The Waterbury Democrat., 1945-12-27
31 r0pped In Cool Pit
CcOntinusd from Page n

Ccontinued from Page D cue vorkers.
 Rhodes said the temporary ven- tiiation system set up to feed the rescue crews fresh air leaks e iot."
 Hen In Earth
 The rescue workers. on the job since yesterday morning. struggled through Epliniered timbers and fail- en shaic. Pools Of chilled water vet them to the knees. The upper parts of their clothes were muddy from dust and sweat The hot, smoke filled air. reddened their skin.
 'Tt's hot and smoky and it stinks." Rhodes said. T know what hell is Ike"
 The rescue teams were relieving each other at shorter intervak. pushing their equipment Into the mine along the narrow gauge track that followed the slight grade to it's bottom. The track was little damaged.
 Doubtful of Life
 The rescue leaders did not know whether the smoke was from c pocket pierced in the debris, or whether another fire was raging in the depths Of the mine.
 God only knows how long it will take to cover that last half mile" said Fred Slusher, company book keeper. Slusher said 1t was doubt full if any of the men were still alive.
 The trapped miners wives and children kept up their vigil in front of the gaping. smoke -blackened mouth of the shaft, tied to the bleak mountainside by a thin thread of hope.
 Holiday Aftermath
 Wrapped in tattered blankets, quilts, and old coats, they stared at the hole at the base of the mountain where their husbands and fathers entered the shaft shortly before T a. m. yesterday. The ex- plosion occurred only one hour and B minutes after the first shift reported for work after 8 Christi mas holiday.
 Faces were smudged with tears and smoke. Most of them had not eaten since breakfast yesterday. The mothers sometimes accepted a cup of coffee, or held the steaming tin cups to the lips of their children. Neighbors had kept the pots boil ing over dull-red fires throughout the night for the rescue workers toiling in the mine.
 A company official said the 20- man rescue squads, working in re- lays were within 5000 feet of where the men are believed to have been working when the ex- plosion came"
 Believed Two Miles Back
 The trapped workers were believ- ed to have been two miles back in the shaft, which slopes gradually downward under the mountain for 21s miles from the entrance.
 Most of the workers lived in the drab mining of community of blackened shacks called Four Mile, because it is four miles from Pine vile. The mine is IS miles from Cumberland Gap, Tenn, in the rolling hills of the southeast corner of Kentucky.
 Mine officials were not certain yet how many men were in the rear workings when the explosion occurred. They had checked out lamps to 3l, but some may have taken their lamps home over the holiday, and entered the mine with out checking through the lamp house.
 TranSients Working
 There were some transients working here," one spokesmen said, "and>if they are inside We have no way of checking since their fam flies would not be aware they are inside we have no way of checking since their families would not be aware they are missing.
 w. E. Lewis, operator of the company, said 30 men might have been in the mine.
 About 150 workers are normally employed at the mine.
 Families of the trapped men clus- tered in small groups about the mouth of the shaft, drawn closer by their common misery.
 we try to keep them back" the mine superintendent said, but you