The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1869-06-17
a MINERS STORY.
BY n. G. SHEPHERD.

ain got much learnIn', bein' as I'm
only poor laburin' man, an am bad
band al tellin' a story, but I'll try to do
my best, such as it is It's about the only
thing like an adventure that ever hap
pened TO me, as my path through life has
been pretty much in a straight down into
the bowels Of the earth mostwise. I've
been a miner about ever since | was
grown, an I'm not far off from forty years
OF age now; quite a long time to be DEL
YIN and burrowin' into the ground, an to
be none the richer for it, or little at best.
I've saved sometbin, in them years, to be
sure; but I'm forge,tin'-ail this here
amt my story, an l must stick to the
text.
1t don't matter much where it hap
Pened, 1 suppose one place is quite as
good IS another. as far as that goes; but
II you're particular about KNOWN, it was
away out IN Nevada, 10 higher to home
than that, an close on to nine years ago
/ warn't quite thirty at the time, an
might never have got TO be any older, but
tor-weli, think | may say presence of
mind, as its called. However, I'm here
to day, an that's pretty good proof, take
1t, that / wasn't Killed outright.
GU see, we were enlaruin' one that
we'd already opened, maxim a connection
between the new shaft an the old mine,
you Understand. 1t had proved pretty
rich, the part we'd worked, an it was
thought the parts we were then at would
turn out even more so an the idea was
well founded, as was prov'd a(terward.
hlnln' amt the pleasantest business in the
world, nor the easiest When | first
went at it, l used to feel considerable
queer as began to go gradually down in
the bucket, an daylight grew a little less
all the while. An then to look up when
I'd reach the bottom, an see the blue sky
shine through a hole away overhead, and
feel myself shut in all about by q solid
wall OF rock. But soon got used to all
these things, altho' it took me longer to
get over the hurry about bein' drawn up
alter the train was once lit. What an
eyerlastln time it did seem till I'd been at
the business for a month or more but at
last got over this, too, an learned to
whistle all the while the windlass was
goln' roun' an roun' at the mouth of the
shaft, an | was bein' slowly drawn up
again into the sunlight; then the little
excitement got to be pleasant, an missed
it if l didn't 60 through with it each-day,
till by-an'-by the excitement itself died
out, an there was notbin' in it all any
more than climbin' tree or diggin' with
spade into the ground.
There were eight of US at work at this
shaft, ali old miners. | warn't quite so
heavy as | am now, although, as you may
Judge by my height, | was no light weight
then. We used 10 take turns goin' down
into the shaft, although if there was a
young'un among US any smaller than the
rest, 1t was usual to send him down. l
rather think we'd got somewhere about
forty feet into the ground on the day /
speak of, an were blastin' away so as to
make the connection between the new
shaft an the old mine, or the part we'd
already worked. The rock was pretty
rich ; and the men we were workin' for
formed sort of company. They must
have all made lots 8 money out of it, |
think, for there was silver in plenty there,
as twas easy to see. But deal Of viii
lalny was practised out there In that Sec
ton of country. Why, bless you, Ii was
as common to ''salt' a mine, as they call
it, as it was TO blast in search of the met
al. I've seen mines opened-if you
might call 'em mines-that hadn't a trace
of silver, or hardly any an before long,
they fetched big prices, all on account o.
''saltin' that Is, scattering loose silver,
the dust, you know, all about among the
rock. But even tins got played out after
while, for people came to be too know
in, an you could only come once in
while over strangers Or 'InJins," as they
were called out there.
But l must come to my story before
long, or your patience will be worn cut.
We'll, it's short one, the story is, an
won't take me long to tell, SO there's con-
ISOLATION in that,
1t was pleasant day for that season
of the year in Nevada; an that was my
first trip in the bucket-my first trip up,
| mean, that mornin'. The train I'd laid
was rather a long one, with heavier
charge than usual, for the portion of rock
to be split was broader and bigger than
was common. The bottom of the shaft
was pretty well Uttered up with fragments
an loose pieces, so as to be rough and
very uneven, and the side walls too, were
jagged an broken, with sharp edges most
all the way. l bad lit the train, an was
bein' drawn up in the bucket somethin'
slower, it seemed to me some how, than
usual.
Foot by foot I was beiu' raised. 1
must have reached twenty-five feet-a
little more than half way. "Creak,
creak," went the windlass could hear
it distinctly up above, as we'll as the sound
of the rope passin' over it. could hear,
too, the voice of the man at the mouth of
the shaft. ] remember noticin' the sharp,
rough edges of the wall on my way, an
the veins of metal here and there in the
| rocl aS well n c ,rloDoips Jon,o IN COO "a