West-Jersey pioneer., 1880-03-11
crack in 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. It was
through the just-finished opening, which
had been driven from both ends, that your
correspondent entered. reached the spot
on Monday morning about 1890, accom-
panied by Mr.. James q. Raymond, his
son, a lad of fifteen, two ladies and two gen.
tlemen, residents of Waterloo. We pro-
ceeded through the outer opening to the
main artery and along it to the point where
it was first entered. Here is one Of the most
interesting things / saw. The mud and
loose stones having been removed, fight
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 in the centre to a
depth of at least three assuming
that they were originally straight This
would indicate their long use, and suggests
the idea that this may have been used for
ingress and egress 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 were
of hewn stone-nowhere has any evidence
of timbers been found. Numerous blocks
of hewn 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 a number of
curious shaped wedges made of metal
which, if it is not, closely resembles cop.
per and is very hard. They are eighteen
inches in length and two and a half inches
in diameter and rounded at the head, fiat
tened toward the centre, of nearly four
inches in width, and tapering to a wedge
about one and half inches broad at the
small end. Four of these wedges have
been found in 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 cham
bers, driven 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 where the mysterious hands
that drove it left off their labors No other
tools of any description have SO far been
discovered, but further investigation may
bring many more curiosities to light. Every
thing visible goes to show the great antiq-
uity of the place. AS to who the miners
were, or the lapse of time since the work
was done, it is simply conjecture. The sur
face of the mountain and the country on
that side of Big Sandy for several miles
would indicate to the most casual observer
that it had never been occupied since the
country has been rough and rocky. What
is now supposed to be 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. Lime
stone has been quarried 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 stalagmite have
been carried all over the neighborhood, and
a fine collection are on exhibition in the viii
lage store.