The Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1877-1885, 1880-11-03

Miners, especially those who have come
from foreign countries and represent a
past generation of their class, are given to
many !supertitous fears. The younger
miners-those born IN this country, and
who have grown up under the influence OF
its enlightening institutions-do not, IS
general thing. share in this superstitious
belief, although some of them place as
much Importance on signs and omens
OF good and evil and as to their more lgno'
rant ancestors. Among the superstitions
cherished by miners, is that OF whisthng
In mine, To whistle in mine is con-
a;darad an evil omen. Miners never
thistle while at work. Sometimes they
sing while toiling in the dark, damp, mar
row chambers of the mines, hundreds OF
feet below the surface. but never loudly,
aud only plaintiVe folk songs and ballads
that have heen crooned over the cradles OF
generations of their class. 1t is singular
fact that. despite the peril that constantly
besets him in the mine, the coslminer is
always cheerful amid it all. Let one who
may visit a mine but whistle when among
the workmen, and the cheerfulness he has
noticed as chsracterizing them will be
eone at once, Most all old miners believe
that good luck spirit turks IN every
mine, and that at a sound of whistling it
Of the spirit of evil If i'll befals any of
the workmen that day the believers in the
superstition aseribe its cause entirely to
the frightniug 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, Although the
cause of the cavlng was known to have
been lack of proper support by pillars
and timbers, at least one old miner. q
supervisor of the disaster, stiil living here
has maintained, andssstiil maintains, that
il was .eaused by.a dare deyll-miner,.
named Jack Richards. whisting in the
mine while working with his gang, against
the sprotest of his comrades. Richards
was a skeptical young Welshman, who
ridiculed ell the superstitions 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 catastrophe, The mine
was we'll known to be scantily propped,
and the miners were robbins" it prepar-
atory to its abandonment, He is describ-
ed as being merry fellow, fond OF teasing
bis companions. On this occasion he sud
denly laid down his pick and announced to
whistle them up to the Rigs o Barley,
The miners were aghast at the thought of
Richards thus flying in the face of mine
luck, and they begged him of him not 10
drive the good luck spirit away. He
laughed at their fears. and with a clear
loud note made the chamber ring with
a lively air, Not content with that, says
the old miner, shuddering at this day
over the sscriligious temerity of the
merry Welchman, as he ratified sof a iiR
known by the miners as The Devil
Among the Taiiors," and ended by telling
the good luok"spirit to take a dance to
miners could speak for some time Some
of them tried to work again, butEthe fear
Of disaster was so strong upon them that
they.all made preparations to quit the
mine, The old miner who recalls this
incident, says he had brother and a son
wording in another part of the mine, and
he made OPP his mindfto go to theoi and
tell them about Jack Richards fool
hardness, warn them of its consequence
and escape with them from the mine.
Jack Richards could not convince any of
them of the childishness of their intended
course.
Suddenly, while they were gathering up
their tools, q noise like the sounds of dis
AdAS buUuQGI 10 lO6 ears Vi tue aRl
tated miners. They knew too we'll what
the sound presaged. The roof was
working, and cave 10 threatened. The
miners turned to Jack and charged him
with bringing disaster upon themiby bis
defiance of good luck spirit of the roof was
falling it was because OF insufficient sup
port, and not because OF whistling. and
knowing the danger that encom passed
them all,he counseled his comrades TO lose
no time in getting top" But before
they could take step toward reaching the
surface second shock ran through sthe
mine. Tits time it was like a clap
of thunder near the earth. 1t
was followed by crash that
could be made only by the falling
of masses of rock and coal from the root,
and by gust of wind that hurled the
miners against the jagged walls of their
chamber. Then the mine fell 10 all about
them, and the seventeen miners and the
car horse were imprisoned behind a wall
OF failed coal, in space not more than
forty feet square. Their lights were ex-
tinguished and there was not match in
the party. With death awaiting them in
one OF its worst forms. they cursed j ack
Richards. and one of the miners tried to
ind him In the dark, to brain him with
his pick. 10 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 dead, half bur-
led beneath the wall of rock and GOAL.
The men worked for hours, many of
them working the flesh from their fingers
IN the sharp coal. Some of them lost all
heart. and threw themselves on the damp
moor of their underground prison and be- |
walled their fate. Suddenly ray of light |
broke through small opening ia the wall. |
Then q lantern was pushed through, |
followed by a mans hand. The |
man cried out: is there auy man
here that is alive?' A glad shout
from the miners was the reply The man
pulled himself through the opening into
the chamber. 1t was Alexander Boyden,
the superintendent. He took the dead
body OF Jack Richards on bis 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 crippled sister, who was
dying with consumption. She died the
next day, The brother and son OF the
narrator of this tragic incident and twelve
other miners were never found. Three
days after the fall, Mine Boss Hosie. who
had been 10 distant part OF nine when
the roof cayed in, emerged from it's
depths, worn to a skeleton. With his
pick he had dug his way for more than
mile through an almost solid wall, without
taste OF food or drop of water to sustain