The Montgomery advertiser. [volume] (Montgomery, Ala.) 1885-1982, 1909-11-20
RESTORE BODIES
TO LOVED ONES
Corpses Dragged From Debris
Of Mine.
PATHETIC SCENES AT SHAFT
Women and Children Almost Insane
With Grief.
Firemea From Chicago Succeeded In
Extinguishing FLAMES, and Awful
sights are Revealed TO Res
cuers--work Of identifying
Recovered Bodies Begins.
PATHETIC SCENES AT SHAFT

desperation have greatly checked the
fire that snuffed out 500 lives last Sat
urday in the st. Paul coal mine; men
braved today the fire swept tunnels to
bring to the surface the dead; charity
has poured aid into the homes of suffer-
ing survivors, but all of this cannot
subdue the grief of Cherry's inhabi-
tants when the sight of the dead. lift
ed from the tomb, exploded their hopes
that men might be rescued alive.
1t has been just nix days since ire
starting In bale of hay swept the
three hundred bread winners of this
community 20 their doom and In all
that time of anxiety but FIVE bodies o.
the entombed have been recovered,
four of them today and one last night.
Tomorrow probably, many more dead
will be recovered. More were found
today but explorers working deep into
the second gallery were forced to flee
for their lives. as they were about to
bring them out, when falling earth and
rock endangered them.
Tonight miners were put to work
replacing the burned timbers and clear
ing Instructions which impede access
into the veins for more than $50 feet
from the main shaft. Beyond this
point fires stili burn.
The mine authorities were satisfied
tonight with the progress OF the work
Mine, sorrowful scene.
The mine today was a sorrowful
scene. AS the weeping women and
children viewed the dead their grief
moved the hardest heart. The sight OF
mutilated forms brought realization
that there was no hope for any human
being who failed to escape after tbs
are This raolfzaftnv drava mauv NJ
the women TO their homes. where
agents of charity were able for this
first time to talk with them satisfac.
torily,
Conviction that their husbands were
dead prompted the women to think o.
their future and their children.
Cherry ali, day was the mecca fol
thousands of visitors attracted by ths
opening of the mine They came Ii
special trains. automobiles, carriages
and on foot. The military guarc
around the mine preserved perfect or.
der and no trouble of any kind was re-
ported.
The dead recovered today were iden.
titled as Henry Knoll, So years; Alfred
Kroll l5 years old, father and son
George McCullen. Ss and Charles White
aged 20.
At the time members OF the rescu'
ing party working in the second leve
were almost cut of from escape by Z
sudden falling of rock and earth, they
had placed two bodies on a stretches
and were ready to carry them to thu
cage in the hosting shaft, when, with
a series of loud reports, shower o.
debris came down.
Drop the bodies and run for your
lives" shouted the leader.
Great Heap OF Corpses.
The men were then about $50 fee
in from the hosting shaft. Farther II
they could see great heap of bod
les. They were those OF men. boys anC
mules Unfortunately mixed. indicat
ing that they died before the mule,
had been driven from the shaft by the
heat and in the final struggle hac
tumbTed over each other
Leaving behind them the two bod
les which they had struggled hard t.
reach, the fire fighters rushed to thu
hoisting shaft, where they were re-
yived by the cooler air They were
quickly brought to the top.
None were found to be hurt. It wal
explained that the sold water poured
into the hot mine had the effect OF
cooling the walls. The clearing away
of the debris delayed the exploration
work almost the entire afternoon.
led for six days some OF the miners
may still be found alive?"
This question was revived today al
officials succeeded in getting into the
remote parts of the galleries.
One old miner who lost a son declar-
ed he was still hopeful.
"Those entombed in mines have KEEP
themselves alive as long as thirty
days" he said. 81 hope some Of those
men were wise enough to get Into some
OF the galleries and barricade them
selves in there. They would have beer
able to wall the galleries up with Goa
and shut out the gases In this way
they could exist a week. When this
debris has been cleared out / believe
they will find some of the men. ex'
hausted perhaps. but still breathing"
Expert AbandOnH Hope.
George S. Rice. of the United states
geological survey said he had no such
hope. 1T is true" he said. that lone
periods of Imprisonment In mine have
been endured. but the conditions In
those cases have been more favorable
than these Here everything has beer
against 1t and 1 believe there is NJ
chance of recovering any one alive"
Visiting nurses are tired from thei,
long vigils. They have needed all o
their training in showroom cheerfulnes
to bear up under the stories OF mis-
fortune and grief which greet then
everywhere. Where distress is great
est their duty calls them and none
save the bereaved are carrying
heavier burden of sadness.
e. P. Bieknell, the Red Cross direc
tor said tonight that today has beer
the first since the catastrophe that h,
and his assistants have been able Il
secure rational answers from bereavet
women as to their material needa.,
The result is that supplies moveC
with greater rapidity than before.
Tonight men with huge baskets
perched upon their shoulders trampeC
through the unpaved and unlightet
streets, guided by the light OF Ian
terms. making final deliveries OF sup
plies.
Charity of less heroic but NOR,
expensive character comes from tn,
Chicago, Milwaukee and St Paul road
Mining experts. two companies of Ma
tional Guardsmen, nurses, doctors. re,
porters and others. more than 400 T.
all. are housed In Sleeping cars fur
nished by the company and eating ex
cellent meals in dining cars. T. Hughes
the major domo OF this OUTFIT. has fur