Los Angeles herald., 1909-11-15

ing some of the men below, and thai
he might leave them without means o.
escape should he lift the cage while
they were not in it.
Raises and Lowers Cage Frequently
Cowley declared that, after the fina
cage with the men in it, had beer
raised, the cage was let down anC
raised five or six times, with th'
chance that some of the miners nigh
reach the shaft. He testified that h
lowered and raised it slowly ever!
time.
One of the jurors asked why Cowle,
could not have raised the cage slowl!
when Powers, Howe and Lewis ap
pealed NosbRgs orders again wer'
given as an excuse.
Previous to the final raising of tn
cage bearing the rescue party, Cowle!
said the bell signals had been unusua
and disconcerting.
He received one signal of three bell
to "hoist away followed almost i'm
mediately by a four-bell signal, mean
ing "hoist slowly"
At a height of eight or nine feet thu
cage was stopped at a one-bell sigma
and started UP at another.
Then came a six-bell signal, re
verse the fam" and then two bells
"lower." Cowley lowered the cage il
answer to the signal, the last evel
sent from the rescue party.
The jury adjourned after Cowley
John Raisbeck, engineer in the maiI
shaft. and several relatives of the deaC
in the rescue party had testified.
Excitement ceased with the discon
tinuance of efforts to explore the mine
and the disappearance of the grea
crowd. Preparations are being mad,
for handling the dead when they ar,
found.
Crawls on Hands and Knees
William Vickers, who was at work a
the face of the mine, was one of tn,
few who came out alive. For NOR
than 200 yards he crawled in the darl
on hands and knees, using the rail al
a guide TO the bottom of the shaft. A
one point he says he met sixty-fv,
miners sitting in a row along the road
They had given up the struggle ant
were waiting resignedly for death.
Il and my buddy (partner) were a
work on the second vein level when tn,
alarm of fire was sounded" saiC
Vickers.
I'VE started from the bottom bu
had gone only a few feet when ou
lights went out. The mine was films
W I'll EiIlbhtf WHICH lllltu OuI eyes ait
made us gasp for breath.
Several times we attempted to ligh
our lamps, but without success. AL
about us we could hear shots OF ouI
comrades in adjoining rooms, who
like ourselves, had been left in tn,
dark. Calling to my buddy, l warned
him to get close to the roadbed, anC
1 dropped to my hands and knees anC
began to crawl along trails. shoutins
at intervals to my buddy to let hin
know where 1 was.
I'VE passed about sixty-five miner.
sitting by the roadside almost in 9
stupor. | tried TO rouse them and en-
courage them to go on, but they seem
ed to have given up all hope and die
not stir. 1 had no time to lose anc
continued on, expecting to send relief
from the shaft.
Begins to Grow Faint
"Then within 100 feet of the mine
mouth l began to grow faint from the
effects OF smoke and exhaustion. The
smoke was growing more dense every
foot l went and my courage was fast
ebblng. l pulled my coat closely about
my face and, bending closely to the
rail, struggled on.
I escaped death by just three min
utes. When l arrived at the bottom
OF the shaft the last car had reached
the top and was about to descend.
shouted as the signal bell was ring
ing and two men broke their way tc
me and dragged me TO the cage.
then lost consciousness. When came
to, I was safely on top.
My buddy had followed closely all
the way out, and encouraged by the
light held by the cage men, managed
to reach the shaft and was carried
with me to safety"
A tobacco pouch was the means of
saving the lives of John Phillips and
Edward Surrock, miners in the second
vein. Phillips, on his way to the SHAFT
found Surrock lying on the track in
the main entry way. He dragged his
comrade until he himself was over
come by the smoke.
Tobacco Pouch Saves Life
With a miners intuition he searched
for something to cover his nose and
mouth. The only thing available was
the small sack in which he carried to-
bacco Placing one end in his mouth
he pulled the rest over his nose and
fastened it about his head with the
string. By crawling with his head close
TO the rail he struggled toward the
shaft, dragging his almost lifeless COM
rade with him.
one of the heroic incidents of the
rescue work was the saving of John
McGil and his young son. They left
the place where they were working
when the alarm was given. Before
half the journey was completed the boy
began to grow dizzy. Clasping his
fathers hand he sank to his knees,
exclaiming PA, l am dying. Leave
me and save yourself if you can"
Although greatly weakened himself,
the father raised the now unconscious
son and taking off his belt strapped
the boy on his back and struggled on.
Within sight of the shaft he staggered
and fell. Before losing consciousness
he yelled for help and his cries were
heard. RescUers bore them to the cage.
One pitiful case is that of the Love
family. Mrs. John Love is not only
left a widow, but four sons are be-
lieved to have perished
Two Men in 80 Houses Left
A canvass of what is known as Long
Row, a street which has on one side
a row of thirty-three houses identical
in appearance, has revealed that only
two men in all the houses are num-
bered among the living Each of the
has from one to four dead.
The story of the thirteen heroes who
went down 10 luelT ucdlH III tllS bIoH-
ing shaft of the Cherry mine and of
the one man who came back, SCARED
by fire and blackened by smoke, to
tell the CHASTITY story, is being related
today in all it's details.
Standing out above all the others is
the story of Dr. L. B. Howe, "the man
who came back" the only one Of the
heroic fourteen who survived to tell
what happened. Seven times before
the other rescuers began to go down
in the burning shaft he went down
alone in a lift. Each time he brought
TO the surface his quota of saved.