The Waterbury Democrat., 1936-04-22

| gaSpeQ Uo MlnlSCer OI MlueS Mi- chael Dwyer.
 The minister, directing the rescue work, immediately put on oil skins and descended the damp shaft.
 Stretcher-bearers and phy- sician, Dr. H. K. Macdonald, fol- lowed him.
 The Canadian Broadcasting Com mission announced without qualifi- cation at 12:55 P. M. (EST) that the rescuers had broken through the last barrier.
 Worked on StOmachs
 Hard bitten coal miners from Stellarton who carried forward the brunt of the work, were laboring to- ward the last on the fiat of their stomachs, so low was the passage.
 They had to enlarge this and then cut through broken and decayed tim bers which blockaded a corner of the shaft around which they hoped they would find the two men.
 An ambulance, its motor running, waited at the pit mouth to carry the men across 8 muddy field to an improvised hospital as soon as they could be brought out.
 Heard Them Shout
 Moose River, N. S., April 9 = (UP) Rescue crews hacking through blocked passages of the Moose river gold mine grew so close to their goal today that they could hear the shouts of the two men who have stayed off death for 10 days while awaiting them. Arthur Phillips, Cumberland county mine inspector, said at a. m. that at last victory was in sight" in the des- perate, reckless battle of rescurerS to reach Dr. D. E. Robertson and Alfred Scadding, and the body of their dead companion, Herman R. Magill, in their tomb, Al feet under ground.
 They Strike Softer Going
 A fresh crew of Nova Scotian miners who went into the crumbling rescue shaft at a. m. had struck softer going through 8 slate barrier and was making faster progress than hitherto in the struggle to save Robertson and Scadding be- fore exposure, cold, and infections sap their last remaining vitality. Minute preparations were made at the surface to receive the men at almost any moment. No one could overlook the fact that time and again yesterday, and the day before, fINJYuhf innnt But the fact that the human moles, cutting into the slate foot by foot, could hear Robertson's and 1 ScaddingS shouts convinced most everyone that this time the hour of triumph over death really was close at hand.
 A toboggan stretched was made ready far down the rescue slope to receive the men and permit them to be dragged to the surface as on a sled Cots were set up under shelter at the surface, to be used if the men were too weak for im- mediate transfer to ambulances { which waited to take them to an improvised hospital.
 Mrs. Robertson, who has waited at the surface through days of agonized hope and despair, Waded in mud from last nights heavy rains to inspect the last-minute prepar- | ations.
 Picked Men At Work
 Picked men, most of them mem- bers of the famous Stellarton Coal mine rescue crews-the "Draeger- men" who are trained in danger ous underground work-made Up the fresh shift.
 I'm going down there now, and I'm not coming up till we get them," said one of the Draegermen, Jack Simpson.
 Another, Trueman Hirschfield, insisted on going back into crumb- ling, sloping Reynolds shaft, in which the rescue work centered, after wounds caused by falling rock were dressed at the emergency hos pital.
 Harvey Higgins of Concord, Mass, who made a complete survey Of the mine 13 months ago, arrived early today and conferred with officials He is believed to know more than anyone else about the layout of the mine and the rock formations | there.
 Could Blast New Way He said the rock bed was solid below the 141-foot level in which Robertson and Scadding were trap | ped. If the effort to reach through the crumbling old Reynolds shaft fails, he believed new shaft could be blasted safely. Others still thought that blasting would be likely to shake loose tons of rock that might crush Robertson, Scadding and rescue workers alike.
 Although both Scadding's and Robertson's voices seemed strong to those who talked to them today through the lifeline" bore that was drilled into their chamber, doc tors at the surface were worried over the condition of both men. Both Men Suffer
 Scadding was suffering from trench feet, due to hours of wading about in cold water in the mine, and was reported to be gravely in need of medical attention.
 Robertson's cold, which it was feared yesterday might develop into pneumonia, was somewhat better. But his strength was so low that physicians knew his condition might become worse at any time. Bottles of sterile water were brought to the mine head for use of doctors in any emergency treat ment that might be necessary when the men are brought out. The cots set up there were warmed with hot water bottles.
 Crews of men were put to work on the 17-mile road from the mine to middle Masquodoboit, so that the ambulances can get through to Hal flax as soon as the victims can be safely moved that far. Rains the