Evening star., 1936-04-24
PA|R|N MINE TOMB
DESPA|RED OF LIFE
Tortures of Imprisonment
Told by Robertson
and SCadding.

{Copyright 1896 by the Associated Press)
MOOSE RIVER, Nova Scotia, April
24.-Through the long, dark hours
before their rescue from the Moose
River gold mine, Dr. D. E. Robertson
and Charles Alfred Scadding de-
SPARED of life, it became known to-
day from the full story of their 10
Gay entombment.
DR.. Robertson. practicing his pro-
fession as physician even through his
own danger helped Scadding to keep
alive and held Herman Magill in his
arms when the third man died.
Patiently and quietly. the two sur
vivors conserved their strength. facing
their dangers sensibly and working
to overcome them until the miners
of the tunneling rescue crew finally
arrived.
Only today, when DR. Robertson
was recovering rapidly in an emer-
gency hospital here, and Scadding
was being treated in the Halifax hos
pital to which he was flown, was the
whole dramatic story learned.
Cracks Warn of Disaster.
Four sharp cracks, like giant rifle
shots, warned the three men of ap-
preaching disaster Easter Sunday
night while they were making an
inspection tour of the mine.
All three leaped from the main
operating shaft to the l4l-foot level.
and for four hours after the cave-in
they heard the grinding and rumbling
OF the earth continuing like thunder.
Magill. already i'll when he entered
the mine, was too sick to worry about
the chances for reScuing. His two COM
panions, during the first five days of
their Imprisonment, saw little chance
of rescue.
They could not hear dynamite blast
ing at the surface or the diamond
drill.
Burned Wood for Two Days.
For two days after the cave-in,
April II, they burned bits of dry
wood in hope the smoke would filter
out and be seen above. BY Wednes-
day their supply of wood was ex-
hausted and they had no indication
The three slept well during the first
few days of their entombment, and
hunger did not cause them great suf-
fering. They drank water freely.
When they slept they locked them
selves in one another's arms to pre-
serve what heat foodless bodies would
generate.
Ra,n n int 1on
shaft through the diamond drill hole
they retreated as far as they could,
fearing that they had caused loose
stick of dynamite to explode.
Only when a siren sounded through
the hole did they realize that COM
munication had been established.
SignaIed With Pipe.
They rushed over shouting and tap
ping the pipe. and the miners above
knew then for the first time that
the three we're alive.
For hours DR.. Robertson held Ma
gill, his partner in the mine venture,
in his arms trying to keep him warm.
Monday morning. less than "A hours
after the diamond drill broke through,
Magill sat up suddenly, spoke in
coherently, and in two minutes he
was dead.
While Magill, 30 years old, sue
cumbed, the 62-year-old DR.. Robert
son contracted a cold, and Scadding
44-year-old timekeeper. suffered from
trench feet" They lost surprisingly
little weight, however, because they
had plenty of drinking water.
The drill broke through some dis
tance from the dry cavern where they
had made themselves as comfortable
as possible, and they were fed soup
through a tube from the surface.
Tube Is HOiSted.
When they went to report Magill's
death, they asked that the tube be
hoisted so that their voices would be
heard clearly.
The next time the tube was lowered,
they refused to make the trip to the
drill hole to get it.
The severe physical exertion Of
climbing up and down II rungs of the
timberwork leading to their cave out
weighed their desire for food, even
after week in the pit.
Believing rescue was near, they de-
cided to conserve their strength.