The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1875-07-23
EBENSBURG, PA, FRIDAY, JULY 3d. 1875

they descended to the limestone, each man
drilled his blast hole with hand hammer,
like that used by stone dressers, drilling it
about twelve inches deep, and then charg-
ing it with coarse blasting powder. No
fuse was used for igniting the charge but
a copper pointed "needle'' was placed on
the powder, and allowed to stand until the
hole was tightly stemmed with clay slate.
Then the needle was carefully withdrawn
and the hole filed with finer grain of
powder. The s'shot'' being thus fag pre-
pared, the man below sung out for the cord,
when one end of line was let down the
shaft, and then securely stemmed into the
top of the shot hole. The bottom end of
the line being now secured, ard surround
ed by fine powder and the other end in the
hands of the bank s-man, the man below
gave tie usual signal, and was forthwith
drawn to bank. A red-hot ring, three or
four inches in diameter, was then taken
from the |'hut'' fire t.; the end of the cord
was quickly passed through it the ring
shot down the shaft, and the blast was fired.
One fine spring day Sam and old Bill
Conway were at bank, and Evan below had
just prepared his blast in the manner de-
scribed, and had given the signal to be
hauled to bank. 1t was nearly noon, and
half-wtted son of the old bank 's-man
was walking quietly along behind an ad-
joining hedge with his fathers dinner.
He heard tho .tshot' Cred and hurried to
the pit-head. There he saw Sam Griffiths
jumping and swearing around he saw the
smoke pouring up the shaft he saw neither
his father nor Evan Hughes.
"Where's fayther and Yeaven ?'' asked
the poor, half witted lad.
Sans blood was up and he struck poor
Dick on the cheek and blacked his eye.
The lad ran home and Sam went halfway
to the Great Oak shaft. how'ing wildly for
assistance. The fearfully mutiated bodies
Of young Hughes and the old man Conway
were brought to bank and few hours af-
ter Coroner Peter Williams held an ninquest.
Sam Griffiths was the only important wit
ness lie testified that Bin Conway, being
old and stupid, had, at Evan Hughes sig
nal to ''wind up" gone for the red hot ring
by mistake. That, seeing the old mans
terrible blunaer he {Sam) had rushed from
behind the ''hut," where he had been
asleep to prevent the mischief, but that ne
only arrived in time to see the glowing ling
shoot down the shaft. Almost instantly
the old man had discOvc ed his fearfa er-
ror, and, stricken with horror and remorse,
he had plunged head FIRST down the shaft
Just as the smoke and debris from the blast
were rising. at was all the work of half
n minute he said to the coroner and jury;
''and it was all over before l could reach
the spot. AS for shouting I was struck
speechless with fear" The jury accepted
the explanation-there was none other to
offer-and, though the silly lad Conway,
by his curious antics and expressive panto-
mine, seemed to have something on his
mind he did not understand the nature of
an oath and was consequently not sworn.
There were imposing funeral services III
Buckley on the following Sunday. The
village madens, with white handkerchiefs
on their heads, and sprigs of rosemary, rue
and balm, in their hands, walked before
Evan Hughes coffin, singing pathetic
dirges until the graveyard was reached
UuU 1tHht ciSPlicit Hhu Uctn otiZtd NIhi a.
fit when she heard the fatal tidings, and
was unable to attend the young mans fu-
reral.
Time passed. The Hughes family began
20 repinc less for the untimely end of the
pride of their family. The Great Ash and
the Great Oak shafts were now each i'll OPP
Grafton, and tho workings underground had
Al
filled Evan Hughes place, and there was
still, sharp rivalry between the eight
Griffiths and the eight Hugheses.
In order to make plain what is to follow,
a short explanation of the mine is necessa
rv. The two shafts, then, occupied each
an end of the long side of parallelogram
the Great Ash, or .'downcasJ shaft" at
the south, and the Great Oak, or ''upcast
shaft,'' at the north. From each shaft a
draft two hundred feet long ran due east,
and the parallelogram was completed by
running another drift. north and south,
joining the ends of these to easterly drifts.
They had thus cut clear around a rectar-
gular mass Of coal, two thousand feet long
by two hundred feet broad, which they
would work away by sections and pillars
until it was exhausted. The air that de-
scended the Great Ash shaft, had it been
permitted, would have rushed along the
straight gallery and right up the Great Oak
shaft, without ventilating the three other
sides of the parallelogram where the men
were working; but there we're massive
doors placed close to the foot of each shaft
in the straight gallery between them, to
divert the air through the workings. There
was large escape Of gas from the coal face,
and the pure air that descended the Great
Ash Shaft consequently assembled the Great
Oak very much charged with carburetted
hydrogen. The mine was worked on two
shifts. On alternate weeks the Hughes