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Monday. Nov. 12. 1956 The Guardian. Page 11

. :.- ...t.:aJ.fii,'a'.dv' ,...

dad

l "691 my mask! get my mask!"

tlllihlle. it will ltkalybe studied by'0Nl.Y suanr non nits official iuvutixaiiuu. Ordinarily there would be a 12.

The Graphic Story0I'The

. Endorse Welfare igrl Startin This Week

'l1l,ewcried!. "l' e got to go back.: "Time didn't mean a thing, but in 34.1..-,ur wait at in use ure die 4 Mm?! 0 -hi i ' everybody there asked what llmeibut about 7 pm. the Draegerinen t'lt was the best kiss I ever really happen. I've been - es ter be and Alexlit was every five minutes." hm-tad again to grope through the got." he said. 15 years-but the s - - " -.

. . . . Spence were dead. I -450'-lief body was found in surface wreckage. Three of ms

. i lured died in has there's a little hole in it and the d""l W” l0 "V n-an whouhu up through. ;It was now ll p.m.. six hours

I mlaftcr the blast. Harold C d , l was knocked a little sup Sm "nved0ifr:,ili;llMoUNTED To SAFE.”

Five men went back to the slope; the; to look around. They found three' g H in-iothera there. Only one -. Doug; Pltal, raising thei Benton-was alive.

. hours of artificial r revive hi

At 1:19 a.m. Monday survivors t make a living." started coming through the mine Butetllermlnerswould entrance. The third stretcher can when the company gave - rindCanEmhree.He inststedon They feltIi'keCheslOY i . walking to the ambulance. "I haven't got any choice." - '

"I want to get out of here the said. ”I'll have to go down againl sane way I went in." he said. A What else can I do?" i

smoky. gassy depths - althotitll hope was all but galle-

. The crowd had dwindled. Satur- lt took five day morning only . few deter. aspiration topmjned relatnes kept the vigil. It lwas raining, with some snow- ,flakes.

In all the local Pro Rev. Quincy Stairs, United Pen- . it-hurohes,"” ' ' 'cIiurch:

was drawn to the work of the re- "Ever since hearing about estab- eaMy organised Protestant Wd- liaising a Protestant Welfare Bur- fnre Bureau and the need of the no in Charlottetown. I have wholahearted generous support 1 watched with interest its devel-

Tbirty-nine miners were killed I when an explosion crashed through upper workings of a

In.

all members and adherents of the anneal. i am sure it can and will.SDrinuihill. N. 5.. coal mine. tr-p- like. b t not unconneioue. I uw'ml "iii?! ior Do . . v - .1 1. I! led h' . it did in various churches. in the (hgncI. be a h nefit and help manylping ii! men deep underground. skidmolxl-e, ms clothes were .alllc"l” .B'"”” "'m'”' "' dlrecll om". "'9" "am 5'10" "'9" l" r.eTh:u:'l.Vi3l.'Ei'.'uhgnliiiiiif Lcelht :u3Iv:r'.”i.ui itmwnr louder . .. al campaign which begins Wedneg more than what he helped nush Here Dal warrinxton. Canadian j.qII;1.l.wr..u.d "ch km on wet Ii-!:rrrimsolll"'ovetmlt)s'llilt.:mc" C lm a mu" " '9 fairly. Ken Gilbertygnerlng to help below. Many werel the rest. synfhefgc Rubbgr

sectarian channels. "I give my endorsement and henedic' to the work of the

g n Scotin. Anlamong them. They came to them army hospital unit set up inl5.700-foot level. - Sllrllixhlll nrmnrics. Soon 25 doc-j "We heard yelling and we could

Press staff writer who helped cover the disaster, puts into one graphic story the heroism and

tter' when told they weren't, WV! IIOUII lllilf-3'4 llllfl In-Pf needed just then. the explosion-the 52nd of the sec- The rockfall at 3,400 feet wasiond group of rescued men came

day November. 14th. . Following are statements given

to M ,m”, M dmmm Plant is Rumored

ground and tried to smother the flames. Every time I hit him. I

estant Welfare Bureau an d - um-aw tors and 40 nurses were read . smell smoke and a G'l 9

