The Albany register. [volume] (Albany, Or.) 1868-18??, 1875-02-12
THREE DAYS UNDERGROUND.

element weather, looked long way |
back since the genial sunshine had |
frightened our dispositions and dried |
our roads.
The miners had "struck' - the pre-
vious day for some fancied annoyance,
and the inside workings and breakers
WeIe deserted, except by the engineers
and firemen. We-that is, the super
intendent, the ''inside boss" and
mine engineer or surveyor-had decided
to take advantage of the cessation of
work and make a trip inside, in order
particularly to look at one of the
''breasts," in which a roll . had
been met, and in general to view the
appearance of the mime to see that none
of the doors had been left open by
which the inside air would be vitiated,
for our mines were not free from fire.
damp to observe the timbers, for in
parts of the mine there had been indi-
cations of tssqueeze :" and also to
notice the workings of our two ten-inch
steam pumps, which were strained to
their utmost-working as they were
under the high pressure of ninety
pounds of steam-to keep the mines
clear of water.
On the day before, out of curiosity, [
had measured the stream they were
throwing, and found to my astonish-
ment that their combined outputs
amounted to 5000 gallons per minute.
had not mentioned this to the sur
veyor, the amount being so large as to
make me feel uncertain in my calcula-
tions yet there were those calculations
In black and white according to the
latest formula of American engineers,
50 that / came to the conclusion that
they were right, but that / would not
speak of it to any one.
As our tramp was to be an extended
one, over the whole of the mine, which
i'm one direction was driven for more
than O mile, and had labyrinthine pas
Eages that would have sadly puzzled
any one not acquainted with the work
ings, we took our dinners along in the
little buckets that miners carry, and
also q bottle of oil for the supply of
our lamps.
The day previous had been somewhat
an idle one, and, knowing the course
our trip was to take, amused myself
by making q little sketch from the
large map of the vicinity of the par
ficular ss breast " we intended visiting.
thought nothing of it at the time; but
afterward, as will be seen, it became
OF the greatest Importance.
We took walk through the breaker
and the outside workings before we
went inside. There were the eight
boilers working at a pressure of ninety
pounds of steam, and trembling with
the mighty force within them but of
their safety we felt no fear, ss they had
few days before been examined by the
inspector and pronounced safe to a
pressure of 140 pounds to square
inch.
A loud kissing sound, like the rush of
waters, caused us TO turn suddenly, but
it was only the steam blowing through
the safety-valve. At last, our examine
tion being completed, we lighted our
lamps, climbed into the cage, and gave
the engineer the signal to lower US
down the shaft slowly.
The descent in a shaft is very pc
culiar feeling to those who have never
experienced it. We have all felt the
odd sensation in the back and breast
when using 8 forty-foot pole swing.
The feeling there is difficult to de-
scribe, but may be said to be as though
the breath in your body, instead OF
making its natural exit, was going
from the back of the lungs to the front,
and thsnce out through the breast
bone.
So with the sensation in descending
shaft. Here it is not only the breath
that appears TO be leaving you, but the
blood, bones, and brain all seem to be
trying to escape through the roots oi
the hair /; q capillary sensation which Ii
anything but pleasant.
We made the descent of 357 feet
In two and one-half minutes, and car
rived safely at the bottom of the ehaft
The working of our mine had beer
begun on the most scientific principles
but several layerg of hard rock haC
made the shaft extremely costly; anC
the circumstances of the company were
somewhat straitened when we hai
reached the coal vein OF which we were
IN search.
It's generally customary to have (
50 sump." or chamber for holding water
at the bottom of the shaft, SO that il
case anything should happen to thu
pumps there viii be reservoir for thu
mine water to flow into, and which vii
require some time to ill before tht
tracks are overdowed and worl
stopped but Just below the coal, wheI
the sump was begun, q bed OF lro1
pyrites was met, on which the best cas-
steel drills made no impression and
sitter week of utterly futile work. th'
design of making sump was aban
doned, and slight roll occurring a
rome little distance from the bottom
of the shaft, the coal was mined there
krCnn, and the cavity thus made wa
nged as sump, although it only he'll
. few thousand gallons of water.
We started on our tramp, after ex
amining the two steam-pumps and not
ing the number of strokes per minut
they were making. The mines wer
very wet, and little drippers fallin
from the roof trickled down our backs
causing very unpleasant sensations.
We did not find much to complai
about in the workings till we came
the point where the squeeze had man
tested itself. Here stout timbers {
one foot and half in diameter ha
been bent into 3 bow-like form by th
pressure of thousands of tons of supe
Incumbent rock, and the crush We
only beginning to make itself NANTES
The practiced eye of the superintenG
ent, aided by his unerring judgmen
eeQn noted the points where exit
strength was required, and he gave b
orders TO the mine boss, who car
fnlIy marked them.
We now retraced our footsteps, and
Eurninc into another gangway, reache
che . breast" " In which the 70
had occurred. The pitch, or slope, {
Nhs coal-vein was here steep, nearly 4
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