West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1880-03-13
kINGMNNHc PRESTON COUNTY,

ped of and slid or sunk downward, and in
that way effeCtually sealed up and oblltera.
ted the whole existence of the mine and
perhaps left the fisSure or crack I'm the
rocks first found higher up.
The shoulder, or bench, around the side
of the mountain that this immense slide
would cause is plainly visible. IL was
through the just-finished opening, which
had been driven from both ends, that your
correspondent entered. reached the spot
ON 4 Monday morning about 1880, ac-
companicd by Mr. James III. Raymond,
his son, lad OF fifteen, two ladies and two
gentlemen, residents of Waterloo. We
proceeded through the outer opening TO the
main artery and along It To the point where
IL was first entered. Here Is one of the most in
teresing things saw. The mud and loose
stones having been removed, flight of
steps are found To have been cut In the
rock, with raise of about ten inches To the
step, connecting with the passage above.
These steps are worn i'm the centre To "A
depth of at least three inches-assumin
that they were originally straight. This
would indicate their long Use, and suggests
the idea that this may have been used for
ingress and cgrcss after the mouth was
closed up. On either side OF this stairway,
and eight feet four inches apart, are two
columns of stone neatly dressed, and from
appearances placed there as supports to
the roof They are each about four by
six feet. All the supports or pillars saw
there We're of hewu stone-nowherc has
any evidence OF tmbcrs been found Nu-
mcrous blocks of hcwn stone can be seen
scattered through the various parts of the
mine, some Of them half buried in the
paste-like bottom. At the intersection of
the main portions these walls or pillars are
seen in all the parts visited. The only
tools or implements Of any kind found are
number of curious-shaped wedges made
of metal which, If it is not, closely re-
semblcs copper and is very hard. They
are eighteen inches in length and two and
a-half inches in diameter and rounded at
the head, ilattened toward the centre to
nearly four inches in width, and tapcring
to wedge about -and-a-half inches
broad at the small end. Four of these
wedges have been found i'm all, one in the
debris at the foot Of the stairway and three
at the fall of the coal at the extremity Of
one OF the chambers, driven half their
length into the coal near the top of the
vein. Two of these have been picked out
by the miners and the other still remains
"i'It thc mysterious HhnuS tnat urOVc III
left of their labors. No other tools OF any
description have so fur been discovered,
but further Investigation may bring many
more curiosltics TO light Everything visi-
BILE goes to show the great antiquity of the
place. AS to who the miners were, or the
lapse of time since the work was done, il
is simply conjecture. The surface of the
mountain and the country on that side of
big Sandy for several miles would indicate
TO the most casual observer that il had
never been occupied since the country has
been known to Europeans, the surface
being rough and rocky. What is now sup
posed To he the same coal vein, about SIX
miles west Of there, has been worked for
several years Several oil wells, without
success, have been drilled along the stream
above and below, but they were all started
below the level Of the coal. Limestone
has been qualTied in several places but to
no great depth
One eminent gentleman, Prof. Rugby, of
Allegheny College, has already visited the
place and carried away interesting speci-
mems. Specimens of the stalagmitc have
been carried all over the ncighborhood, and
a fine collection are on exhibition in the
village store.