ruy, capo. Jff. 1g,bogg' 3;. mmend gm; .1; who regard :;:fe3!'sE:,fnA,5l.I'n:up numol: ma my huh '0 I W" on my Premier-elect Robert Stanllieldlaaid. "One of the boirss grnbhekdernlilr-Haul; pa,.sd”:' 1"! ltxfjmaen qfllgflllllt up.2.1.hu.L " .. . medial omen EDMONTON (CF)-The .I . . . Paul's Church '- my admonition to give what sup-H.519 ,1”... n"; W” "m, , comcgou, nd drove from Halifax. Premicrlmiiii liiil -'iIiil90 liiiii ""0 Our 59C-'3: ..r'Z'.. u-.3. plllmped into the said. "The rest of them are dead," T." '.l"" mm "Ma Pm"

..-we ,1", quuuo. l..m,ded fort they cnnvtonsuch a human- 3, DAL WARRNGNN mum!” wk. H. 3"" hem pom, Henry Hicks followed. RCMP and; Lion. Others were lying there butldeep, N, M, kn”, whether my-nELUC1.AN.l. DECIHON iaygmmclmbbefr l” ”la'"'l"3 ' u in the most ncient of World llrl-ii eiiierviiss Canadian Press sun Writer log to his face." "”"" my l'”".C' 5"" "i'iliii"W"' midi” ii" ”i""-'' men lived to use it. -n, ,,, ' 'mm3 ""-, " "” R” D” Literature. the Old Testament SPRINGHILL, N.s. (CP)-Coal Mist of those underground didn't '””'"'i N"Y helicopters began fly-i They liiially reached the 5.400; on the 5,400 level the gas was god;-'5 yy ' 1: .'if."”.'.TEZd It 1 ti?" ml" mm of "

Sr. Captain John Carter. Salvation Army:

"Jesus Christ declared His mis- sion in the world "to preach good:

I.ng in rescue supplies. escape devices from a Rn submarine flotilla at Hal

AIRBORNE A ID

t II e including foot level and Con Embree's grou ' ygl N;yyjThere they 2

ifax.

having to do with human relation- ships, ktotbehquel:lt:,i:: whilclla ne- etu-ding t e . C ad- dressed to God after Cain had

miner Ken Gilbert picked up his lunch pail. said goodbye to his wife and four children and drove off to work. His Job was digging

feel the explosion but a blast of air sent dust whirling through the tunnels. The man sensed trouble.

Foreman Charlie Burton headed

. P"worse. Cnn Embree told his men . 90k ""m 5””k"'3 3”'lto cut holes in an air hose. plliil l"?,m, '" 3” "W", Him” l?a559d-ltheir noses with pieces of cloth

no one got panicky or dlscour-.9 mm pm their mouth; to the open.

The newspaper says the firm believed to he Polymer Corpor tion. a crown company until, . by the federal government.

Some women remained at the pithead sobbing One cried. al- most hysterically. outside the mine office. "they -.'on't bring him upl"

northern Nova Scotia. drowned in Indian summer warmth. He passed the miners” immor-

blg gush of air. Then Charlie said there was a break in the power line. We didn't know where it

' tidings to the poor.to prociaimire-3 , . . ed," 5; - ' u , ,

I tIil:rIl":1I"sl 'ImllII!;'"Bl'Atl,Il.l'er'suI(.eeqI;l9tfl'-' In". m- "'9 "l".iVe5'"c”v"i"5 bgiladz lllzilwalllfiiibddcbhal :rTtrl;'i: w;I:cn:6:nolllll1 'e2;L3inr: Draezer crews armed by alrlpgcted tonx: Is):I!degEI':'Il:n.ll3Olt'l'Ix2 mg:-I ed on lives " Harold -H" mom" W" lmmu we miul An option 0" Llm ac"! of I. G” 4:9. Gm” owl "swat to of sight to the blind...to set at Vauyg ud ugdyghiud. "M: ' ' from other Nova Stoila mines. through any minute. T M9 Kin" ' ' lull. eight miles northeast of Red i,. this. ques" ' unquesti U l'b"'Y """' "ii" "9 l”"'”d- "'5 That ddy-Thursday NW ;. (man or an; Women wearing kcrchleis and "We split what ioob vie had ten. 35 ,' ff V" m,,,,,,,,, ,,.,e,,,,,,, lliiiiilil Giiidoii Hill with trim has been taken up by agents git "Y"... 'ollowers are bound to. interpret the town in the Cobeqald mm 0' "Au '" mt down the" W” I wrapp gill blankets look up n Being without water was the chfrrg agurwn md five other. reluctant: mu U" ml" "M m u” c”ml""y- ll” 9”" had”

