Joseph A. Roberson rescued William Peretti from suffocation, Mingus, Texas, May 20, 1940. Peretti, 36, garage and mine operator, started a gasoline-driven pump, which had stopped, near the base of coal mine shaft, which was 35 feet deep, and then began to ascend the shaft on a cage. The cage stopped because of a defect, and Peretti began to climb cross-timbers but was overcome by gas and fell. A miner, the only person present besides Peretti’s wife, refused to enter the shaft to aid him. Roberson, 40, farmer, reached the shaft 25 minutes later. The pump meanwhile had stopped again, but because of exhaust smoke Roberson could see only 20 feet down the shaft. He thought carbon monoxide gas was present. By means of the cross-timbers he descended to the bottom, where Peretti lay unconscious, the cage having dropped on him. Roberson had the cage raised slightly; and breathing with difficulty, he pulled Peretti from under it. Placing Peretti on the cage, he got on it and was raised to a point four feet from the top, at which point the course of the cage was blocked. Aided by a man at the surface, he lifted Peretti out. Roberson stepped to the surface, having been in the shaft for three minutes. Peretti’s chest and abdomen had been crushed, and he died four days later. Roberson suffered from headache and pain in his chest for two days. 38431-3174
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