The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1925-02-11
BREAK
THROUGH
n ANY
TIME
Banana oil Scent Seeps Into
Shaft, Indicating Way
Is Opening

CAVE CITY, KY, Feb. IL.
Only silver Of earth today
separates Floyd Collins still liv-
ing, according to the recurrent
radio test and long distance physi-
cal examinations from the men
frantically digging after the.
prisoner Of Sand Cave, according
to various findings in the shaft.
The banana oil tests, made
three times By Doctor w. D
Funkhouser, bore pertinent results
when the odor was detected by
workers il the bottom 81 the
slaft. This, followed BY the find
l.le Of cave crickets prompted
official prediction that the nly
terry of Sand Cave would find So
luton shortly.
Any Time Now.
When the diamond drill test was
taken a four foot drop was midi
Gated at the twenty-six-foot level
This fissure was expected to ap-
pear at the larger opening. but It
failed to materialize. Biologists e..
planned. however. that due to the
construction Of this district and the
haphazard way the rocks are piled.
drop might appear anywhere.
IF wa the lf1rl9n1ds ~ rtp-flx4vaer So
cavern Of proportions when. graveI
appeared and muck and slime begun
to disappear in the bottom Of the
shaft that caused dig and Dump"
|. Carmichael, director Of operations
to say.
We're expecting to strike q cav
ern landing to that boy down there
most any timex
Carmichael's sobriquet was earn
ed for him by his uniform exhOrta-
ton to all new workers that to
save Collins everybody must dig
and dump"
Radio Line Cut.
The last slender thread that has
linked Floyd Collins with the out
side world snapped today. A radio
test conducted early this morning
brought back only silence, and the
Pickering needle OF the ammeter at
the miniature electric power plant
on the cliff above the pit, showed
the light which had burned con-
stantly above Collins head In the
blackness of the crawl where he
has lain trapped for twelve days
had been extinguished.
The terror of utter blackness
reiened in Sand Cave. And despair
engulfed the pit outside where men
wallowed through a quagmire. fight
ing against cold, in frantic efforts
to add inches to 42-foot depth OF
the shaft.
A bowling winter wind. coming
with the dawn, sent it's melancholy
wall through the stark, half-dead
trees fighting for existence on the
overhanging brow of the. rocky cliff
Dull, overcast skies belched q
swirling snow to hamper opera
tons. water and mud became
almost knee deep. Sleepless days
began to exact their toll among
workers in the pit, The hospital
tent was crowded.
Bulb Jared Loose
A new chill-the fear of death
augmented the bitter natural cold
OF the pit.
H. G.. Lane, electrical engineer
who has been conducting the radio
tests, explained today's failure lis
due probably to Sthe complete un.
screwing of the light bulb through
its constant Earring.
He does not take the silence,
coupled with the fact that the
ammeter shows the light is not
burning, as an indication that Col
Inns is dead.
All preparations for handling the
situation when Floyd Collins, now
in his twelfth day of imprisonment
in Sand Cave, is reached have been
completed under direction of Doctor
William Hazlett. of Chicago.
Operating Table Ready.
An operating table, built on the
ground, will be lowered to the
prisoner and in this cradle. only a
foot narrower than the mouth Of
the shaft, Collins will be raised to
the surface.
The engineer at the crane has
been instructed in his duties. There
will be a rest every few feet to
permit Collins gradually to acclinate
himself to the change in at
mospheric levels.
Wooden blankets, chemical hot
water. bottles and stimulants are
waiting above ground. No known