Modesto Varischetti

Modesto Varischetti was a gold miner in Western Australia who was trapped in a gold mine for nine days after a thunderstorm flooded the mine in March 1907. Varischetti survived in an air pocket until he was rescued. The gold mine was located at Bonnievale, near Coolgardie, Western Australia.^[1]

A diver using a long air hose and deep-sea diving equipment first reached Varischetti five days after the flooding and provided the trapped miner with food, candles and letters of encouragement.^[1]

In 1907 Herbert Hoover, later President of the United States of America, was a mining engineer at nearby Kanowna and was involved in the rescue.^[1]

After his rescue Varischetti recovered and returned to work underground. He died 23 years later, at the age of 57, from fibrosis.^[1]

Modesto Varischetti's story has been used as the basis of a song by the folk group Cloudstreet^[2]. The song is by an unknown writer and was found in a booklet of songs entitled, "Moondyne Joe and other Sandgroper Ballads". It is based on an English folk song, "Down in the Coalmine".

Notes

1. ^ ^{a b c d} A Great Survival Sydney Morning Herald, May 5, 2006
2. ^ YouTube

References

• Austen, Tom (1986), The ENTOMBED MINER An account of the rescue of Modesto Varischetti in Bonnie Vale in 1907, St. George Books. ISBN 0 86778 027 4

External links

• http://www.transwa.wa.gov.au/Default.aspx?tabid=149
• http://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2007/02/09/1843472.htm
• http://www.wa.alp.org.au/news/0307/23-01.php
• http://www.lambretta.it/ing/imprese/aus2005c.html
• http://www.comitesperth.org/Appuntamenti/kalgoorlie2007.htm
• http://www.comune.gorno.bg.it/Editorial/newsCategoryViewProcess.jsp?editorialID=4806

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Name	Varischetti, Modesto
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