---1-he p',o1"t"l Wm." Bun." l-lill rlilrleln daily practice. Every fearful vigil near the pithead. Elec- worst. 25 d"d Wi"-lld l” "1194 0" l0? Ill! Iiretment ilIV0lV0d I30 '- is

ltried-to get outn The gas 'was stronger as they climbed the slope. They stopped at every air valve

two months. until the danger of

person or family in need of any ;1g7,5w, kind is a challenge to the sincere

Christian: The Salvation Army nf .

tricians strung lines of emergencyi lights that cast a the crowd-

"I lllllred we were about done yellow glow on for. I wrote a will and got three of the fellows in sign it. Then 1

fo: the purpose of meeting a var- iety of Social responsibilities that

fire and -- ' OVCF.

WEI!

.

could best be met by a properly organized institution. with a speci- ally trnined Executive A could rightly direct all phases of Welfare Work and deal personally with those in need of help, pro-

Charlottetown. with other Christ- ian groups, has been facing this lcbauenge effectively for many years. Now we are happy to wel- come a new ally - The Protestant Welfare Bureau. We believe that

Welfare Bureau can provide, can "I am happy to endorse the you as an individual meet your work of the recently Organized responsibility in caring and pro- Protestant Welfare Bureau. AI-

ber's Keeper" - You as a chariot alaiatlllt "10 Wilill 0l ill? Cllllrcll” fan Citizen have the opportunity allclnsses of pE0Ple- . of helping the needy. materially "In counselling families with

the Bureau. and it gives me con-

"Tha establishment of a Wsl- "Mn "IV 3”" ll” l.""”” V13" . fare Bureau which can use Cl'llll''l' '" 'd"p"”"ch'"'0lhh:1Pr;m conditions and genuine needs a- l''”- bl” ll d”fh' :2" P mong the non-Roman Catholic "n"y,l”'l;d :"':m'n.'.d .0 mmmmd population of our City. and which 0'" k"d the Bureau ,0 m, can do hal lul and remedial work ll" W; "I Wm ,, i, .10.", amongst toss who have social Wll"'5be:'t' ngommmdnmmu. economic or family difficulties l' l" ahould be warmly welcomed. All who worship and serve the In- ear-nata Lord who 'want about stag good and healing all man- of sickness and disease a- mong the people' should support -.3 its work by prayer and by alms.

. W. !T. Brown. Zion Presby- hrgllecggtchcalliof the Church is go help people find the 'bread of m.', In other words. the Cl1iil'Cll in its witness seeks to help people to become spiritually adlusled l0 As long as the work of this Bur- m

an agency of the Christian Com- (.a the h y - thousands. In munionn. it will not lack the cm-igtian society it naturally loll means for its maintenance and now. than that we have such an

.x”"lu." This welfare work now. l-l.l.. Mitton. nsptist Church :,?,B,,:?:!fLtha Christian Church. "One of the things which bear "As Field Secretary of the Pro-

tans me about the establishment mint Welfare Bureau. l li9llW'-

of the Protestant Welfare Bureau we have a man who recognize! in this City, is the fact that it where the readlustments of life will assist in the rehabilitation really begin. In seeking the

to the needy, but because of the Minister of the Church of ichrlst. lack of such an Agency as we I, therefore. am IIIPPY W 3V!” now have. and the services of a full IuPlIil'l W ll" "”'k 9. trained social worker lft.tls was Protestant Welfare Bllftzth me” done to help others to help th- Well over loo leading us! selves. men and citizens. ;ii1d9i'M:l'” 59"” "The set I. therefore. of eral chairman o - the 7 all: Welfare Bureau llaalam Ir! Pll'll'3ll””"' in mil. should meet a real need. and it camvlllll bl!-I5 I "'1' ',"”;3 . seams to me that it is our Chris- ration of women under the hrs .1"! tin duty to live our support to ship of M"- -l--'l' l'l"””" V” ” V" the current drive for funds." .l.:ld8I'lII&!ofI(hd0l;l'9'tl:'d"0r ""l"” a wee I - Rev. lvud A- I. Griatensen The Protestant Welfare Bureau Iihle Chapel: although operating only since May "We believe the Protestant Wel-

