Tragedy of Sand Cave
Chapter 9:
The Shaft is Started

While CARMICHAEL was perfecting his organization in "death valley" the outside world was becomming more and more aroused by the fearful plight of COLLINS. The history of the Sand Cave case as a newspaper story may be summed up by the description of a snowball rolling down hill. It started quite inauspiciously but gathered weight with astounding speed until within five brief days the dailies on two continents were carryng long accounts of the fight to rescue Floyd. [Two maps of the save and the beginning of the working on the shaft; and Vanderbilt Univesity Athletes Working on the Dump Cars.] Special correspondents and photographers came in droves from all sections of the country, taking up headquarters at the Dixie Hotel, a splendid little hostelry, whose capable management labored tirelessly to provide every comfort and convenience. Sand Cavern was the cynosure of the eyes of the anxious world. It became the center of all thought, not because of Floyd COLLINS' prominence, but simply because humanity was at a death grip with nature and because of high ideals of the struggle stirred the pulses of every reader. "Ask the country to pray for my boy" was the message the press gave the world from Lee COLLINS, the patient father. And the world did more than pray. Mrs. Emmons, BLAIN, a great-hearted woman of Chicago sent Dr. William S. HAZELTT, the eminent specialist, to Cave City, in a plane. A field hospital was established on the brow of the cliff, capable of handling any emergency. Two trained nurses were stationed at the hospital working in twelve-hour shifts. Troops came at last to keep in check the ever-growing multitude, to stamp out the drinking and to maintain guard over equipment worth thousands which lay scattered at the mouth of the cave. The Kentucky National Guard as an organization is to be heartily commended for its fine service at Sand Cave. The details were not large but the service was of outstanding character. Officers and men alike gave freely of every energy and remained on the job to the last moment. The discipline and morale was of the highest character. Lieutenant Governor Henry H. DENHARDT, acting in the capacity of his office as a brigadier general of the Kentucky National Guard, arrived at Cave City Thursday morning February 5, and at once assumed command of the military. He considered martial law for a time as a means of effectively stamping out the drinking and selling of moonshine but this plan was abandoned because the mere sight of the uniform acted as an efficient check to the boot-leggers. [Photo: HENRETTA, The Kyrock Foreman, Talks it Over with the "Big Boss."] Cave City was rapidly taking on the appearance of a Klondike gold rush town. While the spirit of most of the citizens was that of co-operation, there was much profiteering. This took the form of sky-high telephone and taxicab tariffs. But it was inevitble that this should develop for profiteers follow crowds and take instant advantage of urgent emergency. The news from the cave at this point - or while preparations were being made to start sinking a shaft to release COLLINS - was most discouraging. GERALD was the last man to talk to COLLINS face to face and Floyd murmured drowsily as a weary school boy, "I'm tired, Johnny, so tired and I'm going home and go to bed," GERALD adjusted the quilts and the rubber coat while at COLLINS' side for the last time and was on his way out to report to CARMICHAEL when the rock fell from the ceiling. After the fall, Norman PARKER, a disabled war veteran and close friend of COLLINS went in the tunnel to make a personal investigation. He penetrated to the edge of the fall and escaped horrible death by the narrowest of margins when a huge boulder fell directly in front of his head, missing the skull by a fraction of an inch.

