8 o'clock
The picks hammered on the rock like hail . The cars roared through the galleries once more . The cages shot upward with their loads . At 8 o'clock , a miner 's pick went through the wall into the space leading to the room beyond , but there was still a lot of rock to move before a clear passage could be made . Otto remembered the warning of the Mine Bureau official , and realized that , had he been left to himself , he would have killed his comrades at the very moment of rescue . At 9 o'clock , the hole was big enough for one of the rescuers to pass . As before , a doctor was the first to scramble through the opening .