The Washington times., 1925-02-17

tcontinued from First Page.l
actually Floyd coNine and that it is
&heir verdict TIKI he is dead.
At this time It became virtually
certain that the body would not 10
brought out.
Lee Collins, father of Floyd, gave
his consent to abandon the opera
tons shortly after 10 o'clock.
- IT would be satisfied he said, to
lei nv boy stay down there.
believe he would have been content
TO know q cave would be his tomb.
Geralds First to Enter.
"I am now thoroughly satisfied
In my own mind, II. T. Carmichael,
superintendent Of operations, said,
shat Collins never can be gotten
out. Nv opinion, however, does not
matter. For this reason we have
sent four friends down into the man
hole to give their opinion and to es-
tablish BY affidavit the corpus de-
licti. If their views coincide with
mine, 4 coroner's jury will pass a
formal verdict and we will tumble
the rocks back into the shaft, making
e an eternal monument to Collins.
The first man to climb over the
alfnnerv ladder down the SIDE Of the
al1aff was John Geralds, hero of the
eaTlv rescue work, who nearly two
weeks ago climbed shalxiIy from the
black mouth Of the cave, his nerve
broken, to report:
aI've made my last trip. think
he's IN there forever.
Opinion Is Confirmed.
IN the time that has elapsed, all
the ingenuity Of man. and all the
modern machinery which he has IN
vented. have been used against the
same forces which he fought with
his naked hands. And today, he
entered the cave by q new route.
but route equally as dangerous
snd still his friend was pinned
beneath the same boulder, as IN
accessible to- man as the DAY ne
was trapped
Geraids remained beneath the sur
face only a few minutes. Then
silently and sadly climbed back to
the pit.
caster. wallace Page and Norman
Parker went below. ana then the
fonr gathered q little apart. from
the workmen to talk in low tones.
At q. m. an official bulletin WIS
issued TO the effect that work would
Be discontinued until q. M, giving
ali the engineers an opportunity to
consult on this battling problem.
Carmichael then made supple
mentary statement.
II have been In the excavating
business for twenty years anl
have never learned to say that
was licked, he said, but there
may come some time in any man
life when he has to admit that he
Is licked. ] am not ready 20 al
nit Il yet, but to tunnel down TO
Collins feet would be rislSing too
many other lives. We viii have 10
wait until morning and try to fig-
ure out some other way.
Autopsy Is Ordered.
In the meantime, Aijutans Cen
eral James Al. Kehoe had consulted
with Governor William Jason Field
over long distance telephone on the
question Of holding an autopsy 10
determine whether or not Collins
body contained poison. Cate
Turner, Cave City coroner, objected
TO the procedure, but the governor
directed the adjutant to take any
steps which would be necessary
that this autopsy might be held
without fail.
shortly. after 4 o'clock General
Denhardf and his staff went into
conference at Cave City with Gen.
eral Kehoe, and again the adjutant
called Governor Fields to explain
the extremely precarious situation
existing.
TWO methods OF establishing the
corpus dilicfi remained, aside from
the actual presence Of the body.
It was suggested by General
Kehoe that fingerprints be taken OF
the man in the rock-wedge and COM
pared with those of Floyd Collins
now filed at Washington with his
record as q soldier. This appears
entirely feasible, as Collins right
hand Is doubled up on his chest
and Is accessible.
Doctor Hazlett and newspaper
photographers suggested that the
death-mask method and closeup
photographs might add to the mass
Of evidence presented at the inquest
20 establish the corpus delecti.
Court 70 Complete Record.
The court Of inquiry was to con.
vene at IL a. m. to make the find
Ing OF Floyd Collins matter OF
record. It is possible that this win
close the routine court Of inquiry
and a finding be returned.
II the tunnel shall become FLOYD
Collins grave. a few simple folk
viii gather about the shaft, listen
10 simple words which Is their faith
ana the boy who has brought the
world to Sand Cave shall rest I'M
far0nffAn for a time But IL the
fates are kinder than they haYe
shown themselves to be to Floyd
Collins, he will be- laid by the hands
OF his father in the Cathedral of
Crystal Cave. there to brood in
silence with the things he loved.
Somehow today's dawn was diff
ferent. It lacked the flare of angry
red. II lacked the confusion Of
mans emotions. Peace and rest
had come with certainty and the
hills and valleys lay serene.