NEWS BY MAIL.

Hokitika Guardian, 21 August 1928, Page 3

NEWS BY MAIL.

EXHUMATION OF A PRINCE. MADRID, July 0

The Spanish Academy of History has approved of a proposal to disinter the remains of Prince Charles (1545-1568), the eldest son of Philip II of Spain. The death of the Prince aroused suspicions and several dramas have been written 'about his unsolved fate. A theory that has found support for three centuries is that his father put an end to him by poisoning him. if permission is obtained for the exhumation the remains will tie examined for traces of poison. It is hoped that a "result of the project will he the vindication of the character of King Philip.

NAMELESS HERO. ST'. ETIENNE, July f >- Fifty-three miners met their deaths yesterday 'at Hie Roehe-la-Moliere mine, the most important pit in the Loire coal-fields, which producers alone more than 1,250,000 tons of coal a

The mine is worked largely by foreign labour, chiefly Poles and Moors. One hundred and fifty men were working at a depth of 1,000 feet when a slight fire broke out. Tt caused the pit-props to give way and the collapse of a portion of the roof broke the compressed air pipes. Fanned by the escaping air, the flames reached an intense heat in a few seconds. “The hot, poisonous gas was blown the nrong way by the escaping air. and men fell likes flies as they scrambled t„ reach the cages,” said one of the survivors. . Rescue parties with gas-masKs, and come even without them, went down the mine and dragged a number of half dead men to safety. The hero of the rescuers was a Moorish miner, who , is carried on ihe mine pay-roll as Ao. 301. One of the engineers said to me tO No 301 behaved magnificently. Time lifter time he dashed into the fumes and smoke and dragged out men who would have been dead a moment later. He saved M. Matheron, the chief engineer. from almost certain dea • No 391 went through tile Gieat with a regiment of Moorish Riflemen and was decorated on the field. AI Andre Tardieu, Minister of Public- Works,, who went down the mine to-day, afterwards sent, for Miner 3. and congratulated him on his bravery.