Wheeler, Ed

The condition of Ed Wheeler, 49, of Joplin Missouri, one of two men injured Friday night in a rock slide at the Southern Mine, north of Treece Kansas was described as "some better" at American hospital, Picher Oklahoma tonight. Wheeler and Clyde Hammond, also of Joplin, were struck by masses of 10 to 15 cans of rock and dirt. The rock fell about 40 feet, after leaving the side of a vertical wall. Wheeler, a roof trimmer and track man, received a broken right leg and arm and other injuries to the right side of his body. He had warned fellow workers a short time before the slab fell that the roof of the drift was dangerous. Rock and dirt brushed John McLaughlin, a third Joplin Miner. He and several other workmen took the injured men from the drift and summoned an ambulance. Others working in the mine at the time of the mishap included John O'Brien and James Matthews, both of Picher; Charles McCoy of Joplin and Everett Wheeler, son of Ed Wheeler. Hammond was not seriously hurt. Both he and Wheeler were removed to the local hospital. Attendants said today that Wheeler was "resting better." his condition was first reported as being critical and attendant said there "hasn't been much change." the mishap occurred in a drift several hundred feet from the place where five men were killed in a slab fall last February.

American hospital, Picher Oklahoma attendants reported improvement in the condition of Ed Wheeler and Clyde Hammond, who were injured in a slab fall at the Southern Mine of the Dines Mining Company Friday night.