The Washington times., 1922-09-18
WAY SOON
CLEARFOR
FORCE Of
RESClJERs
Fats OF AZ Entombed Miners,
However, VIII Not Be
Known for Hours.
ny IntsrnatIonai News Service.

ny International News Service.
KENNEDY MINE, JACKSON,
Cal, Sept. 1s.-"They'ye broken
throughP'
After an all-night vigil, night
full of suspense, of alternate
hope and fear, the words came
to the surface of the Kennedy
mine that a hole had been
punched through from the $500
foot level of the Kennedy to the
4,200-foot drift of the Argonaut
mine.
Fissure Opened in Rock.
This news followed an hour and n
quarter after the announcement that
the last blast had opened a fissure in
the rock through which a strong
draft of air was passing from the
Kennedy to the Argonaut, draft
almost strong enough to exttnguish
the miners carbide lamps.
still nobody knows whether the
forty-seven miners imprisoned In tho
Argonaut three weeks ago are dead
or alive. and II may be many more
hours before that 10 asceftained.
But there were no living men on the
other side OF the Stone wall broken
through early this morning.
II was twenty-one days ana SIX
hours after the forty-seven Arsonaut
miners we're entombed In their eoio-
walled prison before the preak
through came.
Tiu,berinr and even blasting may
he necessary before the pathway Is
opened up for the rescue workers.
The fresh current OF air which
poured into the Argonaut mine did
not stir up the smoldering fires It Is
DR.. L. H. Duschak, consulting
chemist for the State Industrial
Accident Commission. announced
after an examination that the
volume OF air coming up the Null
doom shaft OF the Argonaut Is four
times as great as before the break
through. and the volume OF carbon
eas has SO materially decreased that
canary birds are now but slightly
affected.
Fire Has Abated.
This was said to indicate the fire
has abated to considerable extent.
William Sinclair, Kennedy fore
h,an. came 70 the surface to say that
fhe hole In the Argonaut Is now
large enough for man to crawl
through. The abr being sucked
through Is travelling with such force
that with four doors closed II h
difficult TO keep the miners lights
This IL expected to prove helpful
An the Argonaut 400 foot drift, 80
that rescue workers can enter In
safety. .E
Timbers are being placed to make
Che ground safe for an entrance
through the opening.
The mine rescue crew 10 ready
for the signal TO go below as soon
as the hole Ia large enough TO serve
as passage for the exploration Of
the Arsonauts 1900 foot drift.
First indications OF the end Of the
long wait came early last evening,
when a shot showed the face OF the
final barrier almoet In sight and the
drilling took the diggers into SOFT
wet rock. For several hours crowds
gatherer, including many relatives
az the men buried.
All day Sunday and through the
night jackson waited the flash that
the break had come. II was heart
breaking business
First came the announcement that
there had been a set back: that there
were thirty feet more to go. Then
shortly before noon came the first
concrete Indication that the hour
Jackson and the whole country had
. prayed for was near at hand when
John Libby, Argonaut Identification
man, appeared at the mouth OF the
Kennedy shaft. He had been IN.
structed 70 stay there.
Hours passed with nothing but
brief progress bulletins. At
o'clock what was interpreted an an
other sign of nearness Of the zero
hour came when two United States
Bureau OF Mines men quitely stepped
into a skip and went below.
The hours passed slowly. Then
at midnight came a bulletin. II
was discovered that the drift had
DETECTED under that OF the Argo.
naut toward which they had beeu
aiming. Eleven feet more to driil