3 o'clock in the afternoon
Seven days the three men had been entombed , seven days without food , water or light , seven days in foul air , probably impregnated with noxious vapors . -LSB- 1 -RSB- -LSB- Footnote 1 : A very similar accident , wherein a landslide accompanied the fall of the coal bank , occurred at Blue Rock , Ohio , in 1856 . There , also , four entombed men were rescued after an imprisonment of eight days . -LRB- F. R-W -RRB- -RSB- Suddenly , at 3 o'clock in the afternoon , the signal came from below to the pit-head to cease hauling . What had happened ? There could be but one explanation . The cars must have stopped .