The following editorial appeared in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch on Oct. 14:

It is tempting to look for policy significance in Wednesday’s rescue of “Los 33,” the men trapped for 69 days in a gold and copper mine half of a mile below the northern Chilean desert.

But first let’s enjoy the moment. These things, as we’ve come to know, often end badly, each one a collage of individual tragedies etched on the weathered faces of the survivors.

This one ended splendidly.

Miners go deep under the earth because that is the work that is available to them. They carve out a living, literally, and rarely see the sun. Life is hard and then one day the walls cave in and their families wait until no hope is left.

When the San Jose Mine let go on Aug. 5, it briefly made the international news — 33 believed trapped in Chile mine collapse. But the world has become inured to disasters in far-away places — mine cave-ins, floods, famine, car bombings, oil well blow-outs. Another day, another disaster.

For 17 days there was the familiar scene, survivors standing with faint hope. But then a probe punched through — and when the probe came back, a note was attached.

Suddenly, this was worth some attention. Suddenly, it was important to know that Chile is the long, skinny country on the Pacific Coast of South America.

Chile’s new president, Sebastian Pinera, a conservative media mogul elected only last March, pledged to move heaven and earth to rescue the miners. He did so, almost literally, and not just with good old-fashioned Chilean know-how. Chile’s got money now.

From around the world came the superstars of the rock-drilling world, summoned from all points of the globe to the godforsaken Atacama desert. Fly in Jeff Hart of Denver from Afghanistan, the Yo-Yo Ma of the Shramm T-130 wide-bore rock drill. Get those guys from Alberta with their Precision Rig 421.

The Las Pircas Hotel, 45 minutes from the San Jose Mine in Copiapo, became headquarters hotel for a nine-week international convention of deep-rock drillers.

This thing was not done cheaply, nor was it done simply. It was a triumph of modern industrial know-how, air transportation and logistics. Drilling equipment from all over the world was flown in, driven hundreds of miles, un-crated and put to work, day after tedious day.

Below ground, the miners were organized for the long haul, even put on diets so they’d be able to squeeze into the rescue capsule. Psychologists and NASA engineers were enlisted for help in long-term survival techniques.

This thing was done well. We trust the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration was paying attention.

On Wednesday came the pay-off. Modern communications let the world share the moment, and maybe wonder why other problems aren’t solved so well.

One by one, the miners stepped out of the rescue capsule and with one exception, hugged their wives and children and were hustled into a field hospital, looking remarkably well.

The exception, alas, was Yonni Barrios, trapped miner and cheating husband, who became the Tiger Woods of international mining disaster stories after his mistress disclosed that she was waiting for his return as anxiously as his wife. Whatever happens, Mr. Barrios at least has the knowledge that he has survived worse.