Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1877-02-28
Down in a Coal Mine.


Down in a Coal Mine.
AN EXPERIENCE IN THE BOWELS OF PENN
SYLYANIA.
"Go down as fast US that?n the super
intendent continued; "Oh, yes there's
no danger. The shaft is nine hundred feet
deep, and we go down sometimes in fifteen
seconds sometimes, when we're in no
hurry, we take thirty seconds, sometimes
twenty. The engineer always knows
when to stop it, and the only danger is ut
the top and bottom" The cage stopped
at our level with jerk. and we stepped
out on little platform, about six feet one
way by four the other, with II roof, and
fitted into the shaft so nicely that marble
could hardly roll through
The superintendent seized little iron
ring and pulled it twice (mine language
for lower ~ his hand hardly left the
ring before IL terrific rumbling began (the
cages make Il deafening noise), and the
floor began to sink from under us like IL
flash of lightning. The bottom was drop
ping out OF everything. The wheels roll
ing against the sides, would have shamed
northeastern on the coast. This sinking
lasted four OF five seconds; then we seem
ed to stand still. Things had changed.
We were not moving, but the sides of the
shaft were going up, up, us if they had
been shot up out of u volcano. wonder
ed for u second or two, how long it woul
take at this rate for the shaft to tear itself
out of the mine entirely, 1t began to go
faster than ever There must have been
about $40 miles of that shaft fired out
already and still it kept coming. 1t went
up 50 fast, the shaft, that it began to per-
spitc, and the spray flew over us. At this
point 1--WE had according to my calculation
gone down about two thousand miles) |
began TO lose all interest in shafts and
mines.
We hadn't been moving for some time,
but the sides of the shaft stopped all of a
sudden. | suppose it had all gone out.
There were dim, smoky lights moving
about. There was q mule moving (happy
reminder of the world above), compla-
Gently wagging his tail We were in the
mine. Time Of leaving daylight, 10 40. Is;
time of arriving in gassy darkness, 10.40.-
80 time of trip, eighteen seconds; through
express; no stops
The main tunnel runs through the mine
from end to erd. From this smaller tun-
nels branch off, and from these smaller
tunnels the workings are struck. A work.
ing is u little black cave dug into the black
rock, and in it the miner spends his weary
days. 1t begins with single drilling in
to the rock, and keeps increasing every
day and every hour until it is big enough
for Il man TO stand in. Sill it grows, till
it is big, dark cave, and at last, after
months, or it may be years of silent labor,
it, turns into another tunnel, and other
workings, in turn, branch ont of it. What
is dug out of this tunnel in making it is
coal, From one to five men work in each
of these holes, one miner digging out the
black wealth, the other laborers shoveing
it away, There were working in these
solemn caves, in little groups, four hun
dred men, digging and delving, Drawing
gas and falling rocks and kicking mules.
One of the miners, handing me his pick,
asked me whether didn't want to save II
piece that I'd mined out myself. The first
stroke was Il failure the second brought
out half Il ton or so, all in one lump, but
the third produced u shining little blHck
diamond, sparkling like diamond Of an
other sort, which am saving till there's II
rise.
There comes. while we stand here, ter
rifle shock The bed of rock under our
feet tremblcs; the wall of coal rising up
by our side, so cold and black, seems to
totter, current of air flies through the
tunnels and drifts so unexpected, s. vio-
lent, so indcscribably swift, that it feels us
if it was pebbles and stones and rocks in
stead of air, and with this notion we put
our arms up to shield our faces. Inotccd
that even the miners did this. 1t was So
quick that even long custom could not
override instinct. Then, in II second or
two, comes IL tremendous crash-that is
the noisy part, the shaking came before.
Now comes the noise, and dcafcning
noise it is. The roof must inevitably fail
in with such shock, we think. But it
doe mt it is only blast, such MS there
are hundreds of, every day, and the next
moment all is quiet us the grave again.
Going through the dark tunnel four OF
five hundred yards, we came TO n little un-
derground depot, guarded by Il man with
II black face and II lamp in his hat. This
man was the telegraph operator. The Au-
denred mine has all The appliances of
modern civlization-oXc II ray of sun
shine, now and then,-so, of course, it has
It's telegraph lines. A wire, ending ut this
point in the mine, runs into the office, on
the surface, and the miner in the depths
can talk with the boss above almost MS
| t1Nyn
the side of the instrument locked in lit.
tie walnut case, was signal card, with
the explanations. A single tap, for exam
3, pie, meant " Stop the engines; " two taps,
Hoist double quick" Three taps, Ex-
plosion." The replies were some of them
uncomfortably suggestive. Thirteen How
long can you stand itP" Sixteen, Where
is the fire?" And the answers to these
e again 1--WE can stand it for five min
< utes; ten minutes" "an hour" all
= indicated by different numbers. With this
| wire, if fire breaks out notice is at once
0 given above. If there is an explosion of
f gas, the warning is sent 1t is great
! protection to the miners, and it woull be
: a great comfort to them, if they should be
! suffocating below, to get the signal from
above; Stick it out, boys there's plenty
D of air up here!
s This mine," said he, " has a great deal
5 of gas-more, perhaps, than any other
! mine in the country. We have gas in
S spector who goes all through the workings
t every morning before the miners 90 to
: work, Each working is numbered. lie
t goes into working No. Is, for instance,
i and finds gas, He makes memorandum
n and goes on In No. l6, perhaps, there is
}, no gas in No. IL there is great deal.
o SO he goes through them all, carrying a
: safety Or Humpbrey-Davy lamp, which
If guards him against an exr rloson. Then