ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED CIRCA 1928
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Lone Survivor Owes Life To Sitting Down For Rest
Unable to Get Up Again Because of Weakness,
Dozes While Afterdamp Clears,
Delirious After Rescue 60 Hours Delayed
MATHER, Pa, May 22, (AP) - The fact that Frank Krubik, rescued alive from the Mather mine today, sat down to rest and was unable to get up again, probaly saved his life, safety experts who had talked with the miner said tonight. Krubik was taken from the workings more than 60 hours after an explosion Saturday had killed or entombed more than 200 miners.
George Riggs, connected with the United States department of mines, declared Krubik told him he had wandered about the underground passages in various directions, after the explosion, until he came to 14 butt where, between two trap doors in an air shaft, which guaranteed him fresh air, he sat down to rest.
Could Not Get Up
"I couldn't get up again after I sat down," the rescued miner was quoted as saying. "I tried several times to rise and continue walking, but each time my knees gave way. Then I decided to sit there and wait what was coming to me. I had two long sleeps that I know of, and each time I woke up I thought I was in another world. Fortunately I had plenty of water, and dirty as it was, it tasted excellent to me. I kept my handkerchief soaked in the water and pressed to my face."
Those who talked to Krubik, and there were only a few, said it was impossible to continue a lengthy conversation for he became delirious under the slightest strain. He was being cared for by several nurses and doctors at the mine's emergency hospital tonight, while state troopers guarded the door, permitting only authorized persons to enter.
Not Enough For Harm
Members of the mine rescue team which located Krubik said tests of the air in the room where he was found showed signs of afterdamp, but not sufficient to cause a man's collapse.
Tests of the air were made with canary birds . Since the Mather blast upwards of 100 of the little feathered creatures have been martyrs to the cause of safety for the rescued workers within the poisonous atmosphere underground. A fresh supply of canaries is kept constantly in readiness for use.
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Wednesday, May 23, 1928
A MAJOR DISASTER
With hope given at first that many of the men trapped by a gas explosion in the Mather mine in Greene county last Saturday might be saved, the emmensity of the disaster has dawned by degrees. It is now indicated that it was one of the worst catastrophes of the kind, with its death list but to 196. That would leave it exceeded by only one other in the history of Pennsylvania, that of Jacobs Creek in 1907, in which 239 lives were lost. It would make it the sixth worst in the history of the country; Monongah, W. Va., in 1907 with 361 victims; Dawson, N.M., in 1913, with 263; Cherry Hill, Ill, in 1909, with 200, and now Mather.
The only relieving note in the dispatches present is that of the heroic efforts that were made to save lives, with rescue teams rushed forward not only from all of the surrounding districts of Pennsylvania, but also some from West Virginia. As usual, the Red Cross was early on the scene and there also have been many volunteer relief workers. Even though the mining company doing everything within its power to aid the stricken families, and even though there was insurance carried for the workers, the need in a disaster of such magnitude is great. With the facts before it, this sympathetic and generous community will know what to do to meet any further need for help.
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MINE EXPLOSION MAY 19, 1928, MATHER, PA.
KILLED: 195, DEATH TOLL 195, IN MATHER MINE
Coroner Defers Inquest Until Cause of Explosion Has Been Determined
MATHER, Pa. June 3. (AP) - The official death toll in the mine explosion here, May 19, was 195. Coroner John W. Ross announced tonight. He said all but three bodies had been recovered. Only two of the victims were buried without identification. He had not yet fixed a date for the inquest, he said, pending a decision by mine inspectors as to the cause of the explosion.
The work of clearing the mine is progressing rapidly. Officials of the Mather Colliery Company said the workings would be reopened in a few weeks.
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