National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1874-03-31
THE BLAZING COAL NINE.
y7sXr 70 THE BURxINe MINS IN
PEHNsYLTANIA.

THE DESCENT AND APPROACH TO THE
FIRE-A SCENE OF AWFUL GRANDEUR
ORIGIN AND EXTENT OF THE FlRE-1hA
MEN WHO ARE FIGHTING THE FIRE.
A correspondent of the New York Hsrsss VINO
has visited the Empire Coal mine, aooas t.a ..N
from Wilkesbarre, Pa, furnishes the solaoSms
description Of his visit: -~.
Tho mine is about ten miles from wuHssos,
and n in a mountain side nom which the spires
and housetop. cannot be seen. To rsach Il one
mutt climb and descend several dfsASrsssbie
stseps. and after he has proceeded - far - .
horse can carry him, he is obliged to wsds through
mud. mtre and coal dust, mixed to that stin co.,
.istency which 10 likely to phil Oh shoe q every
stsp. After leaving the carriage and passing
through little village Of miners, despite the
mud, one soon arrives at the opening. There b
nothing on the outside, save mass Of smoking
ashes, to indicate the mass Of hire raging within.
THE DEscxnr.
10 not made by means Of Q shaft, but BY broad
roadway which decends gradually underground
to the depth Of nearly 800 feet. At the mouth Of
the cavern there Is IN immense fan which supplies
air to those who are compelled to work in the sui
phurous and deadly poisonous gases below.
Should that Fan pause for one moment In Its revo-
almost Instantly. Once inhais that deadly ar,
unmixed with the pure air outside, and human
HE could do naught but succumb. On the side OF
the ascent there is nothing OF interest; the eye
falls upoa nauSht but dead vegetation, heaps Of
unbrokcn coal and masses OF Undesirable 1ab-
bish. There is o railway running up nom the
Empire breaker below, but no cars are passing
over its track now, and the breaker itself u
silent.
a.. a.. a - eta .no> ~ ~ soyna
ching about thu mine is wrong. Under ordinary
circumstances the machinery, now motionless,
would be turning into the market hundreds Of
tons Of coal per day.
it A RuGGED GUIDANCE.
Let US descend the mine. An old man preccdss
MS, carrying a burning lantern. He is rudely at
tired, in rough Shoes coarse brooches, gray Shirt
and he wears glIstening leather cap in which
Is fastened smoking and flaming torch. few
steps, and only few, and daylight disappears,
there is q markell change in the atmosphere, and
the only thing one seems certain about is that he
Il gradually going down. This underground de-
scent, unlike moral decline, has DO gl;tering At
fractions to gently ,irre one on. Ono feels con-
stantly like turning back, for he can see nothing
save his guide and he lantern, nor can he hear
anything but the int echo Of coal and dirt crush
ing underneath his tread. The cavern, however,
Is very commodious, and one has no need tocrawl.
The descent is not straight but winding, and o.
casionally one can recognize above and upon
either side of him solid masses Of black glstening
rock. As tho journey proceeds, the air thickens
and seems TO become foul, rs II the immense fan
outside were gradually sncsenfng tho speed Of
its revolutions. One cannot help feeling an un-
comfortable sort Of sensation; for, as he goes ON,
the atmosphere seems to grow thicker and thicker,
and at the same time the heat seems TO Increase
at every step.
HOTTER AND HOTTER
grows the air, hotter and hotter, until It seems
that one is surrounded BY blazing furnaces.
Every stride onward appears to intensity the
warmth, and human apparel seems more than
human nature is able to bear The perspiration
begins to start from tho pores and tho current Of
air constantly pouring In from outside appears to
be caught and subdued by that dreadful and In
formal heat which almost chokes and s:ifss you.
There 10 no let up to It; no relief; but each and
every moment one seems to be surely and inevlt-
ably approaching hell. Suddenly there falls
upon tho air . peculiar noise, like the NUT
tering Of Internal spirits, away down in the depths
of the universe. Still on, and these mutterings'
increase to q mighty roar, until by and by one
can detect certain soundsabove all others. There
is sound as if made BY falling waters, which
gains and increases on the ear as to the traveller
does the rushing Of cataract.
