The Madisonian. (Richmond, Ky.) 1913-1914, 1913-04-29
TWO ESCAPE TOMB
MEN RESCUED FROM MINE
WHERE So Persisted AFTER
FIFTY.TWo HOURS.
BATTLE FOR LIFE is TOLD
Charles Crawl Saves His Partner as
They Crepe Long in Effort to Flee
After FinieyvilIe Explosion-one in
4. Mariana Disaster.

Pittsburgh, Pa, April 2S-Two men
were taken alive from the Cincinnati
mine of the Monongahela River Con-
solidated Coal & Coke company at
Finleyville, the scene Wednesday of
q disastrous explosion
Suffering untold agonies from ex-
posur6 and from the shock OF an ex-
plosion that is known to have claim
ed the lives of ninety-six miners, the
two men, Charles Crawl and Philip
Legier, each thirty-six years OF age,
were brought to the surface almost url-
conscious.
That they survived the explosion
and poisonous gases of the mine for
sixty hours is considered almost mi
raculous.
]. McVickers and Clyde Gibson,
members of the coal company's rescue
crew, entered the mine late last night
to search for bodies. At point two
and half miles from the entrance
they heard a faint cry. Investigation
disclosed the two miners alive in what
is known as room 10, or entry 20.
Carrying, and at times dragging,
the miners, the rescuers reached the
open. Crawl seemed to grasp at once
the fact that he was out of the mine
He exclaimed:
my God, want to see my children
at once. 1t seems l have been in
there week"
Crawl and Legler were hurried to a
hospital at Monongahela City, four
miles away, in an ambulance.
Crawl is a survivor of the Marian
ma mine disaster of November 2S,
1908, in which 154 lives were lost. In
that explosion Crawl lost his right eye.
He is widower and has two children.
Tells of Fight for Life.
At the hospital the men were able
to talk.
81 entered the mine at $50 Wednes-
day morning" said Crawl. 'Legier and
I were eating lunch where we were
found when, shortly after 1880 We'd
nesday, we heard a dull explosion,
which seemed to be far away.
I'VE continued eating, finishing eur
lunch. l began to get nervous when l
did not hear the other miners at work
and went to investigate.
81 found dead miners lying all
around and then / knew what the ex-
plosion had been. Remembering my
former experience, I told Legier to
follow me and we crawled into the
old workings in an effort to find way
to get out.
81 think we had been crawling fifty
two hours. In that time we had only a
slice of bread apiece and We quenched
our thirst with sulphur water from the
mine floor.
I'VE crawled and crawled and
couldn't find any way out. gave UP
hope several times of ever getting out
alive, but as long as my strength last
ed pushed on.
Wanted to Lie Down and Die.
.Legler wanted to lie down and die
but urged him on. In room 80. entry
10, we found an old man and his son
They were alive, but could not move
We tried to carry them, but their
weight was too great and we were ex
hauSted.
when we left the old man and his
son my mind seemed to wander, but
held to Legler's hand and in some way
we got back to where we had started
from after the explosion.
When Crawl was taken from the
mine a message was found scrubbed
in chalk on the legs of his overaHs. II
read: "Goodby. my children. God bless
you"
I1egler furnished a simple account OF
his experiences, giving credit to Crawl
for saving his life.
But for Crawl" he said, 81 would
have given up a hundred different
times. He urged me on. I never ex
pected to see daylight again, but Goo
was with us and helped US"
On their trip the two rescuers found
the bodies of eight miners, which
brings the total known dead UP tc
ninety-six.