The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1916-10-23
Fifteen Men Entombed
by Explosion at Marvel
Mine of Roden Coal Co.
Continued from Page one>

entry Of the bottom row when the
deafening report was heard. borheu Ny
the explosion, he managed TO walk ~
the heading of the mines, Wnlcn soon
became the scene of gathering OF nun
dreds of panic-stricken miners and
members of their families.
The sturdy reinforced concrete mead
ing was cracked by the force OF the
explosion. giving mute evidence OF the
fate of the miners within. On every
hand there were men ready to RISK
their lives to rescue the entrappeo
miners from the inner passages OF the
mines With system the men started
upon their morbid task. In crews OF
IL men they made ready to go INTO
the shaft where lay the mangled bodies
of their co-workers.
HUNDREDS OF VOLUNTEERS
Hundreds of volunteers were offered
but, headed by the fire bosses and oth-
er foremen the rescuers started ABOUT
the work of providing sufficient cir
culation of air to enable them to get
to the entombed men. The fans were
never stopped by the explosion, but
mine cars shattered and twisted, and
the wooden brattices that conduct
fresh air were converted into 1umbied
mass of debris by the mighty explo-
sion
In face of this disarray it was nee
essary to clear the wreckage and to con-
duct fresh air to the entries, where the
men were ensnared. Twelve men went
into the mines and returned exhausted.
Another crew replaced them. On and on
the rescuers worked. The frantic deter
mination and bravery with which they
labored was evidenced as coWorkers
brought the prone forms of men, over
come with gas, to recover in the oraclng
air of the fine November day.
NEARLY LOST HIS LIFE
With his closest friends, including his
chief electrician and master mechanic, In
the dark passages of the mine, Z. Is.
Dryer, superintendent, offered his life, and
was nearly forced to yield it, to recover
their bodies From the outset he was
active, directing the rescuers, urging the
hundreds that swarrned about the open
ing of the mine to be patient and brave.
In the ninth entry, while working back
toward the victims of the disaster, ne
was overcome by gas with three other
members of the crew and carried PACK
to the fresh air. There he was resusci-
tated and started back to his hard, me-
NAL task.
While there he said: IT left the men
at dinner about IL o'clock on the twelfth
siding They were installing some cleo
trical equipment necessary for the work
of the coming week. They were some
where near there when the explosion oc-
Cured.
A GAS EXPLOSION
1T think that the explosion is due to
| an accumulation of gas, for l did not
notice any signs of dust explosion,
| The explosion had its origin in the nlnth
left entry. 1t was very heavy"
| The first body to be recovered was
that of one of the negroes. Nearby was
found the corpse, badly 'shot up" OF
| w. B. Freeman, the chief electrician.
The rescuers brought these bodies to the
heading of the mine on a car, although
| it was necessary to carry them several
hundred feet on an up grade before
reaching the cars.
| Until the rescuers saw these bodies
there was a CLEAN of hope that the lives
of the entombed might have been spared.
Hope was foregone when the effects or
the terrible disaster were shown by the