LOUDER AND LOUDER
echo the voices and intcnser and intenser becomes
the atmosphere. Humanity ordinarily could bear
but few moments . warmth degree or two hot
ter than this. The old guide continues slowly on
the way; clouds Of smoke envelop onr heads until
the cavern, taking peculiar curve, brings us
under a mighty ARCH the floor and sides Of which
seem to be a mass Of Kissing, cracking flsmos.
1t may be wicked expression, but it looks Like o
hell.
THE DISTANCE Is
between 200 and 800 feet underground. The fire
extends over this Immense area Of 200 yards,
dread, awful and appalling, but :ndescribably
beautiful nevertheless. It looks like m immense
sea Of glittering gold, across the heayin9 breast
Of which pass md repass the softest and richest
Of colors. Blue, green, purple,
crimson, mingIing and intermlngiing, passing
and repassing, disappearing here and suddenly
flashing up again there. torture the senses, con-
fuse the vision and leave doubtful of the place
whereon he stands. Such Is the Are which your
gazed upod, such the almighty
king Of these dreadful subterranean realms. 1t
Kisses, 1t roars it flashes up and smokes, driving
back tho men and befouling the air.
FIRExrN.
There are persons down there, human beings
like ourselves, who have spent many months Of
their past in fighting this fire, and who will spend
many months OF their lives yet to come. They
ere terrible looking creatures when thus engaged
ln their work. whose besmeared faces and rough,
plsckened forms give them the appearance ofdevfls
rather than of men. They spend but few hours
h6fe, for 90 intense il the heat that men must
rome very frequently to their relief As It is
scarcely day passes during which some poor
FELLOW does not yield to these underground ele-
ments and is carried out .insensible. It must be
an awful life to lead, and awful, indeed, the cir
cumstances which compel SO many to endure 1t.
APARArus.
From the outside Of the mine run down to these
dreary depths large iron pipes filed with volumes
Of water. When they reach q certain point below
they divide into other pipes Of smaller capacity to
saoh Of which are connected large pieces Of hose.
With these hose the men attack the Ere at tho
edges with the hope that they may extingu.h il
Inch by inch. It Is slow and painful work, and q
process that to the observer appears hopeless OF
my future SUGGEST Contemplate It. A IRE lar
ger than any you have ever seen, not formed Of
timber or Of loose combuftibls material, but OF
iolid rock. 1t extends over 200 yards, and repre-
sents millions Of dollars worth Of coal. The
arches above II, the avenues loading from Il,
trsught with poisonous gases stding to the senses
and ruinous to the health-s mighty oonaagra-
lion, to DO fought with water lpch by inch for
PEARS and years to come; Tor, whi!s Its edges may
DO cooled its roaring centre Is grads:!:y finding
It's way downward, no one knows towhat si.hesrd
Of depth.
RAyAGRs OF THE YLANk
To accurately describe the full extent, or to ex-
press In detail the disastrous effects OF this burn
ing GOAL mine, one must needs spend many an
hour thus underground, which to one who % not
used to it is impossible. One can only hurry down
Tor Q moment, because even in summer apparel he
would be obliged to quickly return to get breath
" air. The following figures represent the extent
,f the fire. the number Of men required to fight II,
he loss to the company, 1.-THE Lehigh and Wilkes
barre Coal and Iron Company, y and the amount OF
,oal which, were the men at work in the mines
hey could give to the market.
STARTLING FACTS.
There are at present engaged in battling the
lanes two largo companies Of men, each Of which
d made up of four different and distinct gangs.
These gangs, or shifts, ~ the miners call them,
relieve each other ut different periods of the day
md night, at least two gangs always being ct
work and approaching each other from various
points. -Four shirts comprehend 90 men each, and
bur others 50 men each; so that In the FIRST com.
,any there $40 individuals, and in the second
~, making In all total OF 52s persons. These
Zen are employed upon salaries which vary from
NO 10 three dollars per day. Two dollars and
lsif 10 about the average rate. Hence to contend
nth the flames II costs the company q $40 daily.
n one week It costs o. lo; in one month, go go;
Vhile in one year, and from the present condition