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Show 268 END MINE " SUICIDE STRIKE BUDAPEST, Hungary, Feb. 38 (INS) Tortures of thirst and hunger hun-ger and the excruciating struggle for air today conquered the pathetic "suicide strike' of 208 gaunt miners, min-ers, .clf-entomhej fr.r th.. A.y. in the five Churches colliery near Pec. , . . Bitterly disappointed, weak and half blind, the last of the miners staggered to the surface, blinking In the daylight. Into the arms of their waiting wives. ,. Their tongues were swollen from lack of water, their faces were black with coal dust, their legs were quivering quiv-ering like aspens. Some were brought up on stretchers and many bore marks of furious fighting in the pitch blackness of the shafts. Troops Await They came up In groups of 12 to face the cold steel of hundreds of helmeted soldiers and the unflinching unflinch-ing basses of the state-owned mines. The bosses will prosecute the Instigators Insti-gators and the remainder will have to return to work at the old wages of $3.60 a week on Monday. A group of young miners, brandishing bran-dishing axes, held at bay the majority ma-jority who wanted to abandon the strike yesterday, when quarreling r began among those still able to move. The dank smell of water rising In the shafts 200 feet below and their savage hunger undermined the miners' min-ers' resistance, but the real torment thaC broke even the Iran wlH-of the younger men was burning thirst. Wordless Signals Their swollen tongues today prevented pre-vented further interchange of blt- ter words, and merely weary gestures ges-tures of surrender, hardly visible In the black drifts. Informed the older miners they were free to proceed pro-ceed to the surface. w Women raced frantically around, furiously dousing the guards In an attempt to break the steel ring, but were driven back repeatedly. The miners were allowed to stagger stag-ger through the cordon one by one, to fall into their wives' arms and gulp water, then be taken to their cottages on stretchers, in ambulances ambu-lances or borne up on the arms of the women. r The miners were bitterly disappointed disap-pointed at the failure of the socialist social-ist party and the trade unions to support them In their demand for wage Increase. Heavy troop lines were set to es- ' tort the bodies of three slain In Wednesday night's rioting around the pithead, and no one will be allowed to follow the cortege. This was the second stsy-ln strike , In the Five Churches mine to fail 1 Two years ago 2000 miners remained below for five days. |