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Another Sound. To the townsfolk, Fellin and Throne were heroes. Indeed, to men everywhere, their indomitable will to survive was the stuff of which legends are made. But toward week's end, the wreathed smiles began turning to grim criticisms. Fellin complained that he and Throne could have been saved in five days, not 14, if only the rescuers had gone properly about their business. In turn, Pennsylvania's Deputy Secretary of Mines Gordon Smith, who directed rescue operations around the clock, leveled a blast at Fellin. "The miners in this operation," said he, "were removing pillars of coal left all these years to support a worked-out mine. Fellin showed he doesn't know all there is to know about mining by getting himself in this predicament." These contentions made even more chilling the sound of another drill as rescue workers tried to reach Louis Bova—or his body.
In Moab, Utah, an unexplained explosion trapped 25 men 2,700 ft. deep in one of the world's biggest potash mines. Seven workers built a barricade of tubing and burlap to trap pockets of fresh air for themselves while rescuers gingerly worked their way down into the shaft. The seven were saved—but 18 others perished.