Upon receiving the combined reports of GERALD and PARKER, CARMICHAEL was practically converted to the shaft plan but lacked the necessary survey data. And here is where the mistakes made in the early stage of the rescue were thrown into conviction bas-relief. No accurate survey had ever been made of the tunnel. When the squad of Louisville monument men were on the scene, their first thought was survey. They realized, from long experience, that the whole tunnel should be carefully mapped and plotted, so that if it later were found necessary to sink a shaft, the data would be at hand. [Photos: Field Hospital Ready in Case of Rescue; POSEY Exhibiting Stretcher Which Was Made for COLLINS, to CARMICHAEL and Dr. HAZLETT; The Tragedy of Sand Cave (general shot of area]. As a result of the ignorant opposition to these scientists, CARMICHAEL was without accurate measurements of that section of the tunnel between the cave-in and COLLINS. Parties coming out of the tunnel Wednesday afternoon, folloiwng the ceiling collapse that morning, reported that a "mine squeeze" was in progress. This, in the language of the layman, is the gradual closing together of the bottom and top of the fissure by pressure of muck and it results, miners say, when the supporting side walls give way. These side walls had been ripped down by the continual and blundering passage of all sizes of men. News of the "mine squeeze" came as a new blow at the hopes of the rescue army. That COLLINS was not slowly crushed to death, as a human nut in a cracker, was only prevented by the squeeze encountering the loosened boulders of the rock fall. Preliminary to selecting the spot upon which to start the shaft, CARMICHAEL sent in several parties of surveyors and Roy HYDE, the latter an experienced miner, who was the last man to speak to COLLINS. HYDE worked his way to the edge of the cave-in, or about fifteen feet from Floyd, who was then in a state of delirium. "My God, why don't you take me!" moaned the frantic explorer. "Mother, I am coming home in just a little while." Choking back the tears, HYDE called to Floyd: "Hold on, only man, we are coming!" And Floyd answered, "You're too slow, too slow." [Photos: Brig. Gen DENHARDT Congratulates BRENNER; Making the Final Selection of the Site of the Shaft; The Eyes of the Press.] These are the last words Floyd COLLINS ever spoke to his fellow man. Various medical opinions were made then as to COLLINS' physical condition. Some stated that COLLINS was a victim of pneumonia and that his delirium was the natural development of the disease. Others thought the raving was that of a demented man. But the positive news that COLLINS had not been killed by the falling rock was in itself heartening to the army of rescuers. While Lieutenant WELLS, ANDERSON, FORD and other engineers made careful surveys of the tunnel from the entrance to the cave-in, CARMICHAEL began interviewing MILLER, GERALD, BURDON, MADDOX and all the others he knew had been to COLLINS. From them he obtained data to construct a composite plot of the tunnel from the cave-in to the explorer. A transparent map was made of the tunnel in its entirity, drawn to the scale of the map of the surface. The former map was then superimposed upon the other and the site for the shaft was selected. CARMICHAEL was certain that COLLINS would be located at about the sixty-five-foot level and the shaft was spotted so as to miss Floyd by about ten feet. Actual work on the shaft began at one-thirty o'clock Thursday afternoon, February 5, 1925. The edge of the overhanging cliff was cleared of all obstructions and dangerous rock. The only tools at the outset were picks and shovels.

Note: COLLINS has now been trapped in the cave since January 30, 1925. It is now February 7th.

CARMICHAEL, however, is a man who anticipates every need. Under his direction, a stout wooden railway was laid from the mouth of the shaft over the edge of the valley. A rude but efficient hoist, constructed of whole logs and set to a nicety, was hastily assembled, rigged and fitted with a sturdy little gasoline engine. Material and labor were lavishly furnished by the L & N Railroad and other large corporations. The appeal for labor was broadcasted through the press and was answered instantly by hundreds from all classes of society. [Photos: Floyd as the Business Director of Crystal Cave; Athletes from Southern Colleges Drop Books to Become Shaft Workers; The Shaft Bucket in Operation, Showing Hoist Boom and Crew]. Crews came from Western Kentucky State Normal School [note Western KY University, Bowling Green], to comete as if on gridiron or diamond, with squad from Vanderbilt and other universities. The college men toiled shoulder to shoulder with the common laborer from the mining camps or section gangs. CARMICHAEL formed a board of strategy, consisting of himself, Prof. W. D. FUNKHOUSER, member of the faculty of the University of Kentucky and M. E. S. POSEY, executive secretary of the Kentucky State Highway Commission. All efforts to locate any new entrance to the cavern proved futile and even later, when banana oil was sprayed into the tunnel, no important side fissures were discovered. The tunnel itself was impassable beyond the cave-in. So the shaft, which was the only chance from the very first day, now was the last shred of man's last fading hopes. Every swing of the pick or downward thrust of the shovel was backed by the prayer of an anxious world.

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