dead, lniurod l And.-Rescued Ar Springhill

SPRINGHILL, N.S. (CPR Fol- !w'i.1',' is a list of identified dead red and rescued in the Spring- . mine disaster; tspelling from i ..ipany lilesl. Dela .-ildt rson. Ephriam riuiniiiey, Ibseph

BY GERRY McNEIL Canadian Press Staff Writer SPRINGHILL, x. s. lCPI..

when 30eyear-old Ken Gilbert ten his home for the evening shift last Thursday, he didn't think he

DESCRIBES ORCEAI. UNDERGIIOUND

Miner Tells Gra

1 "At the 57 (5.700 feet), we heardl yelling and could smell gas and smoke coming down the shaft ml the head entrance to an air 5.... NEW. Pal of mine. Jack Mac I-eud. shouted. ”l'here's men in.

mg iiithout water was the worst WROTE WILL

I wrote a will and got

pl"llC Sloryr

”We split what we had left. Be-l

''I figured were almost done for I Wilfred

went out to see f i

. over a rock tall lHell:afvoullldw3n':.

y irpfzgssible and told us to get buy ”About five or

six men didn't

ll.'lWS0ll. Gerald Id . . ' By y , g make H. one I l

H l';i(;limda;,Vrli0er Bsp:'Alcll. zglebrate. a that head. &;J:nne, gSPr:1:,n :1) Shlcholsonrh andl sen Morse lmgm nhienfzl IX: Rus-

ll” ll hours in Cumberland Ci..idEplng one or the b.”-" grabbed ' wrote Klllttl ( (t ltg" 1. "lm He "lllsl l'”"9 been c atgenl

'iillL dn Ben " V d om- man and hauled him inlo our scce 8 l 9 no 9 O my M at gascd Dav - 3 augh or pan; s No. -I colliery hero - it etts went after

"i lost both sheets in the- mine, lllntlllll. But I figure it's better for them to be down there and me here than the other way around.

lion. which was fresher but begin- Inlml "1 Eel gassy. Others were ling there but we couldn't get

him. But he d'd 't TALKEDI KEPiTnwAc';)Eni;a back. ”We cuddled amimd

lle said goodbye to his with ltlarg and four children and drove

Pepperdine. Berreli I to the mine wash house nherc

llvke. Ple;.;.an

an air

:l)fl1lrl(c'h"lKill:!; miners change for work. There he The Ha. head had come we ”D""""' Campbell l""l l walld' llrlleldpirwtiilreiriatnrimd my they could W s i .. . 3 n Vance. David ll:'l1l'.lEflpMrl.x:ll siiltilher men on the 3.iALL SCARED ered as for as iheicorner ofdthe we talked. "mg 01: t)heeepsui;f;ce. lWd- CW8? uip.,.' mo" gm, '3 day ,0 W. .i l were all scared - didn't "win rill-wing .-0" l'p"' l"l,l.l" "lll and kept watch. Nobody lost Ill: llllml 13 we should have it off for hunting 'l l ll"”ll' Where to run, 'illtl:'nltrllr:n ml? mpesl "lung '0 head"

Ill-lured said one. Most agreed. ' "l 35k"! the l0r9man. Wilfred "lint we got scared The gas ”"A bl-lllfh of men came UP from -l”l"'5- wllllam At 3 P. m. Kcn Gilbert - of Bl”lV". how we could get to the would hcizin to ldet us and we'd me 5400 level. They looked DTEHY llll'll”lllll(l' Lem" medium build with hint-k unruly surlact He sald he kllew 5 "'9 ll" back Then others would try W?” a" in" My b"llllel"lll'l'l3w W” Mrlliiiiald, Wilfred ' liezid ziir i)1'.Nilgg up farmer. we ' t ' with them We stayed by thg

liairvand 25 other miners went I . I "Grover Brown said it was his down as usual jmu ya, 4, gassyl urlllh-ly'l. get to it but gas forcedibirthdayithat was Friday noon- treacherous mine with ah istoryy 5 -dill In the .),700. and We Sang him I 'H3PP)' Blflhs

us. Neil .

