Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1868-03-04

teri The notion, If 1t was good for moth
ing more, gave me a little spirit. I hadn'
much to settle at home, ouly to bid good
bYe to the folks | lived with, and I soon
came out, pack on back, and began my
tramp. ..a....f ...-... -. -fs !
| stopped at the moor and looked back,
remembering that might never see the
place again, and dismal as [ new thought
it, with las gaping walls and shaken roofs
sncumbering the .biackened ground, [
had been happy there: Not one of those
tumhling cottages but would open ita
doors to me not one where [ would not
meet a friend. And there, too, | had
been born it vas the spot on earth that
even in that hour Of bitterness / loved
best, and I didn't turn away without
dashine my hand over my eyes.
| was waking on, when suddenly the
air rang with crash, which shook the
ground. [ knew what it signlfed such
sounds denote but one result in the black
couniry, aud throwing down my pack, |
darted off 70 the ,pit, with the feelings
that animate every miner on such occas-
ions. 2 !" 1853 'tL $40 ie&
It didn't seem minute before I'came
20 the dust heaps round the pits mouth,
but some we're there before me, and the
of-men and .he women were rushing mp
from, the village in stream. The smell
from the pit almost knocked me down as
| came up, and [. had to get my breath
little when three or four of US crept on to
IL = i
plosion bad destroyed the stage, not leav-
ing a stick of it, but it hadn't inJ ured the
signal rope; hence means of communl-
cation remained for any one Immediately
below. As soon as [ saw this, | set to
work to rig a cross bar, and presently had
it ready r.. ~...~tH f.. .-..r ts,a{
~ ust lower me gently" [ said to two
banksmen. Il may pick up one or two
if there are any near" a..a.5, ..g
-. ~ ou cant go down yetr' cried the
viewer. .-, =.......... .-..-s .........s,
How many are there in the pit p s.
"Half an hour % there were fifty"
replied the timekeeper, "but | am thank
ful to say they all came up but ten"
"And they are all lost,'' said the
er, for there will be another explosion
directly" 5a .fs - II -. sE
is .'I1l GO down, anyhow, y I said, dog
gedly; and if nobody will lower me, In
jump down" er I,@eea5 ..:1~ no II t.H5
"A good many were on the heaps now
men and women-some of the women
crying, and some praying; but when |
spoke out that way, there was dead sill
ence Then two or three called ont:
Good by Charley. God bless you, my
brave lad"
The banksmen lowered me down, and [
sank through the pits mouth. A Davy
lamp was tied round my waist, and [ held
rope, in my hand, so that | might signal
to be h@isted up if the air became too
foul. But had no intention Of going
back till [ had searched the pit and see
if there were any alive. One thing, /
didn't care about my life J; and another, /
would have been ashamed to face the
folks above without doing something; so
[ felt impatient that they lowered me at
such snail's pace and kept looking up
and down to measure the distance yet to
be traversed The shaft had never seem
ed so deep to me before. [ strained my
eyes into the darkness below, and saw no
bottom; j glanced up, and the glcam Of
light grew smaller and fainter Iscanned
the walls of the shaft, and saw only their
back bound. But my progress was no.
tilted by the increasing density of the
air, which began to affect my breathing
and as-I went on, [ lad to shift my face
from side to side to make little current.
At last my feet touched ground. 99&
looked around and jumped off the
straddie, and saw the furnace was out,
which put a stop to the ventilation OF the
mlne as far as it depended on the brat
tices, and no air entered but by the shaft.
The stencil was overpowering, and from
this and the silence [ guessed the worst
It was plain that the explosion had killed
the horses for not a sound came from
the stables that were close. to the shaft;
and what hope could there be for human
beings in distant part of the pit ?.~aar
You may be sure did not stand to
make these reflections they foated across
me, and | was working forward before
tIey hal got through my mind. I knew
the old mine .blindfolued; but what with
the foul smell, and what with the gloom
and my. sbortness Of breath, [ was some
minutes scrambling to the top of the in
cline, keeping my arms stretched out as |
went along. to feel for anything in the
way. And lucky did, or | should have
dashed my head against some empty
trucks, and, in the state was in, i