The Hartford republican. (Hartford, Ky.) 18??-1926, 1915-04-02

broken down the wall. On Frida,
it was decided to try to send out {
man and hole was made through
the walls for the purpose. He car
ried out the written notice of tn,
fOrty-twO men being in the 10th en-
try, and left II at the mouth of tn,
Vntry. where IL was found by tn,
rescue crew. On his way back h,
I was overcome by the afterdamp hut
two others ran out and dragged him
in through the barbados. which
were again sealed. We did not hear
the rescue party until they were hall
way through the inner wall, and
then my son gave the order to start
meeting them and little time was
lost in complying with the order, de.
spite our terribly weakened condi.
ton"
When asked how he felt when
reached by the Helmet Men. Whal-
en- replied, IL can hardly remember
anything because | was so weak and
nervous and the awful sight OF my
dead friends on every hand took my
memory completely away from every
thing else in the world
When the story of the rescue work
reached Secretary of the Interior
Lane. who has direct supervision over
the Bureau of Mines. he was moved
to say:
"Out of the gloom of such a catas-
trophe, involving. as it appears. more
than 100 human lives. the saving of
forty-seven men comes almost as a
benediction. l am proud of the brave
fellows from the Bureau OF Mines
who have been working heroically for
several days to bring about this CON
summation. am equally proud of
their associates who had been train
ed in modern rescue methods by our
men. For years il had been demon
strated that the old methods of res
cue work not only did not save lives.
but even cost the lives of many brave
volunteers. The oxygen helmets
worn by the trained rescuers. which
permitted them to penetrate parts
Of the mine filed with poisonous
gases where no other human being
could go. are undoubtedly responsi-
bic for the saving of the miners. The
bureaus men. always in advance of
the volunteers. restored the yentila-
-ior in the mine, thus permitting the
volunteers to advance. Presumably
the entombed men had protected
themselves from the deadly gases by
he erection of temporary doors. Then
when trained rescuers reached them.
the way out of the mine was COM
paratively easy. as it had been re-
stored to normal conditions as the
rescuers proceeded | have wired to
the rescuers my heartfelt apprecia-
ton of their heroic efforts in saving
these lives"
There are throughout the country
eight specially fitted rescue cars be-
longing to the Bureau which respond
at once with their crews to the call
Tor assistance. In addition there are
six rescue stations in the coal fields
which send trained rescuers to the
scene OF disaster And when the res
cuers are not busy at a disaster they
are visiting the mining camps and
training the miners in the use of the
artificial breathing apparatus SO that
the miners themselves become capa-
Bile rescuers. 1t was this training OF
other miners by the Bureau of Mines
that played large part in the rescue
Of the entombed men at Layland. for
eleven of the total crew of seventeen
trained rescuers were volunteers
from the mines of the United States
Coal Company at Gary, w. Va.
The United States is not alone in
his aid to the miners for the states
themselves have an organization of
state inspectors. whose duty it is to
lake charge at mine disasters, the
Bureau of Mines rescuers working
under the general direction of the
state officials.
The Bureau of Mines rescuers, to-
,ether with other rescuers trained
by them, have saved from death,
since the Inauguration OF the bureau
N 1910, several hundred lives, the
bureaus own men having rescued
'ully $50. These results are in mark
I'd contrast to the haphazard methods
hat were in use prior to the intro
iuction of the gen-breathing APP
>aratus into this country by DR.. j.
4. Holmes, Director of the bureau.
Then it was a frequent occurrence
hat brave, but unprotected rescuers
'ushed into the mines following ex-
blossoms, only to be killed at once by
he deadly gases. II is pointed out
hat at Hanna WyOmine eight or