St. Louis Post-Dispatch
August 6, 1911

Historic newspapers carry the language, views and graphic reporting of their time, including racist content. They are shown to teen and adult profiles.

The text was read from the page scans by machine (OCR), so it has mistakes and its columns may run together. See the pages · About this title · At the Internet Archive

Page 1

ag: t —J— —— nee —— * — — * OU ES Re he Ut eta ie? & * sp F BP gays Ea oY CORR Sete. 8 — —J * * — rey F — * a ee — — Pie - * ee Nos —* paratively dry. — DRUGGIST WILL PHONE IT £ 8 — «“ > i : stots $ — * — 7 * seats Gat « ae GS F —* 4 * ans t 1 - > . m . me : ' : ; 7 —— Sree eee aa Soe as ig : — ne 2 *6 a 7 * , ‘ ee : ” : 5 * > & y “ ‘ J bd Pie eg RS = # —— F * é * 3 ‘ * —— J * * + " a 7 * 9 - P —— eee —— — my “, aa & — — * “ f * — t a ‘ a 4 ‘ ? * ¢ — ose 2 ps y ae ee pale , — J ies * * ~ ” % A " * ‘ AN Te ue : ¢ 5 . : . = 5 ot N > : * > * * - wy 3 4 - ~ eA ; = * 7 — ⸗ *

VOL. 63. NO. 351. ST. LOUIS, SUNDAY MORNIN G, AUGUST 6, 1911. PRICE FIVE CENTS. || EER BL EE IRI OR MDE 00—— Edit bie Section

— — — — mes

MINER CLARY’S OWN STORY OF 72 HOURS ENTOMBED

Survivor of Joplin Cave-In Describes the Disap- pointments and Thrills as He Lay in Darkness Counting the Strokes of the Drill Bringing Fresh Air and Food to Him.

M talk to his mother. “Hello, mother! Is that you?” her boy’s voice was better than medicine. “Yes, Joe, it’s me,” she answered. She wanted to know all about thought it was good for her to know. “Good-by, mother,” Ang Mrs. Clary said: “Good-by, Joe; take good care of yourself.” “Take Good Care of Yourself,’’ Mother Telephoned to Her Boy in Mine RS. THOMAS CLARY in the midst of anxiety and anguish heard the voice of her son speak- ing assurances to her from his temporary tomb in the depths of the earth. After a drill hole had been bored to the drift of the White Oak Mine, in which Joseph Clary. was imprisoned, a telephone line was let down, with a lineman’s tiny instrument attached to it. It had been connected with the Joplin system of the Home Telephone Co. There was a tele- phone in the Clary home, at Villa Heights, half a mile away. With the receiver held tightly to his ear, he listened until he heard the clicking noise that tola him the receiver had been taken from the hook at home. A doctor was standing at Mrs. Clary’s side as her trembling hand helgq the receiver to her ear and she heard her son’s voice speaking to her out of the earth’s. depths as clearly as if he had been in the same room. But there was no need for the doctor’s services. “How are you, Joe?” “I’m feeling fine, mother,” she heard him say, with a fine, cheerful ring in his voice. you worry about me. By SL they will « urely get me out and I will be home.” ow he was situated down there, and he told her as much as he He did not tell her that he had to struggle through water up to his armpits to get from the east drift to the drill hole and the telephone, but he assured her again and again that he was all right and would soon be out, and then he said: Clary was ‘told that Hé could Not waiting for a hail, he shouted: The sound of — “Don’t , .

