The weekly democratic statesman. [volume] (Austin, Tex.) 1871-1883, 1876-09-28


Il only takes i've minutes. You step on
the cage and tbr hand that guides the Titan
al the surface touches the rein Of his black
monster and you are plunged into the gloom.
In y moment the lights Of earth go out; by
the glare of lanterns you know you are pass
ing dripping timbers; the sounds from
above grow faint and fainter and cease. the
vapnrs rise around you as from q cauldron !;
yos hear now sdd then \ rumble In the
deeps as though the dark spirits below were
complaining that their treasures We're being
thus taken away; you listen, expecting 10
hear the mutterings of the gnomes which
guard the sacred treasures; there comes n
dance of the cage beneath your feet; you
know the hand above has touched the bit
of his burden. bearer, and then the cage stops
and you are more than quarter OF u mile
below the busy city " hich you Just few
moments before left; from the dusty high
way you have stepped inte the worlds
grandest treasure hou.e; you have passed
from the temperate TO the tropical zone in
moment-you are in the Bonanza. 1t
takes but little space to complete the
transition; it takes but a moment to de-
scribe il; out the change is wonderful, and,
to one OF thoughtful mind, the wonder
| increases with each returning visit. 1t is
III
low the surface. True, there are broad
avenues there; broad umbers which like
| Atlas seem competent to support u world
upon their broad backs; there are engines
at work and cars running; but every
glimpse of the men there reveals the exer-
tion necessary to keep up this conflict with
the spirits which guard the buried treasure
| below. The men are striped TO the waist,
those brswny delivers, with perspirauon
bursting from every pore and their bodies
| shining as it is said .he Spanish victims
shone in the sunlight when stretched upon
the fatal stone upon the top OF Teocoa, ere
the Aztec priests tore out their hearts for a
sacrifice. These white breasts have another
significance. On the surface servile races
may take from the laborer his bread; down
| IN that gloom there is no fear of competi-
ton. The pale-iaces there hold sway.
| There the Caucasian race is indispensable,
for what is needed among gnomes is a
steady brain, quick, strong hand ruling
J intelligence. Those stronghOlds are not
stormed until grappled with by the worlds
| ruling races. 1t looks pleasant down there
in the mimic streets and under the lanterns
| glare; but before those streets were opened
there was in the sitting air work per-
formed which cannot be calculated. Picks
| were WcIC oIIuNh, pO"uOi
was burned, men tainted and fell In their
places, but the work went ON. So 1t will
proceed in the future, until, probably, after
another sixteen years, they will be working
| 3, 900 feet below the surface as unconcerned
as they now delve at the present levels.
We pass through long drift, and suddenly
We find where an attacking colsmn are driv-
ing into the ore. The ght is magnificent, but
for those in the East, who fancy that silver
mining is light thing to accomplish, one
visit here would dispel the illusion. A
glimpse at the work, glance at the ma
chinery, few thoughts of the study re-
guired 10 make a successful battle against
the rock, the wafer, the danger and the
gnlmes, would suddenly reveal TO them
h it is that a first-class miner has to be
u first-class man, and how, after he COM
'etes this education below ground, he can
seize upon the ordinary avocations of life
as a student after comprising algebra Is
never more troubled by a proposition in
arithmetic. But we are on the cage once
more, the bell up above signals that there
is precious freight on board, and in five
minutes more we are out of the depths, the
blessed sunlight comes to US again, the sum
mer strikes US with chill, we are out OF
the depths aud have done the Bonanza. -
Virginia (NeU.) Sentinel.