Campaign title:
My name is Charlie
A true story of courage and collaboration in Western Australia’s gold fields in 1907
Synopsis
A documentary set in the Gold Fields of Western Australia in 1907 revolving around an Italian immigrant, a future American president and the Australian spirit of selflessness. It all started in Gorno, Bergamo, a small town on the slopes of Mount Arera, in the Rice va
lley, where institutions and volunteers are involved in a tough job of restoring the infrastructure of the old zinc mine. The city council has devoted time and money to this ambitious project to access the forgotten places of the abandoned mine. With the systematic exploitation of the mineral, since 1868, many were attracted to the mine for work. From the historical records of Gornesi begins the story of the mine which is divided into several chapters. The memory of those stories highlights the harsh working conditions faced by the miners. Working in the mine soon takes on a special connotation for Gornesi. Despite its harshness it seems to become a source of pride, a real passion, a disease for which there is no cure. Many of these miners later departed from the valley and emigrated to work as "minadür". The best known case is that of Modesto Varischetti (known as Charlie), a young Gornese man born in 1874 who, at the beginning of the twentieth century, travelled to Australia with a group of other men , chasing the famous legend of the hunt for gold. The figure of Modesto (Charlie) is known for an exceptional event: that of having managed to survive for nine days in Bonnievale mine, located in the Coolgardie area of the "Golden Outback" of the State of Western Australia . The history of Modesto Varischetti still remains intact in Gorno, his birthplace and has become a legend to many. It was in 1907, when the gold mine where Modesto Varischetti worked, was hit by a terrible flood underground. He found shelter on a rise of the tunnel, more than 300 meters deep. At an instant the entire Australian nation mobilized to rescue the only miner entombed, demonstrating exemplary solidarity for an unknown foreign immigrant. The chronicle of the heroic rescue goes something like this:
On the morning of March 20, 1907 the rescue operations began following confirmation that Charlie was still alive after the rescuers heard a feint knock. From that moment, the technical managers of the mine spared no hesitation or economic resources to rescue the unknown Italian miner, Charlie. At the entrance of the mine was a large pump capable of pumping 20,000 litres of water per hour, but this was not enough to save the miner who was trapped on the 10th level and the water level was rising too fast. The local mining inspector, Josiah Crabb, therefore decided to use another solution: turn to expert divers. The idea was actually that of his son, John, who was just seven years old, and who arrived on the scene of the tragedy along with his father. The rescue efforts required an extraordinary length of tube for the divers which had to be transported by special train which reached Coolgardie in a record time of 11 hours and 44 minutes. A record that remained for several decades. Frank Hughes and Thomas Hearn, two well-known Australian divers, went down several times, taking Charlie an electric lamp, food and plenty of encouragement. When the water level dropped enough to allow the ascent of Charlie, the two divers for the last time crossed the narrow tunnels of the mine. They reached the comeback of the 10th level, bringing Charlie to the surface, exhausted but still alive! Charlie finally saw the light of day on March 28, after remaining underground for more than 200 hours. Copyright © 2014 – All rights reserved