OSEPH CLARY, the Joplin miner who was rescued Wednesday from a mine in - which he was trapped by a cave-in on Sunday tells through the Post-Dispatch his passing impressions—thrills and disappointments—of his 72-hour imprison- ment in utter darkness 72 fect below the surface of the earth. Here ts his narrative, as

lll fe RE SCUL, FIG — BY ARROW IS CLARY ee TOF RE IN WHITE BLA KET —

find the drift with the drill, and my - fear of bad air was relieved. Besides, | had found the, air remarkably good. I.‘am convinced that some- where through the rocks there is an opening to another mine through which fresh air entered my prison. We had never tested the air in the White Oak, but had always kept the sail going at the foot of the shaft and had given that the credit for keeping the air fresh. He Figured Where Timbers Would Delay Rescue Work. THOUGHT the men working in the shaft would have the greatest trouble at the 60-foot level, where the timbers of the upper drift would clog the shaft, and, as there was ‘nothing but a horse hoist, it would be hard and slow ‘work to given to a staff correspondent of the Post-Dispatch who interviewed him on the. day \ get them out. of his rescue.

BY JOSEPH CLARY. Recently my brother-in-law and I, knowing that good ore had been struck near by, be- T HE White Oak Mine, in which I was entombed, is an old mine, abandoned several] years ago. gan work to open it up. of 60 feet on top of the limestone foundation. It had been worked before by running a drift at a depth We sank the shaft through 12 feet of limestone and ran two drifts, one to the south and the other to. the east, | Sunday morning I was working at the bottom getting water out of the south drift. I had filled the barre] and signaled.to hoist away and had stepped back into the south drift out of the way of any water that might spill. The barrel careened in the shaft and spilled some of the water. Then there was a sound of sliding earth and a Clatter of descending rocks and earth in the shaft, and I knew the shaft had caved: in,.-I jaimped further back in the south drift just as-the mass of earth and rocks He Finds Opening to | the Higher East Drift. HAD been working by the light ofa torch sus- pendeg at the base of the shaft, which also, in connection with a sail, served to draw the bad air to the.shaft and out of the mine. The cave-in extinguished the torch. At the bottom of the shaft was a room about 20 by 20 feet. I thought that the falling earth and rock would fill it and close the entry to the south drift and I retreated further into the drift. » There had been about a foot of water in the south drift. The cave-in caused the water to rise to a depth of 3 feet. I had left my miner’s lamp hanging on the wall further back. The rush of air did not extinguish it. I supposed I was ixn- ‘prisoned in the south drift, which is 60 feet long. wit base of the shaft, and I knew that the water, then 8 feet deep, would rise higher and, even ff it did not fise above my head, I would not be able io survive standing in it until I could be rescued. Put when I made an examination by the light of lamp I found that the opening was not entirety 4 i Oe * 4 nbering over the debris around the edge of the m I reached the opening of the east drift. The bottom of this is about on a level with tne top of the south drift. It is 20 feet high at ‘he opening and extends back 40 feet. It was com- Water dripped from the roof, but there was no stand .ig water in it. Realized Position, but Was Confident of Rescue. HE drift is run through solid rock and I was safe there from any further cave-in. Back ‘@ short distance was a chimney which has bee® formed by the dirt falling out of a crevice a the rocks, making a narrow — up nN \0-foot drift. —* _ tood in the east drift taking stock of my said to myseif: . | \d man, you have been in some pretty tight p 8B, but I guess this is about the tight- est! s I guess you will get out all right.” Maurice Grafton, my brother- -tn-law, and Guy Moore were working at the top, and I knew that “if they had not been caught in the cave-in, they ‘would give the alarm at once and the work of res- cue would begin. “I figured that if the shaft had caved in all the way down to the rock at the 66- foot level it would probably take seven days to — sink a shaft and rescue me. I knew I could live ‘even days without food. I did not think the water would rise high ogy to get me on the east drift ble, by b against : — to climb to the 60-foot drift. level. If it did, I thought I might he myself the sides of the | Bad Air an” sake 8 rarer a > air, but I had been told that death from bad Se a ee only a 6-foot opening into the room at the’ and timber shut off the light from above and came down with a clash and roar. last several days. That made me think of my matches. I felt in my pocket for them. They were water-soaked, I knew then that it was only a question of time until water dropping from the roof of the passage would put my light out and l would be left in darkness. I examined the roof of the drift and found that near the opening there were no loose rocks to fall on me, but that back a little way there was danger from this source. Just about the time I had the situation well sized up I heard the sound of picks and the drill striking into the earth above, and I knew that che rescue work had begun. I took heart and settled down to wait as best I could for deliverance, About four or five hours after the cave-in, I judged (I had no time piece), there wns a splash of water from the roof and the light was snuffed out and I was left in darkness. After that, until I was rescued, there was noth- ing for me to do but sit still and think, or grope my way about the drift, or climb down to «he south drift.for a drink of seep water, or count the blows of the picks or the strikes of the drill, cr find forgetfulness in sleep. Counted 16,000 Strokes of Drill to Pass Time. OUNTING the drill strikes was my principal occupation. It helped to pass the time, ang also gave me some idea of the lapse of Once I counted 16,000 strokes of the drill., I slept a good deal. Of course, I did not know how long I slept at a time, but I was always glad when I felt drowsiness coming over me, because I knew that when I awakened I would be so much nearer rescue, Once I went to sleep standing up and fell over against the wall. At first I knew my bearings and passed part of the time walking around in the drift, Finally, however, I lost all sense of direction. I groped a long time for. the opening of the drift, knowing that I could regain my bearings there,, but'after I had stumbled three times over a bucket lid lying on the floor of the drift, where it had _ fallen through the chimney from the 60-foot level, I realized that I was moving in circles and gave it up. time. sounds came. It would seem to come from one direction and then as I moved in that direction it would seem to be behind me. Too Much of a Fatalist to Think of Death or Pray. DID not think much about death. I expected | all the time to be rescued... At the same time I realized that the rescuers might be too late I did not pray. I have not been a very g00d church member and I gon't believe in this thing of a ‘el- low living his own way all his life and then re- penting when he is about to die. I am a g 0d deal of a fatal'st. I thought that if it was ‘Ay time to go, it was, and that was all there was to it. The bad. air would get me by and by and I would sink into a nw and that would be the end .of it all. But even as I thought of these ‘things the sounds of the drill and the picks came to me and I*took fresh courage. I got pretty hungry at times. When the gnawings of appetite became almost urtibearable, I- would: crawl down to the seep water and drink a lot of that and try to for- get that there was any such thing as food. I knew from my experience in mines that with the drill they were trying to tap one of the drifts and give me fresh air, and I figured that, even if. it took seven days to open the shaft, it Beer x probably not take that long to All the time I could hear the drill distinctly, but I could not tell the direction from which | By the soung of the picks and the drill I could tell exactly what was going on. I could tell when one drill team gave way to another, and was able to gauge the progress of the work. I knew when work stopped: on the first drill hole that it nad missed striking the drift and that was discourag- ing, but very soon I heard them starting on an- other hole and I knew they would never give up until they hit thé drift. Maurice Grafton and Harve Thompson had driven the south drift, and I knew that, with both of them on top, it was only a question of time until the drill would pierce the roof and let in fresh air and at least a ray of light. Shouted for Joy When the Drill Pierced Roof. ( T= second drill hole was made, and the third, _ “and IT: could tell, when they. quit work on each, that they had missed. Then I heard [pra UT JOSEPH CLARY —

