Pierre weekly free press. (Pierre, S.D.) 1889-19??, 1909-11-25

am not going out of the mine until
get the Others
1--WE demonstrated and said: Eve
will toxic you up to get fresh air and
warm food, and then maybe let yol
help US; but Waite protested. We
actually had to force him into the
cage, he shouting: Let me help get
the Others
UP LIKE A SHOT
"All the time those on the surface
had not conceived the possibility of
recovering any of the men alive. When
we called: We have got some men
alive, hoist quick we went up like
shot and rushed the men into Pull
man car, where they were cared for
| Across $50 feet of space between
the mouth of the shaft and the sleep
ing cars the survivors were taken
through a gangway massed with pep
pie and lined with troops. The wo
men especially scrutinized the faces
of the survivors as they passed.
AS night fell the flicker of the
| torches at a height of hundred feet
reared the framework ofthe shaft ma
chinery. Each time the signal sound
ed to hoist the cage. there was
murmur of expectancy and press to-
ward the line of ropes.
WIVES AND MOTHERS PLEAD
When the cage reached the top a
dozen torches lighted the rescuers,
who wore rubber coats. Between them
wrapped in. blankets. they held the
rescued men, some standing, others
they carried. The procession novel
| fh rnnph tho fa1
sometimes by mothers and wives
murmuring Billie" Frank" ooh
Andy, are you there
Blankets drawn over the heads of
the men prevented Identification. The
women tore toward the sleeping cars,
imploring anyone TO give them good
news. One man, overcome by the ap-
peals, called out the name of the man
he was escorting shouting: I'VE have
George Eddy here"
HEARD CRY OF HTS WIFE
| "Oh, George" came woman's cry,
rs it you: Come here I am waiting
for you"
Eddy, who was the mine inspector,
was too weak to reply. At the car
steps the crowd was kept back
In a little four-rOom cottage, three
doors from the livery stable across the
street, Mrs. George Subacus this ev-
ening became envied by all. for her
husband was the first to be taken
home. Subacus. and his brother John
We're among the first survivors out. In
bedroom lay Subacus with his three
youngsters peering at his blacEened
arms and face through the bars at the
foot of the bed. A Catholic sister was
watching the patient that he did not
overeat
STORY BY A VICTIM
Subacus said: "The fire was burn
ing an hour before | knew of it. l
started to run, and met 20 others. We
tried to throw up barrier, but 1t
was dark and we did not get along
well. All the time we were breath
ing gas. I had nothing to eat, but
chewed bark and drank water from
little holes in the bottom of the emit
ry. We made five holes, and there
was always someone at them. 1t was
our principal FOOD
What did you do all the days you
were penned in?'
eve all said goodbye to each other.
At first the English sang songs and
the Italians were praying: after while
we were all too weak to more than
crawl about.
Nobody reached US today - we
reached them. We wanted more wa
ter; we crawled over one barrier, start
ed and walked ten feet apart so as
not to fall on each other. The last
'fall-in' nearly blocked the passage
We wormed through a long aperture
scarcely big enough hole for us We
were dreadfully weak. for we breathed
SO much poison. Then we saw our
rescuers. There was no cheering, we
just let them take care of u.s. No
body had voice enough to cheer"
Subacus was the only man allowed
to go home for several hours, the doe
tors fearing they would eat too much
But the Lithuanian was so excited he
was allowed to have his way.
Francisco Zannarini said:
I'VE managed to get enough water
from the sides of the gallery for the
first few days: then we thought we
would die of thirst. One man said:
There is lots of water in this loose
coal if we could only squeeze it out
Several men tried sucking hands -ful
OF coal off the floor and thus moisten-
ed their lips and tongues.
After while we all Quenched our
thirst the same way
I'VE made twenty attemnts to es-
cape This morning seven OF us start
ed out of the room. when we went a
short distance the smell was awful
We passed lot Of dead hurros. prob
ably forty. think the burros fran
tic with thirst, stamreded and got
tangled in heap and died.
Cur courage diminished Sunday
night when one fellow died. Since
then we had alternately gloom and
merriment. When someone was de-
spondert the others would try to
cheer him
Joe Pigati. while being revived, rro-
duced a. ie;!sr written to his wife
on brown paper. 1t reads:
Il am writing in the dark because
we have eaten the wax from or
lamps. I have also eaten p.ur OF
| tobacco some bark and some ~ my