The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1877-02-22
In q Pennsylvania Coal.Mine.

no danger. The shaft is 600 feet deep,
and we 60 down sometimes in fifteen Sec
onds; 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 would be at the
top and bottom" The cage stopped at
our level with a jerk, and we stepped on.
1t was a little platform, about six feet one
way by four the other, with a roof, and
fitted into the shaft so nicely that marble
could hardly roll through.
The Superb tendent seized little iron
ring and pulled it twice (mine language
for "lower.'O His hand had hardly left
the ring before terrible rumbling began
(the cages made deafening noisc), and
the floor began to sink from under us like
a flash of lightning. The bottom was
dropping out of everything. The wheels,
rolling, against the sides, would have
shamed northeastcr on the coast. This
sinking lasted four or five seconds; then |
we seemed to stand still. Things had |
changed. We were not moving, but the |
sides of the shaft were going up, up, as if |
they had been shot out of a volcano. l |
wondered, for second or two, how long
it would take at this rate for the shaft to |
tear itself out of the mine entirely. 1t
began to 60 faster than ever. There must
have been about $40 miles of that shaft
fired out already, and still it kept coming.
1t went up SO fast. the shaft, that it began
to perspire, and the spray flew over us
At this point 1--WE had then gone down, &C.
cOrding to my calculation, about 1900
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
sudden. suppose it had all got out.
There were dim, smoky lights moving
about. There was a mule (happy re-
hinder of the world abovc), complacent-
ly wagging his tail. We were in the mine.
Time Of leaving daylight, 1O.40.15; time
of arrival in gassy darkness, 1O.40.33;
time of trip, 1S seconds through express
no stops.
The main tunnel runs through the mine
from end to end. From this smaller tun-
nels branch of, and from these smaller
tunnels the workings are struck. A work
ing is little black cave dug into the
black rock, and in it the miner spends his
dreary days. 1t begins with single
drilling into the rock, and keeps increas-
ing every hoar and every day till it is big
enough for a man to stand in. Still 1t
grows, till it is big, dark cave, and at
last, after months, or maybe years OF
silent labor, it turns into another tunnel,
and other workings, in turn, branch out
from it. What is dug out in making this
tunnel is coal. From one to five or six
men work in each of these holes, one
miner digging out the black wealth, the
others, laborers, shoveling it away. There
were working in these solemn caves, in
little groups, 400 men, digging and delv-
ing, Drawing gas and falling rocks and
kicking mules. One of the miners, hand
ing me his pick, asked whether l didn't
want to save piece of coal that I'd
mined out myself. The first stroke was
failure; the second brought out half
ton or so, all in one lump, but the third
produced shining little black diamond,
sparkling like diamond of another sort,
which l am saving till there's rise.
There comes, while We stand here, a
terrific shock. The bed of rock under
our feet trembles; 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, SO vio-
lent, so indescribably swift, that it feels
| AZ if it was pebbles and stones and rocks
instead of air, and with this notion we put
! up our arms to shield our faces. l noticed
that even the miners did this. 1t was so
quick that even long custom could not
override instinct. Then, in second or
two, comes tremendous crash-that is
the noisy part, the shaking came before.
Now comes the noise, and deafening
noise it is. The roof must inevitably tall
in with such a shock, we think; but it
doesn't; it is nothing but blast, such as
there are hundreds of, every day. and,
the next moment, all is quiet as the grave
again.
| Going through the dark tunnel four or
five hundred yards, we came to little
underground depot, guarded Dy man
with black face and lamp in his hat.
This man was the telegraph operator.
The Audenried mine has all the appli-
ances of modern civilization-except a
ray of sunlight, now and thcn-sO, of
course, it has its telegraph lines A wire,
ending at 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 as freely as if they were together.
BY the side of the instrument, locked in q
little walnut case, was signal card. with
the explanations. A bell was attached to
the instrument at each end. A single tap,
for example, meant Stop the engines. F"
Two taps, 4" Hoist double-quick." Three
taps, Explosion" Some of the replies
were uncolnfortably suggestive. Thirteen,
"How long can you stand it!" Sixteen,
"Where is the freq And the answers
to these again: We can stand it for five
minutes;'' "Ten minutes An hour"
all indicated by different numbers. With
this wire, if a fire breaks out, notice is at
once given above. If there is an explO.
sion Of gas, the warning is sent. 1t is q
great protection to the miners, and II
would be a great comfort to them, If they
should be suffocating below. to get the
signals from above: Stick it out, boys
there's plenty of air up here"
"This mlne," said he, "has a great
deal of gas-more, perhaps, than any
ether mine in the country. We have a
gas inspector who goes all through the
workings, every morning, before the
miners 60 to work. Each working is
numbered. He goes into working num-
Der fifteen, for instance, and finds gas.
He makes memorandum, and goes on.
In number sixteen, perhaps. there is nc
gas: in number seventeen, there is great
deal. So he goes through them all, carry
ing safety or Humphrey-Davy lamp,
which guards him against an explosion.
Then he comes to this place and marks
the blackboard. If a working has only a
little gas in it. he puts one cross opposite
its number; if it has good deal, he puts
two crosses, and when o working is
marked with three crosses the miner
must ON no account 60 into it with l1ls
light. He can 60 into it at his own risk
when ne has two crosses, or can keep his
eyes open when he has one cross; but it's
safer for him to keep out if he has any
cross at ALL" At least half the workings
of the mine were marked with two and
three crosses, and began to make men.
tai calculations of the probable effect OF
being blown up.
Wewent through more dark tunnels, up
more hills, through more doors, in search
of the gas inspector. After while
"Halloa," shouted the foreman.
Halloa.oa," answered a voice, that
might have been q mile or two away, but
wasn't.
"Here he is" said the foreman, and he
held his lamp down near the ground,