the steady strokes of the drill as the fourth hole was started. Would it also miss the drift? I was sitting on the floor of the drift listenitig to the strokes, when suddenly there was a whirr and a clatter and I knew that it had pierced ‘he roof, I jumped up and shouted for joy. The drill was withdrawn. I heard Brother Jim's voice. “Oh, Joe,” he called. =I shouted as loud as I could, but it seemed as if Jim couldn’t hear me. 1 groped as fast as I could in the direction of the sound of his voice as he contfnued to call, Clam- bering over the debris in the room at the base of the shaft, I made my way over to the south drift. The water had risen to my armpits. I splashed through the water with my arms raised above :ny head until the sound seemed to come from above me. I looked up and there was a tiny point of light in the black roof of the drift. I shouted again with all my might and I could tell by the sound of excited voices above that I had been heard. Somebody wanted to know how I was, and I told them I was all right, but awful hung ang they told me to cheer up and they would soon send food down to me. I learned afterward that the first sound of my — drifts and how rescuers voice scared them almost more than the silence, had. It sounded, they told me afterward, like the water was up to my lips and I was about to +< under, Relieved When He Knew News Would Reach Mother. HEY sent me down some milk and a little J piece of bread and meat. The drill hole was about six inches in diameter, and they lower- ed the things in q@ small bucket. I told them the sample tasted pretty good, but I would Hike te have some more like ‘it. They were afraid to give me too much to eat at. once. When the drill hole wassopen and I could talk to them the thing that had worried me the most Wee off my mind. While I was sitting there in the vit I knew that i was the only one who knew

