The Hope pioneer. [volume] (Hope, N.D.) 1882-1964, 1911-03-16
DISASTER ON
IRON RANGE
TWENTY TRACK LAYERS CAUGHT
IN PIT BY cAvE-IN-oNLY
A FEW ESCAPE.
80 BURIED IN THE AVALANCHE
sobbins Women and Children Watch
Efforts of Rescue Party-see.
ond Disaster at
Gilbert.

Gilbert.
Virginia, Mimi, March IA. - Death
in the form of 100000 tons of iron
ore. rock. earth, ice and snow shot
down upon 20 track layers working in
the Norman open-pit mine here. Only
ii escaped the avalanche and three
of these are in a hospital suffering
from injuries that are likely to prove
fatal
Ole Johnson, foreman of one of the
three changes of men that were caught
by the vast mass, is the only one Of
the IA whose injuries are not dan
gerous. He was taken to the hospital
suffering from severe conclusions o.
the head. -
An army of men with shovels set to
work desperately to recover the bod
treme difficulties. The men prayed
for the daylight to aid them, while
many Of the crowd on the embankment
overlooking the site of the catastrophe
dreaded to have the dawn come, for 1t
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, a, widower,
who leaves seven children. His wife
died 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 its rim $50 feet.
The Norman employs about 1000
men when running to capacity. Just
at this time, however, several hundred
are employed working in night and day
shifts
Buried Miners Reached by Pipe.
Gilbert, Mimi, March IA. - 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 cave-in
of ore and rock. The mass piled up
many feet high. There was 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 in state
of collapse and told what had hap
pened.
In remarkably short time scores 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 gave air to
the prisoners. - 80
Almost instantly they began to tap
on the pipe. There were answering
taps from the mouth of the level and
as rescuing parties of eight to ten
men shoveled away hour after hour
the tapping from the four men was
kept up necessarily.
The rescue work was necessarily
slow but confidence was expressed
that the men would hold out. The
Elba mine employs about 200 men
when running full capacity. 1t is in
charge of Superintendent Chinn and
is owned by Pickands, Mather & Com
pany of Cleveland.
Capt. Benny Rescued; May Die.
Captain Benny was rescued alive and
taken to his home.
The two miners, however, met what
must have been instant death as their
bodies were bruised and crushed in
horrible shape. That Captain Ben
ny is still alive is considered a mar
vel after receiving the injuries which
he did and undergoing the terrible or
deal in the death trap for so many
hours. His condition is reported as
extremely critical and it would oc-
casion no surprise should he succumb.
William J. Stone, an Englishman,
and Joseph Bovich, an Austrian, are
| the men who lost their lives. Stone
was a single man, aged % years. He
was native of Cornwall, England,
and had been in America only about
year. Bovich was about IS years
old. He leaves a wife and five chill.
| dren.
!