The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1934-04-04
five HOOSIERS
ESCAPE DEATH
IN MINE BLAZE
Workers Build Walls in
Smoke-FiIIed Pit to
Save Lives.
ENTOMBED FIVE HOURS
Joyous Reunions Follow
Rescue After Battle
With Flames.
BY GERALD BOWMAN
United Press staff Correspondent

swift CITY, Ind, April Alive
saved from what had seemed GER
tain death in the smoke-flled Sim
clair mine, celebrated their rescue
today with a holiday
The miners were raised to safety
in an improvised elevator after be-
ing entombed for five hours in a
tiny underground prison which
they had constructed to keep out
the deadly fumes.
Operations at the mine probably
will be halted for a week, it was
said, while the surface building
tipple, mine cage and wooden shaft
are rebuilt.
The miners who were trapped are
Roll Himebrook, Is, Dennis Combs
26, and Thomas Barnett, 18, all of
Linton, and Jack Hineman, 4, and
Henry Johnson, %, Lyons.
Pony Is Rescued
Prince, a black and white pony
used to draw mine cars up the shaft
also was rescued. The pony had
stood in the dense smoke for several
houfs before being tied to the i'm
provlSed elevator and hauled to the
surface
An ovation as great as that ac-
corded the miners was given the
plucky little pony when it reached
the air and stood half conscious in
the wierd shadows cast by 1000
joyous spectators.
After the miners had been brought
out safely they went home to hold
happy reunions with relatives and
friends who had expected to mourn
their deaths.
The fire started from unde-
termined origin, spreading swiftly
to the surface building, the tipple
and cage and wooden shaft.
Rescue Work Starts
An alarm brought fire depart
ments from Lyons, Bloomfield and
LinGon. But soon all chemicals and
nearby water were exhausted. Aid
ed by volunteers, the firemen hauled
water in huge tanks from the White
river, four miles away.
When the flames had been
brought under control, rescue teams
came forth, dressed in strange look
ing asbestos suits and wearing
oxygen helmets.
Ed Rogers, Linton, deputy state
mine inspector, and John Oglebay,
leader of a rescue crew from Bick-
nell, made the first descent.
Rogers and Oglebay found the
pony at the bottom of the shaft.
The foul air forced them back to
the surface however, and Jack
Hayes and John Ingleman took up
the rescue work.
Dig Way Through Walls.
Fighting through debris, they
made their way ten feet back into
the mine chamber before being
forced to seek fresh air.
Meanwhile the air was freShened
in the shaft by means of long strips
of muslin which were lowered by a
heavy weight and waved in circles.
The third squad which went down
was composed of six Linton coal
miners, Sam Linton, Jess Ellis,
James Sargent, George Walls. Mar
shall Robertson and Bill Ma
haughn.
They dug their way through the
walls constructed by the entombed
men, and assisted them to safety.
Barnett, driver of the pony, wa;
the first of the imprisoned miners
to discover the fire. He noticed the
smoke coming down the shaft and
ran back to warn his fellow workers
abandoning the pony.
Awaited Rescue Squad
They fed back into the tunnel
and used bits Of cloth, clay, coal,
mud - anything they could get
their hands on to build wall
Before the wall was completed,
however, the smoke started f1ltering
through.
The miners ran back forty yards
and built two more walls, one at
their front and one in the rear.
entombing themselves in a chamber
twenty-five feet long, twelve feet
wide and three feet high.
Then they sat down to await the
rescue party.