: V aenny

Pump but the others kept going UP- I guess they made it.

l:.lllllllll!;”e' All” oi' accidents. 8 "50"lLhUne said we could Set to dav stgllieddogtl thin: the guy! that illd ,, y ,, ll Elf out on the 54 (5'4mgfwt) .'.Th ,1 idv .3 H we gut eow t at time have , , Rescued rkalggcisrzegg ggrlicgom matillevel. We Inadfl it and took mms out med"ay'y:3.rp alfykvited to , chance. We never saw them come K umrv Lawrenc. , . ysut-ken; air. There were about 50 party at in place.' But we said "P and I dont think there's any ll0l"l- men than y. hope for them .-iii-iin, Louis i-we were at the face at 5:100 U1 4 , l y y no. Our parties, if we had them. "we t d l lmml, wmred reel when it happened It sounded Y Y ldwnil(l liilfrcd if there was a were going to be in Our Own becau es ll” fl ll'e,llllmP mainly N,” Charles like a bump but the air Stopped rial) do get in the 4400.10,” ieveig homes V ms Jllte 'lltr6 alive there and l..ll nieii. Don and seemed in so the other Way-" e hdm.i”"'.”' M” 3 "all llllll ll sovir: LEFT BEHIND llh: ldeiy imlm have sealed i 1iiI'('lllll, Dave A bump is a mine earthquake was goo lm"lll"llt 'lFinall we decided to leave the asi w u- I mmld m ml l l”ll”lg' Bruce lJC't'Ull8l' 10 5P1'lIlEhlll- N0 PANlll stop andytry to get to the bottom g'l1sel;3jdetl;:Prril;h()lsil;ll1gi (or 8” l”'l'll”' wllllllm ”Th"n we had a feeling it was "NO One 11"! panii-liv or disco r I hz ' cl f'nd as-free b ll l v- ' i A 1 an my ( J0, Gerald r e d W. 1 N C. u t L mine an t a g I'0.l(.l-Ill-ait l'll1ink the air is it it mt: ?.2.2:ri.fi”i.e:":.::::: f::1:e.......:.. :l:..;.::r:;::'...:” .Wi5 W 5...... as l"”'ll”le- llle" everything and left lfast, through anv minute and 313;: litilenfelloliv 'I2gii)eI was lCnga'll'CEI-legoslilaligd :13: Are you com- (ui-'l 1'1. Kf'"n0lll wasn't too much has then in I ' 1 ll ' l l ) U . . L: to get married. Ixow I dont liilrjvll. l)itl3' We stiirii-ti for tile 4.400 but know" MET DRAEGER (REW ii vixmw Rector, Hedlcy had touturn back Wilfred couldn't ''I said, 'Aw. yhu dumb . . .. , "50 We "091 the liijgiiis. SHEP- V: 1-” if Iiector, Percy get his -Sillillvv lamp on and we (..,,,,(. (mg mg the rock. in the mlilll) - fool g fl”0l- IUUL Smith, Kennedy were, flyiiiii lilinil ' r'1im.,,wc Saw lights, wvuwught level. We made gas masks of 'l ly,'l'so'l',.'li.ll" SiI1llh.W8Yn0 We built a stop to protect us it was a draegcr crew iinlil they 5h"'l5 Mid 5l"”- The Smoke was .ik;ClIl5nnllal'(li'10ymwph Sstonetiliouse. (gtonaid fnd stasis: limo ttlwllir six hours. slioiilcd to each other that we were 59.35” ll lllllfll; 'h y D H- P- tone ousa, eorge guess. slop I, a niche in the drama” . e were en ti en we made (y lctngat. - etcr Tabor, Harold mine wall blocked off to keep out ”We all got together and they It. We found a group of men at .1 mill. lad iiarrl Taylor, Elvin gas.) know M more than we did There the air valve there. but we felt l. Vlaslollst Early TOFNS. Murray "I. had salmon snnilwiclies and. were more ft-llows lving inla shaft llke ll'5'l"3 l3"ll9l'- we 803 50 ill” ht-V1-ll;1l;;Yv;()nGtg:;(:leS Jr VICEIT ' cooklets but I didn't get a chancel near there but gas stopped us from anjl 15:" l::"il:3 coming. H H in i - GU15. MTISOD 0 ea. Part of the food spoiledigcttinpz them. l W5 W” llle cmwd um . i 01'. a Total 36 anyway. "Our underground mnnggef went ahead of us coming down 3.1

because the mine was sealed, but l ,i 7 I . T. it was a dracger crew. R..- ”We turned back to the air valve

at the 3.800-foot level.

