Centre Democrat. [volume] (Bellefonte, Pa.) 1848-1989, 1880-08-12

what the spirits tof Good Luck did tn
Jack niehsrds--A Tragedy of the
Mines Retold.

hOst Oiu uIners DeHeVe tnaL gOOO
luck spiritn turks in every mine, and
that Mt a sound OF whistling 1t flies and
leaves the miners Mt the mercy of the
spirits of evil. II Ill befalls any of the
workmen that day, the believers In the
superstition ascribe its cause entirely
to the frightening away of the good
luck spirit by the fatal whistle.
In 1910 there was great mine disas-
ter at this place. Several miners were
buried in one of the Delaware and
Hudson Canal company's mines by a
sudden caving in of the roof. Al
though the cause of the caving was
known TO have been q lack of proper
support by pillars and timbers, at least
one old miner, survivor of the disas-
ter, still living here, has always main
tained, and still maintains, that 1t was
caused by q daredevil MINER" named
Jack Richards, whistling in the mine
while working with his gang. against
the protests of his comrades. Richards
was a skeptical young Welshman, who
ridiculed all the superstitious of his
fellow-workmen. With the old miner
mentioned above and fifteen others, he
was working in the mine, mile from
the entrance, on the day of the catas-
trophe. The mine was well known to
be .scantily propped, and the miners
were "robbing 1t preparatory TO its
abandonment. He Is described as hav-
ing been a merry fellow, fond of teasing
his companions. On this occasion he
suddenly laid down his pick, and an
nounced to his fellow work men in the
chamber that he intended to whistle
them up the Rigs o. Barley" The
miners were aghast at the thought of
Richards thus deliberately flying in the
face of mine luck, and they begged of
him not to chase the good luck spirit
away. He laughed at their fears, and
with clear, loud notes made the cham
Der ring with the lively Scotch air.
Not content with that, says the ola
miner, shuddering at this late day over
the sacrilegious temerity of the merry
Welshman, he ratified off n jig known
by the miners as the Devil Among
the Tailors," and ended by telling the
good luck spirit TO "take dance TO
that, and be blowed 10 it.n None of the
miners could speak for some time.
Some of them tried TO go to work again,
but the fear of disast er was so strong
upon them that they all made prepara-
tions TO quit the mine. The old miner
who recalls this incident says that he
had n brother and a son working in
another mine, and he made up his mind
TO go to them, tell them of Jack Rich
ards foolhardiness, warn them of its
consequences, and escape with them
from the mine. Jack Richards could
not convince any of them OF the child
ishness of their intended course.
Suddenly, while they were gathering
up their tools, noise like the sound OF
Il s1N. a a.. Ntas Ntas
agitated miners. They knew too well
working" and a cave-in threatened
The miners turned TO Jack and charged
him with bringing disaster upon them
by his defiance of the good luck spirit
OF the mine. Jack replied that II the
roof was falling Il was because of in
sufficient support, and. not because of his
whistling, and knowing the danger that
encompassed them all, he counseled his
comrades to lose no time in getting
atop" But before they could take the
first step toward reaching the surface a
econd shock ran through the mine.
This time 1t was like n clap of thunder
near the earth. It was followed by a
crash that could be made out by the
| falling masses OF rock coal from the
roof, and by a gust OF wind that hurled
the miners against the jagged walls ol
their chamber. Then the mine fell In
all about them, and the seventeen
miners and the car-horse were i'm.
prisoned behind wall of fsllen coal and
| rock, in a space not more than forty feet
| square. Their lights were extinguished
| and there was not a match in the party
| With death awaiting them in one OF its
worst forms, they cursed Jack Richards,
and one of the miners tried to find him
in the dark to brain him with a pick
| To ascertain whether any Of the gang
had been killed by the falling coal the
name OF each one was called by one oi
the miners. All responded but Jack
Richards. He was found dead, hal
buried beneath the wall of rock and
coal. The miners gave themselves Ut
TO despair, as they did not dream Il was
possible for any aid TO reach them from
without, and to dig their way through
a mile OF rocky debris was a task they
knew was hopeless. Among the Inn.
prisoned miners was a young mar
named Boyden. He was n son of Alex.
ander Boyden, the superintendent oI
the mine, and, like his father, was 6
man of great nerve and courage. Ht
encouraged his imperiled companions
with the assurance that the air in the
mine would not be epoisoned by the gases
for at least two days, and that as lone
as the horses body lasted they need moi
starve. He said that his father would
leave nothing undone to rescue all who
were shut in the mine, and that. mean.
time, they themselves could aid his eff
forts by digging out 10 meet him. Only
three picks could be found. the Others
being buried beneath the coal. With
these the men went to work with will
Those who had no picks worked with
their hands in digging into the barrier
between them and their freedom. Tn,
body Of poor Jack Richards was un
covered and laid tenderly in safe place
In the chamber. The horse seemed tC
understand the terror of the situation
and gave voice TO frequent piteoui
neighs.
The men worked for hours, many o
them working the flesh from their fin