The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1880-08-27
"ws1,aaiissrrLliss III fHE MINES.
what the spirits Iof Good Luck did ts
lack Hichsrds--A TRAGEDY Of the
Mines Eetold.

A Carbondale (Pa.) letter says:
Most old miners believe that q good
luck spirit" turks in. every mine, and
that at a sound of whistling 1t flies and
leaves the miners at the mercy of the
spirits Of evil. II tll befalls any Of the
workmen that day, the believers in the
superstition ascribe its cause entirely
luck spirit by the fatal whistle.
In 1910 there was a great mine disas-
ter at this place. Several miners were
buried in one of the Delaware and
Hudson Canal company's mines by
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 I
tained, and still maintains, that 1t was
caused by daredevil rniner.y named
Jack Richards, whistling In the mine
while working with his gang. AGAINST
the protests OF his comrades. Richards
was q skeptical young Welshman, who
ridiculed all the superstitions Of his
fellow-workmen. With the old miner
mentioned above and fifteen others, he
was working in the mine, Q mile from
+ the entrance, on the day of the catas-
be scantily propped, and the miners
were "robbing P" it preparatory to its
abandonment. He is described as hav-
ing been a merry fellow, fond of teasing
his companions. On this occasion be
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 old
miner, shuddering at this late day over
the sacrilegious temerity of the merry
Welshman, he ratified off a Jig known
the Tailors," and ended by telling the
good luck spirit TO stake dance to
that, and be blowed to it," 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 80 strong
b upon them that they all made prepare
tions to quit the mine. The old miner
who recalls this incident says that he
had brother and son working in
another mine, and he made up his mind
to 60 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. 10.
Suddenly, while they were gathering
mp their tools, a noise like the sound of
distant thunder came to the ears of the
agitated miners. They knew too we'll
what the sound presaged. The roof was
working" and a cave-in threatened
The miners turued to Jack and charged
him with bringing disaster upon them
by his defiance of the good luck spirit
Of the mine. Jack replied that il the
roof was falling it 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 q
second shock ran through the mine.
This time it was like clap of thunder
near the earth. 1t was followed by a
crash that could be made out by the
falling masses of rock and coal from the
roof, and by gust Of wind that hurled
the miners against the Jagged walls of
their chamber. Then the mine fell in
all about them, and the seventeen
miners and the car-horse were inn
prisoned behind wall Of fallen coal and
rock, in a space not more than forty feet
square. Their lights were extinguished,
and there was not 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 pick.
To ascertain whether any of the gang
had been killed by the falling coal the
name of each one was called by one of
the miners. All responded but Jack
Richards. He was found dead, half
buried beneath the wall Of rock and
coal. The miners gave themselves up
to despair, as they did not dream it was
possible for any aid to reach them from
without, and to dig their way through
o mile OF rocky debris was q task they
knew was hopeless. Among the i'm
prisoned miners was a young man
named Boyden. He was a son Of Alex
ander Boyden, the superintendent Of
the mine, and, like his father, was a
man Of great nerve and courage. He
encouraged his imperiled companions
with the assurance that the air in the
mine would not be poisoned by the gases
1OI ~ ltU8b bWO u0y5, anu tndb 10 lOuk
as the horses body lasted they need not
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 to 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. The
body OF poor Jack Richards was un-
covered and laid tenderly in safe place
| in the chamber. The horse seemed to
understand the terror of the situation,
and gave voice to frequent piteous
neighs.
The men worked for hours, many OF
them working the flesh from their fin
gers in the sharp coal. Some Of them
lost all heart, and threw themselves
upon the damp floor OF their under
ground prison and hewailed their fate.
Suddenly ray of light broke through
q small opening in the wall. Then a
lantern was pushed through, followed
by mans head. The man cried OUT
Is there q man here that is slivee" A
| glad shout from the miners was the re-
ply. Theman pulled himself through the
opening into the chamber. 1t was
| Alexander Boydep. the superintendent.
The miners took him up in their arms.
wept tears of joy. and kissed the man
whom they believed had come to de-
liver them. Mr.. Boyden had found his
way to the spot where the miners were
imprisoned by crawling along narrow
passage that had been left In the falling
coal and rock by the lodging of root
timbers all along the way. 1t REQUIRED
. struggle for hours to make the perilous
journeyi He did not expect to find one
man alive In the chamber, his great de-
sire being TO rescue the body OF his son.
II possible. and save il from being de-
voured by rats. He soon had the
miners In readiness 70 follow him back
| toward the mouth of the mine. HetooK
the dead body of Jack Richards on his
back and led the way, and two hours
afterward the miners were In the arms
of wives. parents and sweethearts ON top.
Richards had no relatives but g crippled
sister, who was dying with coDsump-
rion. She died the next day. The
brother and son of the narrator Of this
tragic incident and twelve other miners