'”l'hey caught up to Ela and me . helping each other along, and gave TOP LEF'I'. A small door at TOP RIGHT Norman 5 .11 top or mine idmim at 3:: .1 ."...2:::' 5:: 2:5: .?.l.?.”1".li2' 2:. .l””f.l:f':..?:.:””..Jl”l'l”l '" l

uso xygen. I passed bout once on y the W857 1113- visual point of interest for all . the five men worki t- e "When 1 Came '0' Someone IBM who waited news of rescue work'head or No 4 altllltehne rlgriaviiglsla "illii iifnnliilvll blul(wERthRlGl 1 ms lace " 'Can you walk?" and I staggered within the mine. In a scene often explosion occurred. Three of the 'haseball player with the Spring: wager as de m Mff,r;:,.m which I" UP 8 l9V9l Wllh hl! helps Y9P'-Wled dllrlnli lhe Past two days i five men were killed and Mr. l hill Fence-busters who was one had escue llnnteho iy m net" ll ”The next thing 1 new 1 W88 all attention is centred on this Boss and Alan Skidmore werelof the miners trapped underground C 8 tl-doll: 0 e mbmlrs 3 R. in All Saints Hospital. My bud- spot. Police restrain the crowd thrown from the building and LOWER LEFT - Emerging mall: (I tmm N1 am utance and dies were in beds around me and from joining rescue workers as hadly burned. Everything inf1arn- from underground rescue work llllliisllieng lilis oaxilijisiall eltluilllrlmsmi F my relatives came in with telr a stretcher case is carried from mzible in the areas was ignited a crew of miners welcome the Ilospitab B an. egrams and news of telephone the mine, ihy the explosion. Despite pain- hot coffee which the Salvation calls from friends. gm--w----H A w .-wv w-.7-F H” V -w-w-- -M-q-.-yw.,....w......,.s...,..,,...,,.... ,..,,..,,.,..- "BORN AGAIN" -w -i - i i W-it At the hospital his wife said: . "It feels like I was born again to talk to him. Last night I was dead." "When we heard Thursday night, all I thought was that he's alive. he can't be dead." Ken's about gave up hope. "I couldn't believe it when I heard they were alive today. Har- old Gordon said he didn't believe anyone could be alive. ”l)ut poor Morse and Davie Bctts. Bctts went to help Morse. He was a lifelong Pill 0' K95"- Just two boys who never really grew up." "lily son-ln-law and son came up alive." said Ken's father. "If all the others are as luckY. 1'" M happy. "You know. I'm only I CORP pany hand. not a nlner. and they wouldn't let me so down there- it's harder on a man waltins than going down." As for Ken his black Jolson- like face against a llrlmy Dlll0Wi he said he'll never go into a mine ain. &q"You know. it was something me 3 dream that you never thought could really happen. Ive been a miner 15 years but there s other ways for I man to little I lvlng." Kenn, wile, her face streaked with coal dust and tears. agreed.

I Photos by Wattol

,t't ,,

ST. JOHN AMBULANCE CORPS SET UP 'AN EMERGENCY HOSPITAL

V?' r-we

My . . am”

W... "inn: N. A -iisscnr;s1iti9V

Funerals Held For 10 Miners l At Springhill

By man DUNLOP Canadian Press Staff Wrllcf SCRINGHILL. N.S. (C?) r M

the plthead of the Cumberland Railway and Coal Company. hun- dreds gathered to pray for 77 ml”- ers lead or stilll alive under the earth.

