Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1909-11-15
Nearly 400 Men and Boys Dead or Perishing in
ST. Paul Mine--Fre Extinguished, But Dead
" Gases and Lack Of Air Allow Lit
tie Hope -ResCuerS Forcing Way In.

mouth l began to grow faint from the
effects of smoke and exhaustion. pull
ed my coat closely about my face and
bending closely to the rail struggled on.
Il escaped death by just three min
ut6S. When l arrived at the bottom Of
the shaft the last cage was about to
descend. l shouted as the signal bell
was ringing. Two men broke their way
TO me and dragged me to the cage. +
then lost consciousness. When 1 came
to, l was safely on top"
Vic,Iers Buddy" or mine mate. was
| also saved.
tobacco pouch was the means Of
saving John Phillips and Edward Sur.
rock. Phillips dragged the unconscious
Surrcck until he himself was almost
overcome by the smoke.
Then. with a miners intuition he
emptied the contents of his tobacco
pouch and placing one end in his
mouth. he pulled the rest of it over his
nose and fastened it about his read
! with string. BY crawling with his
| head close to the rail he struggled to-
ward the shaft, dragging his almost
| lifeless comrade with him.
John McGill and his young son left
the place where they were working
wren the alarm was given. Before half
| the journey was completed the boy
began to grow dizzy. Clasping his ia
tner's hand he sank to his knees, ex-
| claiming weakly: Papa, 1 am dying,
leave me and save yourself IL you
| can"
Although very weak himself, McGill
took off his belt and strapped the UNI
conscious boy on his back and strug-
| sled on. Within sight of the shaft he
| staggered and fell Before losing con-
| sciousness he yelled for help and his
| cries were heard. The rescuers bore
the twain TO the cage and they were
| hoiSted to the surface.
The fire causing the explosion, which
| may prove one of the greatest trag-
edcs in the list of mine horrors, had
an origin almost trivial. A pile Of hay
allowed to shoulder too long, finally
| ignited the timbers of the mine and
before the workers realized their dan
ger the mine was filed with smoke,
| gases and flames and all exit was i'm
| possible. Herosm such as is rarely ex-
| hibted was shown by officials Of the
mine and residents of the town Of
Cherry. These men, who were outside,
contributed five to the list of IL known
dead.
| Alexander Nerberg. pit man, gave
his life unhesitatingly in futile eff
fort to save those of his comrades who
risked their lives with him. Standing
at the bottom of the shaft he carried
four dying men into the cage, the only
way of escape. AS the last was car
ried in he fell across the body. He was
dead, as were all Of his companions,
when the cage reached the top.
Those who went into the pit with
him were John Flood and Isaac Lewis,
merchant of Cherry. and Dominic
Fonrcnti. DR.. H. Howe, q physician
OF the city, who sought to go with the
men. when they descended in the cage,
had been thrust out by Bundy, who
exclaimed:
'They will need you at the top IL we
get any one out. No risking your life
down here"
The physician vainly sought to re-
suscitate the men when they were car
ried to him a few minutes later. He
said they died of suffocation.
At the entrance hundreds Of scream
ing women. weeping children and fran
tic but helpless men crowded around.
A few survivors were surrounded by
groups of the women and the answers
of these men to loudly shrieked in
quiries only added to the terror. AL
most to a man the survivors declared
there was no hope for those still in the
mine.
The fire had burned away the tim
bers Of the shaft and the flames soon
reached the escape shaft. A few min
utes later the fan which supplied air
to the shaft collapsed and tumbled
through the opening. The flames then
swept on to the mouth Of the pit
where they were carried to the sur
face forcing back all those who ven-
tured near. The officials knew that
the fire must be eating it's. way back
into the shaft and then the measure
of sealing the mouth of the pit was
adopted.
Before this, water had been poured
down the escape shaft but to no better
effect than to flood the floor and fur
ther impede any effort of those inside
to escape.
That those of the men who were able
had retreated to the Furthermore ends
of the veins was the statement OF the
miners of the service. There they might
huddle together gasping what little
oxygen remained. The most hopeful Of
those seeking to aid the unfortunates
doubted that more than a few score
will be found alive when aid comes.
The only men to escape were those
near the main entrance when the IRE
Continued on Page Ten.l