London Evening Advertiser
- Canadians Injured In U. S. Crash
- Plea for Aid From Flock Is Unheeded
- TRY DESPERATELY TO REACH MINERS
The September 27, 1926 London Evening Advertiser reported on two disasters and a closely watched criminal case. A Bethlehem train collision left at least nine dead and 35 injured near a new station. In Los Angeles, more than 35 witnesses had been summoned for proceedings due to begin that day over Aimee Semple McPherson’s account of her disappearance. At Michigan’s Pabst Mine, rescuers sought to reach 43 trapped workers using three shafts and a diamond drill; three bodies had been recovered, and the sight of distressed women and children spurred the rescuers on.
This edition translates all three supplied excerpts, rather than the complete newspaper. Tile boundaries divide headlines and columns; tears affect the collision continuation and a lower-right death notice, and the small print and fragmented OCR do not permit a dependable full transcription. The supplied evidence does not establish the Bethlehem signalling rules, investigative procedures or Canadian passengers’ subsequent experiences. McPherson’s appeal appears in the selected headline, but its financial details fall outside the selected excerpts. Commentary covers the supported McPherson and mine-rescue context.
Translation
Canadians Injured In U. S. Crash
Bethlehem, Pa., Sept. 27.—At least nine persons, eight of them passengers and one trainman, were killed and 35 injured today when the Scranton Flyer of the Jersey Central Railroad plowed into the Lehigh Limited of the Lehigh Valley Railroad at a crossover of the two roads in this city.
The accident occurred about 5:45 a.m. within a hundred feet of the new union station. The Lehigh Limited left Buffalo last night for New York. The flyer is a through train from Binghamton, N.Y., for Philadelphia.
Plea for Aid From Flock Is Unheeded
Los Angeles, Cal., Sept. 27.—The torrid investigation of Aimee Semple McPherson’s explanation of her disappearance from Angelus Temple last May and her appearance, five weeks later, at Douglas, Ariz., will start in municipal court here today.
More than 35 witnesses, ranging from grocery boy to millionaire, have been subpoenaed by District Attorney Asa Keyes to testify in connection with the mass of evidence assembled on which he recently based charges of criminal conspiracy against the evangelist and six others.
TRY DESPERATELY TO REACH MINERS
Ironwood, Mich., Sept. 27.—The sight of distressed women and children drove gaunt-eyed men to super-efforts today in their attempt to reach 43 men entombed by a cave-in three days ago in the shaft of the Pabst Mine of the Oliver Iron Mining Company here.
Bodies of three men crushed to death when tons of boulders and earth crumpled the cage in the shaft have been recovered.
Three separate shafts, each of which has an objective the eighth level of the mine, 800 feet under ground, where it is believed the 43 men were entrapped, and a diamond drill, are the means by which the rescue workers hope to learn the fate of the imprisoned men.
Context
Publicity, prosecution and congregational loyalty
McPherson’s investigation threatened a ministry built through publicity and fundraising: she had raised $300,000 for Angelus Temple and established a radio station. After her disappearance, newspapers amplified suspicions about radio engineer Kenneth Ormiston; prosecutors subsequently accused her of fabricating her account. The paper’s juxtaposition of an unanswered appeal to followers with impending court proceedings thus linked religious loyalty to public credibility. Later, the charges were dropped because the prosecutor lacked conclusive evidence that she had lied. [PBS, Sister Aimee](https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/sister/)
A drill hole as an emergency supply route
The diamond drill offered a way to establish a narrow connection while larger rescue passages advanced. A September 27 United Press dispatch in the Sapulpa Herald described drilling a small hole through which concentrated food could be lowered. This helps explain the practical value of the drill listed alongside three separate shafts in the Advertiser: a narrow opening could provide a supply route while rescuers continued working toward a passage large enough for the men to escape. [Sapulpa Herald, September 27, 1926](https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark%3A/67531/metadc1522635/m1/3/)
Protecting the rescue route from further collapse
Reaching the trapped workers also required controlling the fallen material. A subsequent account of a Holmes Safety Association award credited shift foreman Thomas Trewartha with directing construction of a bulkhead across the shaft. It held back debris and helped protect rescuers approaching the men. This adds an underground counterpart to the Advertiser’s description of rescue efforts: the trapped group’s protective work also contributed to the eventual rescue. [Black Diamond History, reproduced award account](https://blackdiamondhistory.wordpress.com/2021/04/15/modern-plant-at-new-black-diamond/)
Original
Canadians Injured In U. S. Crash
Bethlehem, Pa., Sept. 27.—At least nine persons, eight of them passengers and one trainman, were killed and 35 injured today when the Scranton Flyer of the Jersey Central Railroad plowed into the Lehigh Limited of the Lehigh Valley Railroad at a crossover of the two roads in this city.
The accident occurred about 5:45 a.m. within a hundred feet of the new union station. The Lehigh Limited left Buffalo last night for New York. The flyer is a through train from Binghamton, N.Y., for Philadelphia.
Plea for Aid From Flock Is Unheeded
Los Angeles, Cal., Sept. 27.—The torrid investigation of Aimee Semple McPherson’s explanation of her disappearance from Angelus Temple last May and her appearance, five weeks later, at Douglas, Ariz., will start in municipal court here today.
More than 35 witnesses, ranging from grocery boy to millionaire, have been subpoenaed by District Attorney Asa Keyes to testify in connection with the mass of evidence assembled on which he recently based charges of criminal conspiracy against the evangelist and six others.
TRY DESPERATELY TO REACH MINERS
Ironwood, Mich., Sept. 27.—The sight of distressed women and children drove gaunt-eyed men to super-efforts today in their attempt to reach 43 men entombed by a cave-in three days ago in the shaft of the Pabst Mine of the Oliver Iron Mining Company here.
Bodies of three men crushed to death when tons of boulders and earth crumpled the cage in the shaft have been recovered.
Three separate shafts, each of which has an objective the eighth level of the mine, 800 feet under ground, where it is believed the 43 men were entrapped, and a diamond drill, are the means by which the rescue workers hope to learn the fate of the imprisoned men.
Source: Holding institution