Morgan County republican. (Versailles, Mo.) 1906-1914, 1909-11-18
COLD AIR IN SECOND LEVEL AND
REPORTED SIGNALS GIVE
WATCHERS HOPE.
OXYGEN TAKEN INTO SHAFT
Those Entombed Number 372-Wid.
ows and Orphans Are Destitute
Torch Fired Hay, Says o.
eiai-BIaze Thought Not
to Have Spread Much.

Cherry, Ill., Nearly 400 human be-
ings, men and boys, it Is now believed
are dead or perishing in the st. Paul
mine here, though experts, who sue
ceeded in penetrating the smoke-fllled
air shaft to the depth Of 900 feet late
Sunday, returned with a ray Of hope
for the grief-stricken relatives OF the
entombed men.
That the fire has been extinguished
was the conclusion Of mining experts
and inspectors sent here by Gov.
Deneen to investigate the clamity and
its cause.
For more than thirty hours the
miners have been cut off from fresh
and undoubtedly have been subjected
to smoke-nlled veins. That life could
exist under such conditions Is doubted
by many, but because no trace of high
temperature was found In the depths
of the mine, friends Of the miners, and
even officials of h company, have
hope that the victims may have been
safety in remote recesses of the mine.
A.. J. Earling, president OF the Chi
cago Milwaukee & st. Paul Railroad
company, who has not slept since ar
irving on the scene Of the catastrophe
received an encouraging report after
heroic efforts had been made to open
the mine for the release of the en-
tombed men or the discovery Of the
Much-feared masses of dead.
From the son of one of the missing
miners, a young man named John
Reid, the railroad president heard that
a conclusion Of the earth had been
felt by the farmers half a mile south
of the main shaft. The report was
sent to Henry Burke, an official of the
mining company. Burke rushed to
President Earling in the office Of the
company.
I've heard signals from the men,
he said eXcitedly.
"Wha do you mean?" asked the
railroad president.
"Wha %signals?"
A Ray Of Hope.
John Reds boy says that he and
farmers whose lands is over the
southern end Of the mine felt several
conclusions of the earth Sunday after
noon. There were several shocks, and
h men felt them are convinced they
were shots fired by the imprisoned
miners, and that they were meant for
an assurance that at least some OF
them live"
"Oh. l hope So" said Earling "Tha,
Is at least encouraging"
Il. Y. Williams, experts at the gov
eminent experiment station connected
with the state college at Urbana
created additional hope by a late re
port that there was a good supply O.
cold air In the second vein, located
$40 feet beneath the surface. This II
taken as an indication that the in
terror of the mine is not 80 badl.
aflame as vas first supposed.
1t leads certain people to think tina
al least some OF the men In the thirt
vein. 484 feet deep. are still breatinl
and that their lives a be saved 1
they are brought to the surface within
the next twelve hours or SO.
Williams has made several descent
into the mine. but his last was tn
most successful. He walked some dis
lance along the second level, but
rope attachment to his outit. Unite
his exploration. He expects to dii
conect the rope on his next trip dowr
Crowd Becomes Unruiy.
Subsequently. Edward Fellows. fol
mer inspector Of state mines, made a
examination Of the smoke issuin
I, from the main shaft and declared hi
Z belief that 1t was caused from tn
! timbers in the shaft and that the FIR
had not spread much.
President Earling Is not the only O
flcial who now expects bright thing
but they are doing more hoping tina
q talking.
A The crowd became so large and III
4 ruly about the mine that 1t was foun
necessary to stretch ropes and static
e many special policemen to hold
In check.
a Along the outskirts of the crow
were the Reverend Father Wenzel
past'f, and the Reverend FAITH