Ashtabula weekly telegraph. [volume] (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1853-1873, 1866-03-03
Mining Under ,he sea.

patlon. lDe absence or sun and all natur
al light, the dripping sides Of The shaft. an,
the danger oftxplosion from the fire damn
OF juttiog rocks and numerous other perils
invest il with vogue terrors 10 active imae
nations. But when the shaft runs unde
the sec, and the swell Of The ocean is di.
sinctly audible, it mnst suggest many fea-
TO the diligent miners. The followin
graphic description is taken from an EDs
lish paper: 'eii i9l Ha'
We are now four hundred yards ou
under the bottom OF the sea, and twebt
feet below the sea level, Coast trade ves
sells are sa ling over our heads. Two hon
dred ard loriy ,leet below us men are q
work, end tn re arc galleries yet below
that. The extraordinary POSITION. dow
the cliff. Of the engines and other works or
the surface, at Booa lie, is now explsired
The nine is uot exeaFated ike other mi e.
under the ear,h, Jnt under the sea. Hay
ing Communicated these, Particulars, III,
m ne tell, Us 10 keep silence and listen =
We obey him, sitting speechless aud IN J
iioness. If The reader cosld ouly hav
behed US now, dressed 10 our copper col
orei gatmeuts buddled close together 10
mere c'eft of subterrnbesn r OK, with {
fsme burning on our hea $, and dprkues,
envelopng our limbs, lie mast certainly
have imogined, without apysvioent streag b
refiancy, ihai- he MAS -lool:rg -doxn.upon q
copclave oEguomes a n
u" Afer- list euiHg a few mButes a distant
aud dfudeBftbiy soaHi' becomes U ere faih,iy
audi le--s lo6g, low, smy sterious moaning
that exchanges, that uisif u on theIeaI
us well as heard b1 IL. q SQUAD that might
proceed from ibcalcuiable ds:ance+-fr from
some far Invisible rhigbt---a sound unlik
anything that is heard on the upper ground
10 The FREQ air { ihesyen---a sound SO sab
timely mourfuiaud stilyso gbosily and i'm
pressive when listened TO in the. su ubterrau
eansrecesses Of the earth, that we coniinue
iastinctively 10 hold our peace as il enchan
ted by it, aud thipk not of communicating
10 each o,hervthe strange awe, and as on
isbaent> which il has inspire inaus rfrom
the very Grsu aaaGs ! i,ads ilde woL
81" Al last the minnr speaks again, and
tells us that what We hear is the sound OF
the surf iashing the rocks % sbundrsi land
twenty feet above us aud Of the waves tha'
are bres king on the beach beyond The
tide is now al the Cow, aud he seaI.is in }
extraordinary state Of agitatios, so the
sound is low and distant jast at this period
Bot when storms are at their hight, wbeo
the ocean hurl mountain after xmouptain
of water "a The cliffs, thea the noise is ter
rife; The roaring heard down here in the
mine is SO incxpressible; rferce. and awful
that the 10 oldest men at work ars,nfraid TO
;x,,o thair Tat all acaaoI t, N
face to breathe the upper air, and stand on
firm earth, dreading--thongh1 mo catastro-
phe has ever happened yet--that the sea
willcbreik ia upon tbem if thy remain 10
the cavern below. In 80 5r.l .15spdrs' 10
s,r"i Hearing this We gel up to- look at, the
rock above as.o. We are able to- stand
upright iin the position We now occupy !.
aud Earring our candles hiiher and thilhel
in ahel darkness, can seelthe bsight, pure
copper streaming through The gallery iu
every direciion.3 Lumps of osze, of the
most D strons green color, lrasersed by q
natural ae work Of th;n red veins of iron,
spSesr here aud there 10 large, irregular
patches, over which water is dripping slowly
aud ,ioeessantlys in eerIain'places. Ihi,
tho salt water percolating through invisible
CRANES in the rock. : Oai stormy days 1t
spurts out efuriously v insdthu continuous
streams DUST over oar ads we obterved
"a WOODEN plug Of the thick kuess of mans
leg ahere Us a hole tberep and that plug is
all we hsyerto keep. ont thelsea. 1al.3,s71 /.
G'bImmense wealth Of metal is contained
in the roofs Of this gallery throughout its
enti'e e length ;sbut it will always remain
snsoached the aniaers dare not take it.
for tits q part (andl great partl nof the
rock which is their only protection against
the sea- and which has SO Ear been, " rked
away here that its thickness is limited to
an averuge Of three feet ouly between the
water end the gallery 10 which We now
stand No,one kuowsswha might be the
consequence of'ano,her days labor With the
picksxe on suy part of il. issrp adl .eisig