The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1875-07-23

was so direct and strong that the men
worked with open oil-lamps; and, albeit,
there had been pretty severe ''blowers,' as
Sudden spurts of local gas are termed, no
danger was apprehended by either of the
gangs who owned and worked the mne
1t was now three years since Evan
Hughes met his sad fate; and on fine May
morning there was great rejoicing i'll the
village. Bunting waved from every avail
able flag staff, and the cutters IN front of
the four ale houses literally ran with beer.
The Griffiths were in high feather, for Sam
and Anne Shepherd had been married in
the morning. Long before noon the BRIDES
proud sire purple il. the face with
pledging the young couple, and with urg-
ing others to do likewise. Gayly dressed
groups of youths and maidens danced
around the May-pole on the village green,
and everybody was III a supreme state of
enjoyment-all except Mrs. Hughes, poor
Evans mother, and Hannah, his twin Sis
ter The merry-making palled OH their
hearts. 1t recalled the lost one-the flower
of the flock who had SO miserably perished
and who to-day might have been Anne
Shepherds husband. Therefore, they re-
tired early ir the evening, and by closing
doors and windows tried to exclude the
sounds of merriment. While the days
festivities were being prolonged far into the
night, the mother and daughter retired to
rest. Sleep fell upon THAR sad eyes; and
each woman dreamed dream-a dream so
marvelously uniform in detail that it was
as if the two had sat and watched the same
tableau.
They saw the three men sinking the Great
Oak shaft they saw Evan charge and
prime his shot, and then attach the end of
the ''firing cord;' they heard him give the
signal to bs hauled to bank they saw old
Biz Conway begin to turn the windlass
they saw Sam Griffiths steal out of the
''hut" with tl.e req hot ring and slip it
down the rope they saw the old man quit
hold Of the windlass in horror and they
saw the powerful young murderer dash the
old man down the shaft i'll the face of the
shower Of stones thrown up the e&plo-
sion.
Mother and daughter awoi.e in tho
solemn midnight and discussed their dream
with trembling and with awe. And they
clung to each other, and comforted eacl,
other, and tried not to believe it. Just
tEen John Hughes, the husband and father
of the two women, entered /; and after some
banter--he WAS i'll liquor-the women again
slept.
cit was a most extraordinary circum-
stance,'' Coroner Williams used to say,
''but both these women dreamed tho self
same dream over again.
In the morning Mrs. Hughes met Dick
Conway, the idiot lad, took him aside,
and questioned him about wha he saw that
day when he lost his father. He indicated
by dumb show how some one was thrown
down the shaft, and how some one else
was struck on the face, meaning himself
Mrs. Hughes shortly after died. The
doctors who attended her were not agreed
respecting her malady but Dr. Jones, of
Mold, was certain that her mind was gone,
and that she was the victim of hallucins-
tions Hannah, the twin daughter,
devoted herself exclusively to her father.
She would frequently descend the Great
Oak shaft while he was at work, and carry
ale, hot coffee, tea, etc, to him and con-
seGuently she achieved kind of envied
notoiiety Gu the mountain for her bravery
in descending the coal-mne. She had
several admirers but her kind words and
light looks seemed reserved for her father.
On his part, he repaid her with affec-
tiunate admiration tl,at approached idola-
try: and it was his boast that when his
On a dark December midnight, a few
months after her mothers death, Hanna,.
Hughes and the idiot lad Conway stole
quietly away from Buckley village and pro-
ceeded toward Great Oak shaft. Her father
aud his companions would have stopped
work at twelve O clock and The two noctur-
nal pedestrians avoided the road by which
the miners would return to their homes.
When HANNAH, aud Dick reached the pit
heap all was still as the grave. The horse
had been loosed from the ''gin'' windlass
and lay sleeping in his straw, and not q
star cheered the gloomy vault Of heaven.
Hannah soon obtained a light; the stable
door was opened the gin horse was har-
messed and hitclIed into the accustomed
shafts fer raising the coal; the young
woman took her seat on the ''corve'' or
basket, and told Dick to CLOVER away"
Into the black, yawning pit she descended
without fear or trepidaticn, and when the
bottom was reached she stepped briskly
out of tie ''corve," proceeded to the air.
door near the bottom of the shaft, and
securely propped it open. Then she walked
along the two Thousand feet that separated
her from the Great Ash shaft, and reach
open. The air current now shot directly
along the shortest route between the two
shafts, and by its violence extinguished
her LIGHT but She returneai andisnaved hu