The Portland daily press., 1881-03-07
Whistling in a Coal Mine.
New York Times.]

Miners, especially those who have come
from foreign countries and represent past
generation OF their class, are given to many
superstitious fears. The younger miners
those born in this country, and who have
grown up under the influence of its enlight-
ened institutions-do not, as a general thing,
share in this superstitious belief, although
some of them place as much importance on
s'signs" and "omens" of good and evil as do
their more ignorant ancestors. Among the su-
perstitions cherished by miners is that of whist
ling in mine To whistle in a mine is con-
sidered an evil omen. Miners never whistle
while at work. Sometimes they sing while
toiling in the dark, damp, narrow chambers
of the mines, hundreds Of feet below the sur
face, but never loudly, and only laintive
folk-songs and ballads that have been 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 coal
miner is always cheerful amid it all. Let one
who may visit mine but whistle among the
workmen, and the cheerfulness he has noticed
as characterizing them will disappear at once.
Most old miners believe that s'good luck
spirit" Turks in every mine, and that at
sound of whistling it flies, and leaves the
miners at the mercy of the spirits of evil
If Ill befalls any of the workmen that day,
cause entirely to the frightening away of the
good luck spirit by the fatal whistle. D
X In 1910 there was a great mine disaster at
Carbondale. Several miners were buried in
one ofthe Delaware & Hudson Canal Com
pany's mines by the sudden caving in of the
roof Although the cause of the caving was
known to have been lack of proper support
by pillars and timbers, at least one old MINER
survivor of the disaster, still living here,
that it was caused by daredevil miner"
named Jack Richards, whistling in the mine
while working with his gang, against the pro-
tests of his comrades. Richards was a skepti-
cal young Welchman, who ridiculed all the
superstitions of his fellow workmen. With
the old miner mentioned above and Is others,
he was working in the mine, mile from the
entrance, ON the day of the catastrophe. The
mine was well known to be scantily propped,
and the miners were ''robbng'' it preparatory
to its abandonment. He is described as having
been merry fellow, fond of teazing his COM
panions On this occasion he suddenly laid
down his pick, and announced to his fellow
workmen in the chamber that he intended to
whistle them up the Rigs O. Barley" The
miners were aghast at the thought of Rich
ards 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 chamber ring with the lively Scotch air.
Ma Az kl~1k IL
shuddering at this late day over the sacrileg-
ious temerity of the merry Welchman, he rat
tied off a jig known by the miners as the
"Devil Among the Tailors," and ended by tell
ing the good luck spirit to "take cance to
Z; hat and be blowed oit." None of the miners
could speak for some time. Some of them
tried to go to work again, but the fear of dis
aster was so strong upon them that they all
made preparation to quit the mine. The old
miner who recalls this incident says that he
had brother and son working in another
part OF the mine, and he made up his mind to
I o to them, tell them of Jack Richards fool
hardness, warn them of its consequences, and
escape with them from the mine. Jack Rich
ards could not convince any of them of the
childishness OF their intended course. U
Suddenly, while they were gathering up
heir tools, a noise like the sound of distant
thunder came to the ears of the agitated min
ers They knew too well what the sound
presaged, the roof was "workin" and a cave
in threatened. The miners turned to Jack
and charged him with bringing disaster upon
them by his defiance Of the good luck spirit of
the mine. Jack replied that if the roof was
falling it was because of insufficient support,
and not because of his whistling, and knowing
the danger that encompassed them all he
counselled his comrades to lose no time in ''get-
ting atop" But before they could take the
first step toward reaching the surface second
shock ran through the mine. This time it was
like clap of thunder near the earth. 1t was
followed by crash that could be made only
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 II miners and the car horse
were imprisoned behind wall of fallen coal
and rock, in space not more than 40 feet
square, Their lights were extinguished, and
there was not match in the party With death
awaiting him in one of its 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 des-
pair, as they did not dream it was possible for
any aid to reach them from without, and to
dig their way through mile of rocky debris
was a task they knew was hopeless. Among
the imprisoned miners was a young man
named Boyden. He was a son of Alexander
Boyden, the superintendent of the mine, and,
like his father, was man of great nerve and
courage. He encograged his imperiled com.
panions with the assurance that the air in the
mine would not be poisoned by the gases for
1t least two days, and that as long as the hors-
e's 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, meantime, they themselves could aid
his efforts 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 went to work with their ands in digging
into the barrier between them and their
freedom. The body of poor Jack Rich
ards was uncovered and laid tenderly in a 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 fingers in the
sharp coal. Some of them lost all heart and
threw themselves upon the damp floor of their
underground prison and bewailed their fate.
suddenly ray of light broke through small
ed through followed by a mans head. The
man cried out Is there 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 Alex
ander Boyden, the superintendent. The min
| ers took him up in their arms, wept tears of
| joy, and kissed the man whom they believed
had come to deliver 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 fallen coal
and rock by the lodging of the roof timbrs all
along the way. 1t required struggle for
hours to make the perilous journey. He did
not expect to find one man alive in the cham
Der, his great desire being to rescue the
body of his son, if possible, and save it from
being devoured by rats He soon had the
miners in readiness to follow him back toward
4 the mouth of the mine. He took the dead
| body of Jack Richards on his back and led the
way, and two hours afterdward the miners
| were in the arms of wives, parents and sweet
| hearts on top. Richards had no relatives but
| crippled sister, who was dying with con-
sumption. She died the next day. The broth
er and son of the narrator of this tragic Incl
dent and II other miners were never found
Three days after the fall, Mine Boss Hosie
who had been in a distant part of the mine
when the roof caved in, emerged from its
depth worn to skeleton. With his pick he
had dug his way for more than mile through
an almost solid wall without a taste of food or
drop of water to strengthen and sustain him.
This mine tragedy forms one of the favoritt
narratives of the old miners of this region ant
after relating it to enquiring visitors, they
never fail to warn them not to whistle if they
intend going down in mine.