Coulee City dispatch. [volume] (Coulee City, Wash.) 19??-19??, 1937-05-13
"Buried-But Not Dead'
By FLOYD GIBBONS

A ADVENTURE sure laid an icy hand on the shoulder of Joseph
1 = Kurtiz, who sent me one of the best written yarns I've had
to date. Joe lives in Brooklyn now and at last writing could
have used a job. He gave up his youthful. ambition to be a mining
engineer as a result of events related in todays story, and
switched to mechanical engineering. But, if you ask me, the
magazines are looking for people who can write like Joe.
Vs. Accordingly ! 0r rdaM II. I'm fol ghn his script gt, pretty my. close; In In April I, 1872 = We yas
his first JOB, and oh he was assigned to investigating pillar robbng" IN the
Miners must leave enough coal to support the roof Of the mine,
roSsaas consists %ssas St sts saias: co.: e sii i1on a't shss that rs@ saGss IN s sasagi r. aa
is :, Illegal g since since it Ia may cause nnr.s oa We I in which workers h1ick r 5sl ki6ea;
Standing sn IN ~aS the an collapse oaa1s Ut It's 'e earthquake axe fire and Hood:
Fine Place for an Avalanche.
companions found Up pillars liars cracked and and cru crum n by the weight Of mil
ions Of tons Of fro rock ai they ih had held sa up for for five ed decades es;aad AS AS sq up ftz,b they
erected by miners to protect themselves in those far, bygone years
dewed dust. Not much between Joe and the millions 81 tons Of rock
,ana Worse .m.t the sm workings h we're we're Of t the Pitch" Phs =" ty T aeh. chamber erl like q
s {a1ass . Of shsle e'h hung s9% loose xs's a breath @ee W ia0s se mss t asase e1sshs t to the
so0s a d hinsa saet t sS1sss0 r ias s asebS cam stsr a'9 an N Avalanche z51sn aee on = the he
Joes duhes-lovey job!-were to climb over this loose rock,
=; soys re- VI IS slime lin san + he % asafsd i, , il f.t was sv sss f The s sseses
to tell about that.
Pocket of Gas Was 1gnited.
coal p pillar : at the s' sn s1'P gssrns s' ssas y ys sss faint f .Hss! e The he is@s s fsstsasa
s sssfs - At 5s TOP Y :ssnsn ~ ~. = a Joe cal calls anssa; was t. to IS
ta1l 5as q as gsiat n fs5 tf IL tre &Tsnt2 i fss + fyen t dnss sep@Be no s Aa explosion a5
like a gant bsssdrum shook the Il earth in = q bolt Of Hvid flame: GAsl
: $ SPLINTER aa q esask! psss = !! The ssesS 5srhsa rock topping
; iasn as ss fe shis s' sPH1n i WAS Va te on loose "s''' . the sssp''4''n'.
the A 1a4 agst 81 T aane sh osp his se1 assd, t asalDis n s q posr ths d 5sl las 599 jssge d
rock raced, leaping and laundering downward past Joe, hurting into
the hell o. darkness far below.
Buried-and in Inky Darkness.
Joes lamp had gone u with the explosion. But above him was a
binding glare-a marching surf of blue-and-reds treaked fire, lighting up
the chamber overhead. Bistering white heat above-thundermg flood of
angry rock below! Joe chung to the pillar m his stomach, ducking hurt
ling rocks, shrinking from the blazing heat above. With cawing fingers
and toes that vainly sought foothold in the hard floor, he lay there-it
seemed ages-aching muscles atorture. The slide diminished. The Gear
bonic oxide" above burned ftfuny, threatening any second to seek out
with its rainbow flames another pocket, spreading in chain explosions
through the underground terrain, burying' Joe and his companions.
Joe thought of the others. Had they been crushed to a jelly
smear under those tons of rock-trapped in some doghole or cross
cut in a pillar?
The rolling flames died, went out. In the inky black Joe CROPPED
for a match, lit his lamp. The floor was clear. He stepped out. In
stanty he tobogganed down on a slab of rock he had overlooked. Four
hundred feet below he brought up short on the heap of loose rock. It
had blocked the entrance completely.
No Wonder Panic Seized Hin.
Joe was CAUGHT LIKE A RAT. He sat o n a rock, wondered that
he wa not frightened, began to figure his chances of seeing sunlight
again. 1t seemed suddenly very precious, III and open air. Airl The
rock had sucked much out, the explosion had driven more out and the
fire had burned he didn't know how much of the Ifegving oxygen in
that black pit. Would the rest last till they got to him?
hoarse. He smashed a rock repeatedly against a pillar, listened.
Not a sound. Just silence. TERRIBLE SILENCE. joe saw
slow death ahead-sufocation, thirst, starvation. Unwounded, he
wished for death-swift death, rather than this drawnOut agony.
@ Now he could only wait hepesIy.
Joe says he prefers to forget the next nine hours. Imagination
capped. With all hope gone for Joe, they had notified the surface. A
relay of rescue crews, working as only mine rescue crews can, dug
through the pillar from a adjoining chamber and pulled Joe out nine
hours later.
From that day n the only coal Joe can stand looking at is in a
stove. He quit the mining engineer career cold. But I still say he can
write like a professional What do you think?
~ @-WNU Service.