Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1867-06-01

like a !, White, stattg through the town
streets, then Ithronged with people, swhen,I
goes into shop, sandI alter a good deal of
%al,tlngi geti mgl lemons n and tobacco, pays
uaAs soon as 4 was out Of the town again,
]. gets ont Of tn eroad TO take that short cut;
and now i began to find out what sort of a
night it was & for the wind was right dead
III my teeth, while the way In which the.
snow cut into your eyes was something
fGgERs %E sSs %as sttiRS snS
thinking about the, warm fIeside at,home,
with the snuE supper table = and ,then,I
Thought Of what blessing it was in hard
winter to live close to the pits mouth and
get plenty of coal tor next to npthing.e We
could afford q good fire there, such as would
cheer the heart Of; some of the London;poor,
while wages We're, not SO bad. ,-,i-rso ,s,d
Every now and then I. had to. stop and
| kick the snow off my boot5soles forit COLI
| lected in hard balls. SO as to make walking
harder;;, then, not, having the itow6 lights
TO guide me- I 1to0uhd "a Yatndlsred bit out
Stumbled. The wind beat worse than
ever the snow blinded me so, that could
not; look out for the lights Of the Villages
and at last began to think that I'd done a
foolish thing in trying to MAX a short cut.
But then 9nejis always slow about oWning
L
stumbled on: but at last, after walking for
some time, I was Obliged to own to myself
that [ was lost in the snow. 49,
n1"Staff and nonsense p I SAYS the next
minute.a and then had look round, to try
and make out where L was, for / knew
every every loot oct Of it almost, but nothing could
L see but snow falling almost like In sheet
all round me, so that could only see few
feet leach way, while the snow where Istood
was nearly up to my knees. i listened, but
there was nothing to be heard but the
whistling of the wind; shouted, but the
cry sounded muffled and close Just as if II
had been in cupboard; then 1 walked a
little one way, and then turned land went
another 8 and at last my, horror, found
that was, regularly confused, and could
not make out in which direction lay town
or village, while the snow covered in every
footmark in a very few minutes 3 cd 1'fL
| Now, / did not feel alarmed, only bother9
ed and confused; for telt sure that, if l.
kept on walking, | must come to some
place or another which l knew, unless I
walked right out on TO the great waste,
where might go for miles and miles with
out finding house; but was hardly like
ly to get there; the thing most cared for
was my poor gal at home getting upset
about me, and thinking that I'd stopped in
the town drinking with some mates, being
| Christmas eve, when I'D promised her over
and over again most faithfully that I'd all
ways have my drop of beer at home.
| Where's no danger, that's one comfort" /"
said, ''unless run bang into the canal :;
aud even then shall know where 1 am'D 1
says, $50 that won't be sucha very serious
matter;n and then tried again to make out
whereI was, butthe snow came do wn more
than ever; and at last, feeling worried and
cross, started off -afresh, as hard as could
lgo, when all at once L let go of my stick,
for / felt one foot slipping, and, as felt
it co. fearful thought came across my
i mind With an agonized cry / tried to re-
cover myself but. from leaning forward, to
face the wind, this was impossible, and
/ then shrieking out,-.or ,7-g7-t7 cE7a -s
l MY God, it's the old pit!' 1 was falling
, and rolling down-doWn into the black
Darkness q 19H -saftt1 moo 1888 2
i 1t was like being in some horrible dream,
| and for a moment | fancied it might be
i but no, there was falling faster and faster
for a length of time that seemed without
! end, as i waited for the coming crash when
! 1 reached the bottom, to be found after
wards a mntilated corpse. 'l.' INV 'l5S'
thought all this, and much more, as 1
fell dow n the sloping SHAFT t-eF the coal pit;
I and then came a tremendous splash as
4 was plunged down beneath the icy water
| which roared and thundered in my ears.
Ihad been down pit after pit in my time,
! working in the shafts at the wood easing,
| making newtof repairing the old, perhaps
4 halfway down, hanging in a cage; or l had
been working at the traps and doors in tffe
1 most dangerous parts, where you might
! hear the gas kissing through between the
i seams Of. black slaty shale; but never be-
| fore knew so hideous sense of fear as
came over me, when, risingto the surface
i OF the water Istruck out, as if by instinct,
! forthe side, and then, clinging to the rough
| ened- wall with one hand, and with the
other thrust into sort of hole. remained
for a few seconds, painting and half mad,
up to my neck in the cold water, while the
I darkness was terrible.
/ 1t is impossible to describe the horrible
thoughts that came hurrying through my
mind as if to unnerve me.-thoughts of foul
4 choking gases. of fearful things swimming
l about in the black water, or efherrid mon
listers lurking in its terrible depths ready to
drag me under and drown me ; but, worse
still, as'I began to recover myself a little,
were the calmer thoughts of the length OF
4 time conld hold TN there without sbecom-
Ting numbedS and then slipping off and
drowning. 1shouted, and the sound went
echoing up the shaft with a horrible un-
iearthly tone that made me tremble. cried
1again and again till l was hoarse, but
knew all the while that it was useless, f n
there was not cottage for at least a mile,
and, then. terror seemed-t to get the better OF
me, as 1 felt.that there, in the midst of that
fearful darkness, 1 must drown, aud then
sink tosthe bottom of this old, old, worn -out
Ecoal-pit; while no one, not even my poor
wife, would know OF my fate, --yvr -z,7.
With the thoughts of my wife, came
thoughts of the pleasant scene had so
lately gazed upon, when something almost
like a sob seemed to come from my heart,
and then came weak, despairing tears; but
\ | reused up and shouted again and a. ain,
throwing my head back to try and see the
! mouth of the pit, but, though imagina-
ton peopled the darkness with horrors,
there was nothing around but the intense
blackness; while, to add to my despair and
terror, 1 could feel that my hands were
SLOWLY slipping from their hold. raaG 80
| Could any man have heard me down
there, two hundred feet below the mouth.
| it must have been very fearful, for during
the next minute was shrieking for aid,
giving vent to the most unearthly yells,
praying aloud, and crying for mercy. and
| then, hoarse and worn out, | felt that l
must sink back, and 1 did, shriekipg, and
! struggling savagely for life, till the cold
water guI gled over my mouth, and cheked
back my cry Then, for a few minutes, /
was beating the water frantically, as a dog,
beats it when he cannot swim; but my
nerve seemed to come once more, and even
then, in the midst of that horror and de-,
SPAR, / could not help thinking of myself
as being like a rat in a well. as | swan
round by the side trying to find place to
hold on by. -rg ,-,.- 7...,.-.- -....-..s.s,
:. l swan slowly along, striking my right
hand against the side at every stroke, but
after few strokes, it did0not touch any
thing; and then, striking out more boldly,
swan on, turning to the right with ray
OF hope i'm my heart, for I knew that 1 was
on the level of one of the old veins, and,
though swimming farther into the bowels
of the zearth,l rye58 had not the horrible
Edepth of the shaft under me, while knew
that, before long, should find bottom for
my feet.a siFl2s Haoa %a1. 'is-- 1San
All at once my hand touched the side !
then raised one up, and could touch the