Imperial Valley press., 1932-12-27
MINING TOWN
HEARTBROKEN
At DISASTER
Abandon Hope That Any Men
Entombed By Explosion May
Have Survived.
RESCUE WORK CONTINUES
Forty Bodies Removed Over
Holiday With IA Yet To Be
Recovered.
BY GEORGE E. SCHUPPE
United Press Staff Correspondent

United Press Staff Correspondent
MOWEAQUA, ILL.,, Dec. 27. =
Moweaqua was town of heart
break today, all hope abandoned
that any of the Sd miners trapped
by blast in the Shafer mine sur
vived.
The fate of IA men was still un-
known. But rescue workers, grimy
and weary from the fight to clear
the debris filled passages of the
mine, said chances were less than
a thousand to one that any sur
vived.
One. more body was found late
last night when the north entry of
the local mine was unsealed. The
body was not identified. Rescuers
penetrated only a slight distance in
the shaft. No fire was found in this
passage. For 100 feet or more a
heavy fall of shale and rock block
ed the chamber. Several missing
men we're believed buried under
this mass.
The ventilating system started
to pour fresh air into the passage
way.
The shock of the tragedy hung
heavy over the little coal mining
consnunity of 1400 persons today.
One out of every five of the one
story frame houses that straggle
back from the hard road which BIZ
sected the town has been bereft of
its wage Garner.
1t was in these homes that the
force of the disaster struck heav-
lest. More than 300 persons were
left as dependents of the 81 min
ers. Most of them will be forced
to rely on charity. In these houses
Christmas trees stood unlighted,
unnoticed. Gifts, already wrapped
when the explosion occurred the
morning before Christmas, lay un-
touched
There was no Christmas joy in
Moweaqua. Several churches cam
celled services. Jolly Tom jackson,
who had been cast in the role of
Santa Claus for the community cell
ebration, was among those trap
ped in the mine.
Morale Returning
Across the street from the morgue
where ambulances brought body
after body stood the community
Christmas tree, garish with tinsel
ornaments. Grief-burdened persons
passed the tree without glance at
the bright silver star surmounting
it. The community celebration was
omitted without need of formal an
= nouncement
Today the shattered morale of
the community was reviving. Lead
ers were seeking aid to prevent
otherwise certain suffering among
the families whose wage earners
were killed in the mine. A trust
fund of $4,000 was set as a goal
to provide for the survivors.
A call was prepared for submis-
sion to Governor Louis l.. Emmer-
son asking that the state contrib
ute $4,000. Rep. Adkins was asked
to seek $4,000 from congress. Aid
was requested from the Red Gross.
Most of the miners who died left
large families. One had IA child
rent and others had as many as a
dozen.
The victims had been able to put
aside little toward rainy day.
Though the mine had been work.
ing with fair regularity for four
months, wages were little more
than enough to feed the many
children. Almost half the mines
normal force of 100 men was wiped
out
Glenn Shafer, the mines own
er, said it would be several months
before operations could be resumed.
The mine, located on the out
skirts of the village, is the only in
dustry. If digging cannot be re-
sumed until spring, the families
of the miners who survive as well
as those directly hit by the tragedy
will face suffering.