NEW DRILLING RECORD MADE IN RESCUE WORK OSEPH CLARY, 32. years old, son of J Thomas Clary, a well-known prospector and land owner of Joplin, was impris- oned in the White Oak Mine, on the out- skirts of Joplin, at about 8 o’clock last Sun- day morning by the caving in of the shaft. The alarm was quickly given and the work of rescue began at once. A drill was started to bore into the mine, to let in fresh air and establish communication with Clary, if he was alive. A force of men started to “work with picks and shovels sinking a new shaft through the debris of the old, cribbing : it as they went, until they reached the solid rock, at the depth of 60 feet. Three times the drill was driven 90 feet into the earth without striking either of the drifts. The fourth effort was successful. The drill pierced the roof of the east drift Tuesday afternoon. The drill had been worked continuously since Sunday, volunteers handling it in shifts. Work on the shaft was continuous for 72 hours, men working with all their might in short shifts, Thousands journeyed to the shaft and watched the work of rescue. Women pro- vided food for the wérkers. The drilling of 342 feet, three 90-foot holes and one 72-foot hole, was accomplished in about 45 hours, a drilling record that is said to be the world’s. record. Clary was taken out of his tomb a few minutes after 8 o’clock Wednesday morning,

almost exactly three days after the cave-in. Sectional view of mince, showing shaft and worked to reach

. SOUTH. D Mt WDorFEeD NOICA PES Vi ii ! — CIE — bad * ay A)I | ) | wii 9 ul abba i Oe ae — CLARY WAS IN THIS DRIFT WHEN CAVETN OCCURRED | : : i: ) a — FOOD S ——— RS THOMAS “CLARY AS” TALKED TO HER ENTOFPM,

5 AP - JELEPHONE, CAVE -IN FROM ROCK STi CLARY WAS RESCUEDY

i f 8 ae TO) ODL WerDeIzL ALOLE S INCHES DIAMETER : OT — 2 Pree, Ail lide CLARY _RECEI VES FOOD yee tt ar "Ste —* %, * 8 —2 * * a ee — —

üöçö — ~ wi ei ———

CLARY BEING ATX 71 LIN SOUTH DRIFT WHITH WAS XS FEET AND LIN, ££4Y * ZY BES ING TOFILZI W-. OLLOWED J Floor plans of drifts in mine, showing how Clary passed from low South drift to higher East drift to escape the rising water.

