Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1881-03-04
A Trip Through the Iron Mines effort Henry
DESCENDING THE SHAFTS-A DANGEROUS y
MINE-THE BLAST FURNACES S-TfiE EN-
CINE CHEMICAL ROOMS.

A Trip Through the Iron Mines effort Henry.
DESCENDING THE SHAFTs-A DANGEROUS
MINE-rHE BLAST FURNACES En-
CINE CHEMICAL ROOMS.
~. W Page in Troy Times.l
The Cheever mine is the one nearest
the village, and also one of the largest
and oldest 1t is entered by means of n
perpendicular shaft 325 feet in depth,
with small opening at the top about 10
feet square. Up this shaft all the ore is
raised by means of a stationary engine III
n building near by. The engine revolves
a huge drum, around which the cable of
twisted wire which hoists the bucket is
wound The signal is given by the min
ers below by pulling wire attached to
| n bell in the engine house. The crank is
pushed forward. the drum revolves and
the bucket containing several tons of ore
starts towards the top of the shaft. Here
derrick swings it over car, standing
on the railway beside the shaft. dumps
it, and swings it back again over the shaft,
when it Immediately descends for another
load. The mine is far up the side of the
hill, SO the cars are let down the track to
its bottom by system of wire cables and
pulleys worked by the engine. We look
ed over the railing down into the shaft.
1t was Misunderstanding hole of pitchy
blackness, bottomless for aught We could
see. Ii was our first experience and the
undertaking sceemd hazardous one.
The thought that that slender wire cable
might break sent the cold shudders over
us. But if it could stand the strain of
ton of ore, there could be no possibility
of its breaking with couple of men.
Assured by this little bit of logic, We de-
posted our corpus in the bottom of the
bucket, while our Hiberian guide stood
on its edge and clung to the wire rope,
feat We would not have emulated for all
the iron mines i'll Port Henry. But we
were i'll prepared for the sensation that
followed. A wave of the hand and down
We dropped into the sunless depths, at
the rate of 100 feet for every 10 seconds
of time There was horrible sensation
of sinking, falling. We gasped for
breath like n drowning man, and clasped
the side of the bucket with convulsive
energy. We felt ourself growing lighter
and lighter. Our feet scarcely touched
the bottom of the bucket, which seemed
to be dropping out from under us. Each
and plunging headlong towards the bot
tom Of the shaft. The wire cable whiz-
zed above our head, and the opening Of
the shaft grew narrower and narrower in
perspective, and still down, down We fell.
like Satan hurled from the battlements
of heaven down to the bottomless pit
Each moment seemed an age of pretract-
ed misery. and still that pitiless engineer
reeled out the cable with lightning rapid
ity. We were dizzy, benumbed. Our
guide, standing on the edge of the bucket,
seemed to be great black shadow lean
ing over us, like the imp of hell himself,
taking us down to perdition. We began
to give up all hope of reaching the bot
tom alive, when the fearful motion sud
denly ceased. We stepped out of the
bucket with an indescribable feeling of
relief. Around us was Cimmerian dark
ness. The miners lamp sheds but
feeble light, and eyesight could penetrate
but few feet into the thick gloom. Fol
lowing the track, along which the cars
are drawn that convey the ore from the
extremity Of the mines to the shaft, We
emerged into what our guide informed us
was spacious chamber of nearly half
square mile i'll area. The roof was sup
ported by pillars of ore left for that pur-
pose. Their buttresses stood ont like
huge shadows i'll the dimtglare of the
lamps, while the upper portion disap-
peared in the gloom overhead. Our
voices had hollow, subterranean ring
as they rolled along these immense halls
and corridors. Twas like the faded fabed
cd entrance to the neither world, though
no threcmouthed Ceberus stood ready to
dispute our passage The ore had been
entirely excavated, leaving a smooth floor
of hard rock, level for the most part, but
rising or falling occasionally where the
great vein had taken turn upward or
downward once i'll n while pile Of loose
debris necessiated some awkward scramb-
ling, and occasionally painful stumble
over the sharp edges Of the rocks, but
strict attention to business and warning
Look ont !" occasionally from our guide,
saved our epidermis to n considerable cx-
tent. Occasionally distant rumble and
rattling of the rails announced the ap-
proach of car load of ore, on its way to
the shaft to be hoisted above.
For the first ], 200 feet in this mine the
grade is slightly rising, and the cars are
easily pushed along by single man, but
beyond this it takes gradual turn down
wards. At this point there is a small
stationary engine, which revolves drum,
and winds the car up the decline Still
further on Is another decline, where n
couple of mules are made to do the same
work. Here were some subjects well
worthy the attention of Henry Bergh
The poor animals looked like pair Of
living skeletons-two long cared ghosts,
wandering through these dismal shades.
They had been let down into the mine
many months ago, and since then the sun
light had never greeted their eyes. They
are provided with stables in recess Of
the rock, where they are aroused in the
morning by the sickly glow of the miners
lamp and the rattle of the harness ON
their backs, the only warning that anotll-
or day and another days work for them.
poor brutes, had commenced. The
shoulders Of one of them were raw and
bleeding from the friction of the hard
collar. He almost tottered from weak
dying. Still he must take his turn at
the windless and stagger round and
round the capstan until he falls dead in
his tracks. No mercy is shown to the
animals worked i'll these mines. Their
lives are necessarily short in this under
ground atmosphere, and their strength is
utilized to the utmost while it lasts. A
few1 minutes more Of cautious travelling
through the stygian gloom, and the
clinking of hammers and the buzz of
drills told MS We were approaching the
extremity Of the mine, and, on rounding
the corner of hugh pillar of ore, the
| glimmcr of miners lamps appeared
ahead. The height Of the vein had low
cred considerably here, and the roof of
the mine could be dimly seen The ore
is loosened by the usual process of drill
ing holes and blasting with powder. The
drills are worked by compressed air. sup
piled by m engine on the surface. The
air is conveyed by apipe which enters the
mine at this point through hole which
has been drilled through the 300 or 400
feet of rock which lies above the ore
The men are divided into two gangs, one
gang working the drills and the other
breaking up the large Jumps loosened by
previous blasting, and shoveling it into
the cars. The blasting is always done mt
noon ana at night after the workmen have
left the minc. In blasting mixture,
known ns giant powder, in the form Of
cartridges, is used, but with far more ex-
| plOsIve force than ordinary powder.
These cartridges are inserted in the drill
holes, with clay bedded in around them,
and touched oil with time fuse. The
series of rapid explosions that follow to
those above ground round like the deep
rumhling cf nm earthquake. The mines ex-
tend under n considerable portion Of the
village, and the conductivity of the rock
la such that the kitchen girl as she goes
down into the cellar aftera plate Of but
ter. can hear the clmk Of hammers and
the cntter of shovcls 800 feet beneath
her. The ore contains about 60 per cent
of iron. The other 40 per cent il com.
posed Of phosphorus, sulphur, mag
nesium and a few other minerals, all nl
which are separated from the ore ii
smelling, except the phosphorus. whicl
refuses To part with its long time compan
ion, and becomes part of the commercial
nr..IurI lnn,vn ng ,io iron imn,iriuu IL.