). l dy done a marvelous fare Doreen is attempting to meet yr:-lr -lanbie various services for real need of the public.

a which it was organized and with "In helping Poor. broken, un-

the assured and expressed 5iiliPi7i'l derprivlieged families. it is lIop- of the Protestant public should N that many of these will be continue to develop and fill a ion! mun receptive toward the Goa- felt need in our social services. pd of Christ. which is the nm- In setting up the Bureau valu- ed: to the cause of all Illa. able assistance was given by Sis- Wo recommend this charIt- te; Mary Henry director of the able organisation as worthy of Catholic Social Welfare Bureau your support." lwblch has been operating an stuhc- Rav. M. .Dunbar. Central Cllrls- c”:f,',f,';lLy ,'3;,,ff,.3';.'" "mm ' tian Church: --A t u, k , By the nature of the work It u..c'u..??'J.".'.." iii. u? '33.”. 1- on-n me---rt ior ii" N "d m.g.rm ,3,” '0, :5, Bureaus to consult each other on munlty the work and sea of Nml" PMS" "ll Sm" M'” the "Lt ' nt Welfaiyrrphureau ll9iil'Y "d M" w'"" mlm denervsla our fullest interest and co ll'ld "f-'"l"'y ”' ll" P"'"e":"l . Any erganisatlo. gquc. Iuraau work in close cooilerlliiil

and bringi

.J.

s

ho" um hwln... in. ca gn will officially op- t. dluum ".1 unhgwy mpg. an with a supper meeting at the receives my blessing. Y.M.C.A. tomorrow night at six "All such arugiuuauumerey o'clock and with the great inter- and bone are hi-products not evident in the cause and the of Christianity. We may well thank seasoned campailn - WM "9 lll God for their existence and service leaders its success seems Isslifsd rendered."

y

Rev. JJT. IIIIII. Church of Iootr IIINCII CONSEIVII GA!

' p,........ 3...-.. .r.uus (Ar)-0 lea will be hm . "um ' the few slid.-no to drive

which moss within the last where they Iileaae when sasolins

organisation as a Protestant Wel- 1.,

ial, a 20-foot granite shaft with the figure of a miner holding pick and safety lamp. without a thought. The inscription said 125 ;men had died in Nova Sr.-otin's jworst mine disaster-a.. explosion

' At the mine on the edge of town gmen entered the wnshhouse to get i'98d.V to go below on the S-to-ll

someone said. "A fellow should be off deer-hunting."

”Lennle Boss has gone hunting,"

"1 don't blame him," ma .

Underground on the l,l00-foot level Raymond Smith thought labout deer - hunting, loo. He'd !worked since 7 am. He wanted to go hunting and they'd asked -for two men to work overtime Ha spoke to his buddies, Murray Tar- rls and Dougie I-Iemwood. They agreed he should go and they would stay. START OF SHUT ; At 3 o'clock the evening shift .-strangled to the hankhanti where coal is hoisted from the mine, a .horneshoe - shaped building with ' sheet-metal walls from which main

The men got on the rake. can irunning on rails down the 15-da- Igree slope to working areas he-

w.

There was Con Embree. an ever- man. at is a veteran of as years in the pits.

There were other old timers like night mine manager Russell Morse and youngsters like 10-year-old Wayne Smith. There was Len Mc-

went down the main slope to the 8,200-foot level. then tlirousll a stone tunnel to the top of the back- alope driven in No. 1 coal seam. An underground hoist at the top of the bsckslope lowered them to .the 5.700-foot level. They walked to the working face at 0,100 feet and started to dig coal. The! W090 0.100 feet along the diagonal seam land 2.000 feet below the surface. Another group went to tunnel on the 5.100-foot level and others were scattered through the work- ings doing various jobs. Altogether I30 men were at work in No. 4-11: underground and 11 on the surface. Just another shift for which the ordinary miller would get 09.74. the foremen and others somewhat more. LIKE EARTIIQUAKI At 3:07 p.m- a tremendous rumble shook Sprinlhllh A llllxll like an earthquake spread for miles across the hills. A woman in Joggins. a collief! WW" ” jmlles away. felt it- i Sprlnghlll women no outdoors 'and instinctively looked toward

" the mine. They MW I Nd Ill"

sllliouettlng colllery buildings.

