The pioneer express., 1911-03-17
TWENTY TRACK LAYERs cAyoHr
IN PIT ~ cAvg.iS-oNLY
a FEW ESCAPE.
BURIED By } D MM!|||AXAANghf !! Y ! I
eobbins Women and Children Watch
Efforts ct -Rsseus esvty-seo-
ond Disaster at
Gilbert.

~ eesseeASs4VAs SS4Vu6AUQ IONS OF 1H0D
ore. rock. earth. ies and snow shot
down upon 20 track layers working in
the Norman open-pit mine here. Only
1s escaped the avalanche and three
OF these are in q hospital suffering
from injuries that are likely to prove
fatal 40
Ole johnson, foreman oe one Of the
three changes Of men that were caught
by the vast mass, is the only one of
the rs whose injuries are not dan.
gerous. He was taken to the hospital
suffering from severe conclusions Of
the head
An army Of men with stovels set to
work desperately to recover the bod
les. The work was pursued under OK.
treme difficulties. The men prayed
for the daylight to aid them, while.
many Of tts crowd on the embankmsnt
overlooking the site Of the catastrophe.
dreaded to have the dawn come. for It,
would show them broken and manned.
bodies the sight Of which would
change their stolid grief TO hysterical
lamentations.
Wives and children Of the buried
men watched the work of the rescuers,
sobbing and wringing their hands.
Only Four Had Chance
Only the four men near the outer
edge had chance to run. So far as
can be ascertained all the men caught
In the slide were Films and Austrians.
There is much confusion and the mine
officials are maintaining SO strict a
silence that the name of but one could
be learned-Paul Paulson, Al widower.
who leaves seven, children. His wife
died a month ago..
The pit was 125 feet deep and Is
feet wide and the rock and ore and
earth filled this bowl to- the depth Of
so feet and shot out it's rim. 151 feet.
The Norman employs about f,Oo0
men when running to- capacity. Just
at this time, however, several hundred
are employed working in: night and day
shifts.
Buried Miners Reached. by ripe.
Gilbert, Mimi, March. IL. Captain
Benny and three miners. were en-
tombed $50 feet down In the Elba
mine at Elba location. just, outside Of
the village. Through an; iron pipe
three inches in diameter air was trans
mitted to them and continued wrap
pings upon this pipe encouraged the
rescuing parties to believe, that the.
four might to reached!
Benny and his; companions were
caught on the first level by @,eave-in
of ore and rock. The mass. piled up
many feet high. There was a fifth
man in the party and he Just missed
being walled up. Although he escaped.
it was not without painful injuries.
He reached the shaft almost i'm state
of collapse, and told What had hap
pened.
In remarkably, short, time sceres Of
miners were crowded about eager to
help in the work; Of rescue. The very
first move was the driving through of
the big iron, pipe, which, gaze, air to-
the prisoners:
Almost instantly they began to tap.
on the pipe. There were answering
taps from, the mouth of the, level and
as rescHihg, parties of eight to ten
men shoveled away hour after hour
the tapping from the four men was
kept up, inoessantdE.
The rescue work was necessarily
slow but. confidence was expressed
that the man would hold out. The
Elba, mine, employs about 200 men
when running. full capacity. Ii Is in
charge. Of Superintendent Chinn and
lis owned by PicRands. Mfather' & Com.
pany of Cleveland.
Capt. senny Rescued; May Die.
Captain Benny was rescued alive and
taken to his home.
The two miners, however, mat what
must have been instant death as their
bodies were bruised and crushed in
a horrible shape. That Captain Ben.
ny is sttn alive is considered q mar
vel. after receiving the injuries which
he didrand undergoing the terrible or
deal In the death trap for so many
hours. His condition is reported al
extremely critical and it would oc-
easf0n no surprise should he succumb.
William I Ctny1o an I'm