Iron County register., 1880-02-12
Descending the Humboldt Mine.

Entering a rough wooden building,
you see steam-engine turning an inn
mense drum, around which is coiled n
wire rope. On chair sits, with each
hand on a lever, the bright, watchful
engineer, his eyes fixed on the drum,
now nearly covered with the coil. In
another minute, click! the machinery
has stopped, and out of an opening in
front, like Harlequin in Christmas
pantomime, has come grimy figure,
who stands there smiling at you, with a
lamp fixed on the front of his cap, and
his feet on the rim of a great iron buck
ct. He steps off, the bucket is emptied
OF the load, not of rich ore, but of very
dirty water, which it has brought up,
and there is an air of expectancy among
the workmen, and an inquiring smile
on the face of Mr.. Thornton, the super
intendent. Something is clearly ex-
pected of you, for it is established that
you are not what is called by the miners
a "specimen fiend," or unmitigated
sample-collecting nuisance, and it is as
sumed that when you came hither to in
vestigate you "meant business" You
take the hint, and follow Mr.. Thornton
to room, where, amid good deal of
joking, you put on some clothes-and
such clothes! If you have one spark of
personal vanity, call hope abandon, ye
who enter here" for even your kind
guide has to turn away to hide a
smile when he sees you in over
alls which will not meet in front,
and are precariously tied with-a ragged
string, an ancient flannel shirt, the
sleeves of which hang in tatters around
your Wristbands, and a cap which
might have come over in the Mayflower,
and has smoky lamp hooked into its
fast decomposing visor. AS you ap-
proach the mouth of the shaft, the en-
gineer genially remarks that there
saint much danger" and when the
bucket has come up and been partially
cmptied, the by-standers repeatedly ad-
wise you to be careful about getting in.
AS you climb perilously over the side,
you think of the Frenchman who, start
ing in the fox-hunt, cried out: " Take
noteece, mes amis, zat 1 leafe every zing
to my vife!" And when you are
crouched down so that Mr.. Thornton
can stand on the rim above, you do not
think at all, but know that you are what
Mr.. Mantalini called ga dem'd moist
unpleasant body" Mr.. Thornton makes
a grim remark about it being as well to
have some matches in case the lamps
go out, gives the word, and down you
go. Understand that there is just about
room for the bucket in the shaft, that
the latter is slightly inclined, and that
you catch and jar and shake in a nerve
trying way; and understand, further,
that a person should carefully study his
temperament and possible disabilities
before he takes a contract to go into a
deep shaft.
At certain depth-it may be 500 or
l 200 feet Gin some Nevada mines it is
? 2,50O)-you stop at side drifts or cross
cuttings in which men are at work, and
here you see, walled in by rock, the
fissure vein. Some are stoping," or
cutting pieces away with the pick,
others holding the steel wedges, and
others striking them tremendous blows
with sledge-hammers. They are, by
the-way, in the habit of accompanying
these blows with gltteral sounds, the
hearing OF which induced special
of the gentler sex
ignoring the fact that they receive three
dollars per diem, own chronometer |
and have fine bank accounts, |
aid silver spoons on their tables-to |
write soul-moving description of the
poor, down-trodden miner, imprisoned
far from the light of the blessed day,
terrible groans as he toiled his
life away for the enrichment of the
bloated and pampered capitalist. Other
men, again, are drilling, loading, and
for the "shots,'' which are to
tear the rock in pieces; and you will
probably remember pressing engage
ment to "meet a man y at some distance
from the mine, and induce Mr.. Thorn
ton to ring for that moist car, and take
you up before they light the match
Il. n. Hayes, Jr., in Harper's for. Feb
ruary.
The Best Work Done Under High
Pressure.