Jasper County Democrat, Volume 13, Number 72, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 17 December 1910 — ENTOMBEDMINERS SEE WORKERS DIE [ARTICLE]

ENTOMBEDMINERS SEE WORKERS DIE

Two Out of Thirteen Imprisoned Escape With Their Lives. SAVED BY MAKING HOLE IN PIPE Others Caught by Explosion Fall Near Fortunate Ones, Who, However, Are Unable to Assist Them— Tell Dramatic Story.

Cincinnati, 0., Dec. 16. —Two of thirteen men entombed by the double mine explosion at Tacoma, Va., in which ten lives were lost, emerged from the workings in fairly good condition, according to a dispatch to the TimesStar from Bluefield, W. Va. They told a dramatic story of the desperate struggle to prolong life underground and how a small hole in the air pipe saved them while their comrades perished. G. E. Leappmn and John Swefe are the survivors of the struggle in the dark. When the explosion occurred they rushed for the airshaft. Finding exit impossible, they grasped a sledge hammer and with it broke a hole in a small air pipe. By placing their mouths rear this hole they obtained sufficient oxygen to keep the deadly gases formed by the explosion frcm their lungs. Unable to leave this scanty supply of air, they were forced to watch the futile struggles of other workmen to reach the spot. Staggering blinding through the encompassing gases the struggling men fell in some instances within a few feet of leapman and Swete, but neither eould aid the others. The only living thing about the two men when they left their refuge to seek the outer air was a mule. How the animal managed to escape suffocation is a mystery, but it appeared little the worse for its experience when Leapman and Swete led it from the mine.' Two other men were found alive by the rescuers. They were in another part of the mine, where air was plenti-. ful. They are so terribly Injured, however, that they cannot recover. Eight men were found smothered to rleath near the air pipe which saved the lives of Leapman and Swete. Shrieking women met the rescuers as they marched slowly out of the mine, bearing the bodies of those who perished.