The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1872-03-21
In q Deserted Mine.

The Nevada Enterprise relates the
thrilling experience of man who went
alone to explore an old and abandoned
mine. The following is graphic pas
sage:
GA ghastly place he found the level
The timbers were hung with great fes-
toons OF peculiar fungus, resembling
the moss of the live oak, but white as
snow. Upon those festoons rested glo-
blues of moisture which were trans
parent as distilled water, and which
sparkled like myriads of diamonds. All
these growths, however, were not of the
form described. Some resembled ex-
aggerated mushrooms had stems a yard
long that twisted about like rams horns,
and wore crowns of the size of a broad
hat rim. They mingled with the messy
formation, grew pendant from the roof
of the drifts, hung out from the lag
ging and sprouted up from the base of
the side supports-in short, in places so
filled the old drifts that it was necessary
to crush through them. For an hour
ormore ouradventurer wandered through
the mazes of the level, more intricate
than the labyrinths of Crete, or at least
than that of Woodstock, in which, as
the story goes, fair Rosamond was i'm
prisoned, but no store of precious ore
could he find. At length, in crowding
his way through some fallen timbers in
q tumble-down chamber, the whole came
down behind him, followed by tremen-
dous cave of earth which blew out his
candle and blocked the way behind him,
completely cutting off his retreat
He now started to find the mouth of
the incline, and was congratulating
himself that he had recovered from his
former childish fears of goblins, when
upon elevating his candle above his
head to peer as far as possible into the
narrow passage in advance, there sud-
denly rose before him a most frightful
apparition. Uttering a helpless, smoth-
cred shrek, which seemed to be answer
ed by still more despairing shrieks from
every cavern in the mine-he dropped
his candle. Standing squarely before
him in the middle of the passage, he
had seen a tall man of most venerable
appearance. His hair and beard were
of snowy whiteness, and the latter
reached far below his waist; his flowing
robe was also white, but his face was
black as ink. In the involuntary act of
covering his eyes to shut from his sight
the fearful thing, his candle was drop
ped, and it was some moments before he
could gain courage to remove his hands
and again look before him. When he
did SO he was more frightened than be-
fore at what he beheld. The apparition
was still there, but ten times more ter
rible than before. 1t appeared a living,
glowing flame, except the face, which
was, if possible, blacker than before
More dead than alive, he stopped and
groped about till he found his candle
then with trembling hands he lighted
it, never once looking toward the awful
object till his light was fairly burning
when, with q forced resolution which
he felt to be little short of impudent, he
boldly faced about and held up his
candle. His ghost was gone, bat in its
place stood timber which had pitched
from above, and which was completely
clothed in the white fungus he had seen
so much of in other parts of the mine
He examined it minutely and was as.
tonished that it should have given him
such fright; but then it stood alone
and in a place where he did not look TO,
a timber in any garb. BY shading his
candle he soon discovered that the fierce
appearance it had worn in the dark wa.
owing to phosphorescent light giver
out by the reeking fungus"