At the town undertaker's. an embalmer heard a roarial boom

-''I saw n ball of srnokaiand than flames shooting over the mine." he said.

A deer-hunter four miles awn! thought the town had blown up.

Leonard Boas. I. mine wash- hogan caretaker, was standing in a oorway.

"3 blue flame about the Iugth of a car shot out of the slope." be said. "A fraction of a sactmd later there was .2 terrific hang. with it came the. biggest ball of In I ever saw. ' .

Norman less. a baakhsad worker. was talking to All: IMO-

W”... Murray Terri: felt only the blast on! air.

Ken Gilbert said: "The air stopped and seemed to go the other way. "Then we had a feel-

werked on, feeling nothing. Tim- berman Ralph Mallard. working with props and timber braces in

Two of his uncles and a nephew were in No. 4. The bsnkhend was nflre and debris covered the

town. Draegermen-Nova Scotia'a

W. BUSHED T0 HOSPITAL Cara whisked eight badly burned surface workers to the town hos- pital- A hearse carried away the hoaiz of 10-year-old David Vance. a grim news spread across the province and the continent by tdegrnpb. telephone and radio. Forces of rescue and relief began to mobilise. Underground in No. 1 mine. Earl McCarthy. a rake operator. was at the 4.700-foot level when he got word of the explosion. I-Ie was told to take his rake to 1,800 feet where a stone tunnel connected No. 2

chamber, to prevent a blast in one mine from reaching the other.

"When I got through the explo- sion doors everything was all smoky and a grey dust filled the air. Every time I breathed it burned my lungs so I got down in a crouch to ease the burning for a while.

"I kept going until the burning came back. Then I crawled in

"I crawled until I fetched up against something and fell down. Two men carried me to the sur- face and I was sent to hospital. I had a terrible pain in my lungs." ILAIT CAUSE UNKNOWN Rescue men knew now that No. C was filling with gas. They did not know what caused the explo- aton. They said it could have been coal dust, which can be triggered by a spark when in certain pro- portions in the air. More likely it

Knowing llltillrlgllilul risk of a 3.:-and explosion, the Draegermanj kept going doun.

And in the rieeps. as the lower levels of a coal mine are called. another drama unfolded. Most of.

l l

the smell of smoke hit. it smelled like old rubber and everything

ing help this fellow and that fei- low

"Victor Hemvroud. had collap-

smoke had stopped

did the some and we made our way back to the 5.700 wall where. we were in the first place. The air? was fairly good but getting denderl all the time. I "Then we got up a side passage: to the 5.400-foot level and turned- on every air valve we could."

OVEBMAN A HERO

Now Overman Con Embree came into the story-n man named by almost every miner as the hero of the explosion.

Embree, the modest. shy son of a miner who survived the I891

the nearby River Hebert Mines in the 1920s.

Doggedly he marshailed more than 50 men at the 5.400 level. it was Friday morning. Embree di- rected the men to build a make- shift door in the tunnel to divert the gas They used old trap-doors and insulating cloth. Behind the door they had air that was still flowing from a valve in the mine

for a way out. They sir

not knowing of the ploslon joined them from lower levels.

"Now we had the gas boxed off a;d we had compressed air." Tn- bor said. "We knew as long as they kept the press a on we could live.

"Con kept a diary in case he died-to let "anyone know what happened when they found it. He wrote in it every hour.

(The diary has not been made

wrote a little note In my wife, "Grover Brovin said ll. was his birthday-that was Friday - and we sans him a happy birthday. i "He said, 'boys, if we get out today you're all invited to a part

lllllllvd "H the 4.400-foot level and hudiilndl

NIGHT MANAGER GASSI-J D

"One of them was Russell lilnrse' (night mine managert. I-le mustl

log for air.

Through Thursday night despite efforts to reach the trapped men- hnd continued. but hope grew dim. Rescue crews could not get into the lower levels through the gas-

At 2:30 am. Friday, mine man. ager George Calder of No. 2 mine said "There is still hope, though it may be only a faint hope, that the men are alive." but the hope was short-lived. A Drneger crew found a rockfail at 3,400 feet as the backalope. blocking passage to lower levels. They saw two bodies but could not remove them. There