that I was alive, and that the anxiety and grief of my mother would be wery great. I didn’t mind walting seven days, if necessary, to be rescued, if only she could know that I was alive. When I could call up through the drill hole and tell them that I was all right I was satisfied to wait as much longer as might be necessary. They told me it was Tuesday afternoon. I had lost track, bit it seemed a pretty long Nme since the cave-in. Father was one of the first ones who talked to me through the drill hole, and I knew that when he told mother that he had talked to me that she would be satisfied to wait until they could ;et me out. It was not long after that until they asked me if I wouldn't like to have a telephone down there, ; so I could talk to mother, and I said I certainly | would like it. They let Une down through the drill hole and I could hear her voice just as plainly as if I had been in the same room. Imprisonment Not Bad After He Got Papers. S: asked me how I was and I told her I was feeling fine and she shouldn't worry, be- cause they would soon have me out of there and I would core right home. I talked to other people and told them all about the conditions down there and my experiences. They sent newspapers down to me and ar elec- tric light to read them by, and I found that ‘ny Stay undergroung had been exciting a great deal of interest, After a@ time they let down the parts of a pump, and I put it together with my bare hands, cutting them severely, and they got it to working and kept down the water, which threatened to rise to —2 roof of the south drift and close the drill oie, Through the Grill hole they kept me informed of the progress of the work in the shaft. They had had trouble with the timbers at the 60-foot level, as I thought they would. but it had ot been as serious as I feared it would be. Only a few of the timbers of the 60-foot drift had caved into the shaft, and the men at work in the shaft, under Harve Thompson, had been able.to wiggle ) ) | ( COVR SZ’ INDICA ——“ SY Y DOTTED eee EAS Hy THE — 7 BOTTOM OF SHAFT j* 2OxX20XZOFT.AZ-~ \e LOWED ENOUGH |e ROOPL FOR CLARY iK%® TO PASS AROUND DEBRIS TOSAST DRIFT.

- Lt OF We Ltlel LOVE THE EAST DRIFT WHICH WAS SFT HIGER THAN until the effects of my imprisonment had pa worn off, but the men who had been work? the shaft said it was not safe to stay there, afi they made ready to hoist me to the surface, 1 doctor gave me an injection. wrapped around me and my eyes were blir I placed one foot in the loop at the end. oe rope and held on with my hands. As an precaution I was tied to the rope with a. rope. The signal was given to hoist away. felt myself ascending. Friendly hands at the ¢ foot level guided me around the timbers, and I was drawn to the surface. I heard a great c but I could see nothing. I wae caught by a hands ang swung clear of the shaft and I ‘ait m feet again on: solid earth, * Objected to Being Treated. Like a Baby When So Strong. TRIED to tell the men how thankful I was | the way that they had worked three * nights t@ rescue me, and promised to them again personally when I was able to 1 into their faces. They told me I had to go hy in an ambulance, I @id not want to. T want to be bundleq up in a blanket and ae folded either, ‘but they made me submit —— CTED

SOUTH DRIFT, Pko- TECTED CLARY ATR HE WAS IN THAT QRIF'T W TRATED DRILIZ of SOU TS 2 free of W past the obstructing timbers, and it was only a question of hours until they would reach me. Digs With Bare Hands to Meet Rescue Party. HEN they got to the bottom of the sh-ft they found the worst obstruction they bad encountered, a large rock almost complete- ‘y filling the opening. While they were digging around the edge of it I was digging with my bare hands through the debris in the room directly under the shaft. I clawed away the dirt at the under the edge of the big stone until there seemed . to be an opening large enough for me to craw! through, but when I tried to gat through I cou:d not make it and had to drop back while _the men with the picks enlarged the opening. The second time I tried to get through they grabbed me by the shoulders and were pulling me through, when I asked them to let me go back and get my shoe, which had slipped off. I recovered the shoe and then they pulled me through into the shaft.

Dr. W. H. Brookshire was lowered on the rope. and I learned that it wag the plan to keep ine down — at = bottom wf ms anast a while,

1 had been a woman or some boy with no nerve that would have been all right, but I felt eo as I ever did and I hated to be treated | baby. The show people are after me £0 strong 8 it looks Hike I won't have any tme for ‘for a while, but later on I guess I will 0 | into the ground, No, I wouldn't be afra doesn't stang to reason that the sane — would be caught twice nN ths sae kind o1 | trap. I have had-my turn. I should be able a to mine the rest of my days in safety. ee $20,000,000 SUIT AGAIEOT KAISER UNDER OLD G Spectal Cable to the Post-Dispatch and New 3 World. 3 BERIAN, Aug. 5.—-Demanding 396,000,060 | the Kaiser;.two descendants of Gen, Muenieh b begun an action which will be tried by the spe judicial tribunal which deals with all la ve in which the Emperor ts tuvelves ‘The ele

A — —