New-York tribune., 1922-09-19
Rescuers Find Bodies of
w orkers Who Lost
22-Day Fight to Hold
Out A G a j N S t Gas
HuddEed Back of
Crib They Built
Hope Prisoners Were
Alive Dashed When Bad
AirCushedThroughHoIe

i JACKSON, Calf, Sept. 18.-The
AZ miners entombed in the Argonaut
shaft are dead. Their bodies were
found tonight by the rescue crew
that had tunneled into the mine
from the nearby Kennedy pit. The
entombed men had died several days
ago, behind bulkhead they had
hastily built to protect themselves,
and in the cracks of which they had
stuffed their clothing in e frantic
effort to hold out till help came.
Byron o. Pickard, director of the
rescue, first sent word to the suface
that he had counted forty-two bodies.
and believed that there were others
at the same place. Later he re-
ported that all the bodies had been
found
Rescuers Dug Twenty-Five Days
Thus ends the race, with death ths
winner. For twenty-five days the
| rescuers had dug night and day, cease
lessly, to rescue their fellows who were
! trapped when a fire on the 3000-foot
| level of the Argonaut shaft cut them
/ off from the outside world. Cave-ing
completed their isolation. Knowing
that the flames and gases from burn
| ing coal would rise rather than sink.
the entombed men went down deep IN
the shaft. 1t is conceivable that they
heard their rescuers coming toward
them, for the clustered o8igs were
on the s,350-foot level. as se to tGa
! ln-borlng rescuers as they could bs,
4 Ih7G p1ornifeQ xvia -
brsAe through into this asguHsS
saffad d bnlkhead, buile bg t,s ne.s
i yan6ssr Ihis was quickly bEc&an Dr.
] Beyond the air was had 4ao
neeessary TO wait untn y bAo clsars
Then the rescuers pushed on along The
! 4,200@foot level. There was no trace cE
i the men there--not any evidence elsss
they had been there. The rescuesg
4 passed down to the 4,350-foot level
7 There was another bulkhead The
clothing thrust in it thrilled and in
! spired the rescuers to hurry. The tim
4 bers to build it apparently had beer
u 4 dragged there hastily. They didn't At
I Clothes had been jammed in to keep
out the poisonous gases that permeat-
ed the shafts. This was evidence that
the beleaguered men could not be Ear
beyond
i Waited for Air to Clear
There was more enforced waiting
while the air cleared. Soon men with
oxygen helmets got up close to the
second bulkhead, broke hole in it
and peered through. They could see
/ neither men nor bodies, but the air
was extremely bad. They listened in
vain for voices. An hour later they
broke through. Beyond, bundled To-
gether, were the bodies that they had
been unable TO discern in the gloom
The entombed miners had died as close
to safety as they could creep.
b. F. Mcdonald, captain of one of
the rescue crews, came to the surface
! The men had been dead several days
at least, ne said He himself had
seen thirty bodies beyond the bulk
head, he said Pickard had counted
| forty-two, according to word phoned
from the relief expedition.
Hope that the men were alive per
sisted to the lash Rumors that some
had been found living were current on
/ the surface. But the hopes of all were
crushed when requests came up from
below for stretchers, rubber gloves,
canvas ard other materials that indi-
Gated it was bodies, not men, that had
been found.
All day news filtered up from below
in fragments, marking the progress of
tftS 3cSGuiiAS CESWS. A1EIe Is INC WDfU
sent up at O'Clock, before the second
bulkhead had been broken through:
i Thorough INSPECTION of second
bulkhead on 1850 cross cut reveals
poor construction ana ead q ind
as we'll as in front. Can see through
it, but cannot see any bodies or men,
Are bringing in compressed air lines.
AS soon as air is o K will open
bulkhead and explore. Expect teie-
I nHnnP connection az ApAl Stn
so can communicate with you direct"
There was no evidence on the 1900
! foot level aside from the buIkheads,
that the entombed men had Deen sn
that part of the diggings. There are
several lower levels in the mine and
the rescuers have only begun .heir ex-
plorations. 1t may take long time to
find the imprisoned men.
Men Untouched by Fire
The bulletin telegrapheds TO the suz-
face at 80 o'clock said:
Mine rescue boys have been TO the
1900 station and found the. shaft all
right at that point. They went TO the
top of the raise from the 4S50 level
and found no indications Of men having
climbed up recently. They have not
explored the crosscut on the 1900.
Ihey are going to do that now and
are going to start building the buik-
head in the main Argonaut shaft above
the 1900 level.
"They requested all the flashlights
that could be spared and extra bat
teries Tor the fas hlights already down
there. They stated they would not nee0
gronp G Tor several hours, probably not
antil evening"
tne4e .atense drama in the foreS
mans shack when the telephone fin
gled three times. C. II. NJ. Wolf,in, of
|, the Industrial Accident Commission.
grabbed the receiver. Men siftin,s
Down stood up, clustered around him.
! A stenographer held her fountain pen
! poised oves her pad. Her hands tren-
blea.
Wolfin's voice was calm He took
. me message and ne walked calmlv
. over to another phone. Eo A,ye no
hint as to what he had heard. Ne yans