The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-11-23


 Cherry. ILL, November 22.-An open Ing to the third vein, or the lowest level. of St. Paul mine was forced shortly before midnight tonight. The removal of bodies or the rescue of scores perhaps imprisoned in the vein, will begin before daybreak
 Tests made late tonight showed the existence of air in the lower vein. Candles lowered into it on strings had the flame sucked away from the shaft, indicating the presence of an air cur rent in the vein. Thousands of gallons of water have beeen poured into the gallery in the effort to extinguish the fires in the level above it.
 With air and water in abundance in the mine. hope for the rescue of tn ose within it Is strong in the breasts of those watching above it.
 Opening Is Cleared.
 The opening that has been cleared is q continuation of the main shaft. The shaft proper ends at the second vein, but to the gallery. 167 feet below, a smaller opening extends, to which a small cage runs This cage was at tached to the larger cage with rope and shortly before midnight the effort to bring it to the second level was be- gun.
 That the cage would contain bodies of the dead on its first trip or be crowded with living, was the ardent expectation of those working to lift it. It was asserted that the miners, hearing the moving of the machinery, would hasten to the cage, and that its first trip would add as many to the list of rescued as the car would hold. The recovering of AZ bodies during the day was attended by some of the saddest scenes of the disaster. Across the fields, when the first signals of bodies coming up' was given, stum- bled and labored almost 100 women and children who had been driven from the shaft by the fierce wind and cold
 The Identification of the bodies was a comparatively easy task. The smoke stains and burns found on the bodies of tn ose previously taken out were ab- sent and physicians declared that all but a few of the men had died of as- phyxiation. Some had torn every ves- tige of clothing from their bodies in their death agony.
 Bodies of Two Boys.
 Among the first bodies carried out were those of two of the trapper boys. The frail bodies of the children, neith- more than IA years old, were ten derly placed in the temporary morgue
 
 as if the children were their own.
 That they had lived and retained heir faculties for many days before the black damp crept upon them was ob- vious, but physicians declared unhesi- tatingly that every man had been dead for at least 4S hours.
 Gruesome tokens of the futile fight for life made by the men taken out dead today were found close beside the bodies. On the walls of the shaft had been fashioned rude wooden pin wheels, shaped in the fashion of venti- lating fans, and intended to bring at least some current of air to the lips of dying man. Boards torn from the timbering of the mine had been crude1y nailed or tied about the handles of the miners picks. These the men had turned by hand, standing close to them to gasp any oxygen stirred by the movement of the improvised ventilat- ing fans. Close beside the fans the largest groups of the dead were found.
 Thought Man Was Alive.
 At 18 minutes after 5 today another man was taken from the St. Paul coal mine. He was in an unconscious condition and was immediately rushed to the hospital train. The man was unidentified. It is believed more live men will be found in the same place.
 The man after being taken to the hos pital car was pronounced desd py rne physicians in charge and the body moved to the morgue. The body was vet warm and this fact leads to the belief of the rescuers that he was alive One of the rescuers excitedy told of hearing the man moan after he had been placed on the stretcher. but this was pronounced a mistake by the physicians. While uncertain as to the time of death they believe it had occurred at least 12 hours before being placed on the stretch CT. The temperature of the nne which Is higher than GO degree. caused by the Ire as yet unextinguished.t undoubtedly was the cause of the warmth of the body. Wild scenes followed the carry ing of the man to the hospital car
 ''They are alive,' came the cry from all sides and a rush that almost carried the bearers off their feet began. The soldiers were hurried to the spot and forced back the crowd, while physicians and nurses worked over the body of the man in the car The work of hoisting the other victims to the surface did not cease. As the first load of three stretch CTS. their burdens and their carriers reached the top, the crowd surged to the car a few yards away. Scores bent over the bodies, but the unpractioed glace of those not of the medical profession saw at once that there was no mistake as to the death of those on the stretch esA
 , The work of taking out the bodies con >-~
 GCoNTINUED ON PA0E <)