Evening star., 1934-11-18
WHEN DEATH THREATENS
MINERS MEET THE TEST
Deadly Blasts Underground Often Make
Heroes-Safety Measures
Reducing Fatalities.

nearly so per cent Of the coal miners
Of the Southern field today.
Many of these native whites do not
have much book larnin'" They are
intelligent, honest, hard working,
frugal with themselves and hospitable
to the stranger. Their word is as
good as their bond and, above all,
they are individualists.
1t is this individualism and cher
lshed independence. more than any
thing else, that kept the unions out
OF the Southern coal fields until the
N. Il. A. changed all that last year.
The native whites do not have the
ingrained PHILOSOPHERS of the Euro
pean guild system and Marxism that
influence the thought of more recent
newcomers to the United States.
Right now some of the miners are a
little confused by the regulations of
the superorganization that tells them
when and how long they can work in
spite of what they or their employers
may think about it.
Most of these miners are fine fel-
lows-native whites, blacks and the
men from the other side of the world.
They believe sincerely in their phi
loSophies. They want to play square
with their employers and with each
other. They are friendly and good
humored. But it is difficult to get
the mountain man and the man from
the plains of Hungary to see with a
single eye and feel with the same
conviction.
Difference Vanishes in Mine.
But when they are beneath the sur
face contending with the shadowy
forces Of the obscure underground, all
differences disappear. All mining has
its dangers, and when the men board
the cage and go whizzing into the
depths, racial differences, the color
line and so on seem to vanish. The
reason for this is clear enough when
We learn of some mine explosion like
another disaster heard about in the
mountains of West Virginia.
The miners were working far under
the earth. There was a sudden blind
ing fame. an -shattering detona-
tion. Thirty-four men were trapped
underground. They were in a remote
oCNL4O4A VI I44C AllONhCQ dLIQ
dazed, they gathered. One man took
the lead-there is always a leader.
Who was he? The records that I saw
in the Office of the West Virginia
superintendent Of mines do not say;
the story doesn't tell. There are no
vain heroics among the men who face
disaster underground. No one man
takes his place in the limelight.
But there was a leader that day-a
nameless, unknown hero. He rallied
the men, held them together in their
panic, their wild impulse to rush to
the outlets and into the deadly gas
that blocked the way. The leader held
them back with his cool courage. He
dominated them.
Throw Up Barricade.
At his direction the "a trapped men
make their way to a room, room
carved out of coal. They throw up
barricade to cut off the room from
the rest of the mine. They heap up
dirt, beams, coal, canvas and any
thing they can find They wall them
selves in, so the deadly gas will not
reach them. They put out their car
bide lights; these consume oxygen
oxygen they will need for their lungs.
They are in hideous darkness now.
They lie down, because they will con-
sumo less oxygen when they are prone
and motionless.
The hours 60 by, hours that remain
unnumbered in the inky blackness,
eternally long. They do half-mad
things. Some take pencils and paper
from pockets and scribble messages
In the darkness-messages to their
families; incoherent words. One man
begins to rave. They hit him over the
head with a shovel and knock him
unconscious to quiet him.
Entombed Men Write Notes.
That accident of which I am telling
left one fascinating legacy-the writ
ten testimony given by those en-
tombed miners after they had been
rescued. ] saw that testimony at the
State capitol building in Charleston,
w. Va, and copied an extract from it.
Here it is; here is what one of the
miners said:
My partner told me, Sam, we got
35 to 40 more minutes to live, as best
as I can guess at it. And I said,
Well, I'm going to call on the Old
Master. I amt called on Him like
ought to in a long time, and I amt
felt the effects of prayer So got
on my knees, and ! told Him on High,
Lord, the boss says We amt got more
than IS or 40 minutes to live and I
said, Lord, You said whenever there
are three or four gathered in Thy
name that You would be one in the
midst, and this is one time I am
calling on You And fully believe
the Lord answered my prayer, for
about 20 minutes from the time I
had done the praying I heard the
boys coming to get us out"
Yes, they got them out. And it's
stories such as that one that put
power and fervor behind the present.
day drive for safety in the mines.