Paul
mine differed from others where some
had escaped death. The construction of
the mine and the character of its geo
logical deposits all were against belief
in any prospect for the entombed men
except death.
Hears Sweet Words.
William Heinz's wife was at home
when news that rescues had been made,
but no names were known then. She
saw her sisters in distress rush past her
house, bu. was compelled to remain at
the bedside Of her baby, who was suffer-
ing from pneumonia. But her forced de-
tention at home occasioned her little de-
lay from receiving the news of her hus-
bands return to the land of the living.
The cry 'Heiuz is up was among the
first that electrified the stricken commu-
nifty. How such news Travelled can hard
ly be explained but almost as soon as the
cry was raised at the pit it came like
music to the ears of the waiting wife.
George Siemitz, another of the rescued,
answered the clamorous greetings of his
friends with an explanation of an incl
dent uppermost in his mind, the loss of
his dinner pail When the fire broke
out Siemitz rushed for the shaft but
was driven back. He fell over a pros