Little Falls transcript. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1876-1894, 1880-05-07
Near Deaths Door.

II he were to live thousand years,
Louis Blanding, mining expert, would
not be likely to forget the terrible ex-
perience he passed through in Neva-
da ore shaft in the month of February,
1880. Mr.. Blanding lived in San Fran
cisco, and went to Nevada to examine a
quartz mine. Accompanied by the
owner, with lighted candles, they en-
tered the tunnel. twenty-five feet
from the head Of it they came to a
winze ffty-six feet deep. Over this
winze is windlass. Mr.. Blanding ex-
amined it carefully, and, observing no
weak spots in it's construction, had his
companion let him TO the bottom. He
inspected the ledge, made measure
ments, secured sack of specimens,
and, putting one foot in the blight of the
rope, shouted to the man above to hoist
away. After ascending thirty feet he
ceased to rise.
What's the matter?" he asked.
The windlass is broken" was the
reply.
Fix it, and hoist away"
II can't. The support at one side
has broken down; one end of the drum
has dropped to the ground; my shout
der is under it, and if I stir the whole
thing will give way" was the startling
reply that came back.
The candle at the top had been ex-
tinguished. Mr.. Blanding recognized
the urgency of having cool head in
such an emergency, and told the party
to take things easy. He dropped the
candlestick, sack of specimens, and the
hammer to the bottom of the winze
Then, bracing one of his shoulders
against the side of the hole and his feet
against the other, he worked his way up,
inch by inch, the owner taking in the
slack of the rope with one hand. Thus
he assembled ten feet. Then the sides
OF the winze grew SO far apart that this
plan could no longer be pursued. There
was but one salvation. The remaining
ten feet must be climbed "hand over
hand" Releasing bis feet from the
knot, he put the idea into practice
Exhausted by his previous efforts in
walking to the mine and exploring it, it
seemed to him he had climbed mile,
and, stopping to rest, found by the
voice above that he had yet five feet to
go. With another superhuman effort
another start was made. After what
seemed an age one of his hands struck
the edge of the covering on one side of
the mouth. His body and limbs were
suffering the agonies of cramps and
soreness, and his brain began to reel
All sorts of frightful phantoms filed
his mind. With final effort he reached
up and found he could get the end of
ole hands finger over the edge of the
board that answered for part of the Gov
Bring. With the despair of q man who
faces fearful death and knows it, he
let 60 the rope altogether, and raising
the other hand obtained a precarious
hold. His body swung back and forth
over the dark abyss an instant, and, as
he felt that his hands were losing their
hold, he cried, "Save me quick; I am
going!'
just then his companion, who is
man of great strength, dropped the
end OF the drum, and, grasping his coat
collar, drew him out on the floor of the
tunnel.
The mining expert was utterly pros
trated as his rescue was effected. He
was carried out of the tunnel, his clothes
dripping in perspiration, and laid in the
snow. When partially recovered he
was assisted to house three miles
away. His whole frame was so racked
with the physical and mental torture
that for several h0nra he had M usa of
some OF his limbs. Two days after he
returned to the mine, and with an iron
bar broke the windlass into thousand
pieces, then fished the sack of speci-
mems out of the winze. During a
whole lifetime of mining adventures in
some of the deepest claims in the world
he said he was never so near the door
of death. and he hoped never to pass
through the like again.