At 36 liom.I. people felt tha warmth of lhankfulness for ma returned from what man! hid considered certain death.

And in two Sprlnghlll churches and six other Springhlll homes. wives, children and friends bld

i..;

SPRINGILL MEMORIALS AND HOSPITAL FACILITIES

I

' 7s ” s RESCIIE OltK AT SPRING!-llll.

tearful farewell to lo miners who

Crummy, Bum.-ll Pepperdine and Pleaman Pyke-were united in

BURIED FROM HOME

Services for Gerald Dawson were held in All Saints Anglican Church.

Alexander Spence. William Fer guson, David Vance, Benjamin Mclsellan. and Lester Nelson were buried from their homes.

Tile funeral at Wesley United was conducted by Rev. W. 1'. Mer- cer. Assisted by Rev. Jefferson Neil of Oxford. N.s.

Before a tearful group of mourn- ers. Mr. Mercer said:

"We are still In the shadow of a mllor calamity and we cannot fully understand why these things come about. These men . . . were Our loved ones. our brothers who worked in a place of danger. nsaomt i..itml:o

"I have heard stories from the

.TOP LEI-"llm The flag at half

away. TOP RIGHT-

this monument. or-nr the rcnlcr oi i-tied from the mlnr: lneiile thr

lson hetwr-en the minn art-10. rrtp

Erected to the l

-.-v

LOWER l.F.F'I'e A st-rlinn of the

nrmnuries lluilding at Sprinehill,

.,..v

km men. "W! in . puhead explo. mlsl. 03:18 shim"? the Miners Il.'ill' the Town olp Springliill, recalls a open doors, FlltIl'P, mmlirnl nndouries and lln:.pi'.-il. y 'jon Thu;-gdgy, Slllillllz letlh lllllnlgl” 'll"rY.”l llrflllllll-i P”'0d 0l ll”3ll0fl.V at the ll-lll'Slnl.! pcrsoiiiwl awailrwl the at IADWFR lll(;llT- A scclinn d 1-in-gee of am 10 .. Joseph 9 "'09 '5” " "55 1-'1" 3 mil? Fill?!"-9 rival of nmlmlnrrrs, while nuievilo All F.llniV llmiiiiwl is the loratlol

ill" lIIiil4l'n!.' niirnv pcix:-niit-l, using, in uliiili llie iiivirc seriimq (-age. radio rind loud Si'3C.'ll(C'S, rn-m-ilinw nrc lioiri; ink: ll iilien rescued from

don”, " in me .nd buried In one memory of 17.5 miners vihn lost turned into an emergency hospital. ate the work of traffir dirprliniiithe mini-. service gram wuig, Unit”; their lives in the explosion of Jim, L! a receiving station for men res-i and proxided cnmniiiiiicalion liaiei Photos By Wong. Church.

l ,;h' 01- 7 It it

Hop 1”, avg .&, gpmgtim runs well. that of trout! ushers. Lowcstsrr Nurses. Salvation

Cum... ad-D draetenneaabava l.oWlIIlGl1nnaews5gArntymsanndwomen.ml0”'C "leuatdtellyoumrlesotmeu

g. ltemtahalhnalasthoveary mt”-nudmmh"'m."” volunteer worke huddle lntbsyy..gu,m"u,H,,d,,,.,m,, . gv ""'31I'l!0.Ill””"”""”'ll”mmr”me metre-w-nnuuatotrra!fulemo6oaw"l'l”'lld'H mmeiuumm M 5'" l l”"l"'l" l"""'l'” 9 1!-3 V a l '

linuuslriovlqhuhusadrsuuioaa neircqum-em which the rescued mners nu.i.,,,,,.,,.....,.,,,,,,,,,c. . ,. IV , L, 3

'25- ' '"””'”'""'.:l””'”3'.&.”'5'ue'l.'K'd.””"””""l"”""ii':S2'. ...... ri--.v- --wm---

I &hi-p...............,um.....i aafasar nu : lama. WAl'l'lN8'l'BU01'l0N8'l'0ll.TURN'l'01'llIIlNI

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