The Cass County Republican. [volume] (Dowagiac, Mich.) 18??-1880, 1859-04-14

"Major, what turned your hair
white?"
"My hair, jim. Why, by the Lord
Harry, my hair was once as black as
nigger's face in an eclipse. When /
was in the last war, it streamed in the
wind like shining horse tail. But it
has got blasted here in the Mines"
"But how happened that, Major?
You look quite hale and hearty, young
enough to marry one of the gals"
When / first came to the mines
got into bit of a row with Jake Ropes
who was one of the bullies then-licked
up-burnt out now, a mere old hulk
we had bit of fight which began
with game of crack lieu; and / faxed
him like good one however it passed
off at that, and the next spring Jake
and were prospecting together. We
had sunk rock shaft fifty feet. The
patent safety fuse had just come in
fashion, and we thought we would try
and blast with it. We had drilled a
hole right plum in the bottom of the
shaft with churn drill, thirty inches
doep. Jake staid below to put the
charge of powder in. and cracked
away with tamping iroixsputting in
half yard extra of safety ase, and as
soon as he got every thing right, piled
the tools in the bucket, roared out
ehoist,' and drew him out with the
MINDLESS. Says j,
"tJakc where are your matches !?
Didn't you light the fuse 2
"No," said Jake, "blow me if / put
on that blast"
"Enough said,' said 1. So taking
the matches, / stuck my feet in the
moose of the rope, and Jake let me
down; / all the time charging him to-
Now says /, 'as soon as / light the
fuse and sing out 'rope,' do you jerk
me out of the shaft quicker than shoot
ing / got to the bottom, and-I felt
a little dubious, but / draws a match
across my left coat slice We, and touches
the blaze to the end of the fuse, and it
began to fiz-z-z-' hoist = say /. Up l
went about ten feet, and there hung
dangling.
Jake" says /, "for mercy sake"
What's the matter ?" says Jake,
looking down the hole, laughing like a
fend.
Hoist" / screamed. "In another
minute shall be blown to"
80! you internal old scoundrel.
Next time jump on Jake when he is
drunk, and lick him, will you?
All this time the safety fuse was fiz-
zing away like a battered comet. felt
the chills creeping along my back and
curdling and mantling over my scalp.
Jake took pin and stuck into the
frame of the MINDLESS, so as to project
and fastcn the handle of the MINDLESS
beam; then looked into the shaft and
grinned like an incarnate devil. 81
haze you now" said he; "just do you
hang there, Major, till hell bids you off. y
And there l did hang for fifteen
minutes, with that internal fuse Kissing
under met was little eternity OF
hell condensed. At last the fuse burnt
out, and Lake drew me out of the shaft
scared nearly to death.
"Did'nt the blast go off, Major.'
$50 off! No! Don't you think
Jake had charged the rock with nc
powder at all, cracking away there
with his tamping rod half an hour, to
ram the hole full of dry sand! He did
as sure as you are born, Jim-the in
fernal scoupdrel and when got home
and looked in the glass, my hair was a,
white as 4 snow bank-and all the hail
dye in creation can't never make il
black no more! What your hair-dyt
worth bottle.
$50 WEIGH not so much what mer