This day in history: After 16 hours trapped in Hecla mine, 14 men found their way out. Comedian Soupy Sales starred in community college production of Guys and Dolls.
Burke, Idaho, residents had been in suspense for 16 hours when word was received that 14 miners trapped by fire were safe, the Spokane Daily Chronicle reported on April 25, 1925. (Spokesman-Review archives)
From 1975: Soupy Sales, best-known as a pie-in-the-face slapstick comedian, was starring in the musical “Guys and Dolls” at Big Bend Community College in Moses Lake.
He said he was enjoying his stint in Moses Lake, but he was taking a lot of ribbing. Why?
Because, on a television game show, he referred to the town as Moose Lake.
“They tell me they are now thinking of changing the name to Moose Lake,” he said. “Besides, the plural of Moses is moose.”
He said he hadn’t been hit – or thrown – a lot of pies lately because he didn’t want to be typecast. But he also allowed that he just filmed a commercial for a frozen pie company.
“I used to look a lot like Cary Grant before I got hit with all those pies,” he told a Spokesman-Review interviewer.
From 1925: A terrifying incident ended in jubilation at the Hecla Mine in Burke, Idaho, following a fire at the 2,000 foot level.
Burke residents had been in suspense for 16 hours “when a miner ran from the building to a walkway of the Hecla, hanging to the mountainside above the street of the little town.”
“Everything is OK!” he shouted.
All 14 trapped miners were safe after they fought their way out of the Hecla. They had been trapped for hours, but they were finally able to use a small compressed air pump to “beat back the flames” and reach safety via another mine shaft.
When the good news was bellowed from the mountainside, “hearty back-slapping were in order … there was a rush to the bars where they drank to long health and happiness of the ‘Lucky 14.’ ”
They posed for a picture for the Spokane Daily Chronicle soon after they emerged. One miner, H.R. Uthoff, was declared a hero for leading them to safety.