National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1881-06-03
DEEP, DEEP DOWN
INTO THE BOWELS OF THE EARTH.
Visit to the Mines at Virginia City-An Awful
Abyss-"Big Money in the Depths
The Ascent-A Few Phil0.
sophical Thoughts.

may tell you how we ;" go down" at Virginia City.
Almost the first question asked by mine host after
my arrival in this city, TO which nature gave not
one foot of level ground, even while still painted
with the effort 10 climb to the shelf where his
hotel perched, basement on one street, second
story on the next, was this: would you like to
go down." Weary as l was with climbing and
mindful ofthe time of schoolboy days, "DescelsuS
Are7ra tacile," &C., what wonder that answered
DOWN, BY ALL MEANs!"
without stopping to inquire whether he meant to
Avernus. or not And so it was arranged. A per-
NIT was OBTAINED from the superintendent of the
mine. and little before two o'clock, the hour ap-
pointed foI the descent we entered the huge frame
building, whose front sill rested the street line
ofIhe mountain slope, and which, by It's tall Chin
ney stacks and central tower, indicated that it
stood above the shaft of mine. What we see OF.
en- tering is very large and high open room, its
| moor occupied IN part by tremendous steam en-
glne which reyolves this way and now that three
great iron drums each winding up or paying off a
band OF woven and twisted steel wires; bands six
inches broad, and nearly half an inch thick which
pass from The drums upward and over q wheel
| high in air between great perpendicular beams
standing the centre of the building and about
five feet apart. From those wheels each iron band
drops plumb between its supporting beams through
| q hole IN the floor extending from beam TO beam,
| and a bout four feet across
| MAN SITS on THE PLATFORM
| in the midst of the machinery. a bell strikes the
man turns wheeI, the band begins to rise from
| The opening as the receiving drum revolves go
| 10 The opening and look in. No: not exactly that
look al the hole, for it is too black to look into
bat still harmless enough in appearance
| for all that, and, so far, one would
| say not much of q hole, after all. But
an attendant says: 1T is two thousand five hun
dred feet straight down to the bottom" Not a
! common sort of hole by any manner of means.
One begins to have certain respect for it. The
mind wrestles little with the mathematics of that
| hole. Two thousand five hundred feet! More
| than half mile! Why, that's an awful abyss. 1
used to think when Milton tumbled the Arch
| angel nine days down from the battlements of
Heaven that it was most pernicious fall too great
for even poets license But, except that his
was fall from Paradise. I had quite as soon fall
| nine days long as fall half mile and spread my
bones out like thin plaster on the bedrock of
the mountain. 1nvoluntarily pay that hole out
ward signs of increased Difference by retiring
little from its edge-no longer edge but brink
Some bystander, in the most commonplace way
remarks:
SEVENTY THREE MILLIONS OF DOLLARS
have come up there" s73OOO,OG0! 1t always
bothered me not little to get good clear appre-
citation of the meaning of figures running beyond
cost of the of the rebellion and the amount of
the public debt of the United States for years. and
by dint Of viewing it every way and analyzing it.
have gotten tolerable comparative notion of what
the same means. / begin to set the outcome of
that hole over against the public de BIT. My dear
REPUBLICAN, there is something sublime about that
hole. Let's look into it further. But it smokes
like the bottomless pit. l put in my hand, but
more quickly draw it back. 1t felt hot as the
breath steam IIbn I
ward held thermometer in it for some time #
proved not hotter than 1863 Fahrenheit; andwhile
l question whether men really descend into the
earth here the band still gldes on and up; sharp
click is heard; the band stops short and al liz
end, in the midst Of the steam above the open
space, hangs sort of cage and in it are four men,
roughly clad, bareheaded, water-soaked, dripping
with sweat, firemens helmets on their heads. and
lanterns in their hands
THE SIDE OF THE CAGE
is thrown open and the drenched perspirers step |
out upon the floor and hasten to their baths |
Again the drum revolyes-the cage rises, and be- |
low it hangs second, in which stands little car
hIed with broken rock and waste 1t is rolled out
upon the floor and on TO the dump. Now ali is |
ready for us to go down" But no. we must first |
go to an adjoining room strip to the buff, and in |
place of cheviot, linen, and India gauze must don
the miners flannel shirt, pants, and brogans Does
your foot find room in French calf No. )? Never
mind; cowhide tel. will answer for the present
emergency and is guaranteed not to pinch Ourladv
companion comes from her room in the very same |
garb and so step into the cage close as sardines
in box, and, half sted by the hot vapor at first
hold our breath. The side is closed; word given
We sink Daylight has not faded. 1t was cut off |
at once as the roof of our cage passed below the
mouth of the pit leaving only color in the eye
and utter blackness about US. few seconds
however, pass, and
THE DIN LIGHT OF OUR LANTERNS
reveals close at hand the boarding of the shaft.
Moments seem minutes sometimes; but we have
hardly begun to breathe full inspirations of the
hot, steamy air, and find it does no perceptible
harm to the lungs when the swift descent ends
withoujar, and step from the cage into an OPEN
ing i'll the side of the shaft. Our guide tells us we
arejust 300 feet below the point whence we started
We get into car which stands on a track beside |
US, and While our quondam cage sounds still lower
depths of the shaft, we glide down the steep in
cline of the drift Again we pause and alight We
are 300 feet now below the surface Of the earth
Here, in side drift miners are at work-some put
ting nmbers and sheathing III place to protect the
sides and roof from falling; others digging away
the rock at the end or face of the excavation, We
step into the drift where they are at work; for a
few moments. II seemed before
As HOT AS MORTAL COULD BEAR;
but this is three-fold hotter and we are QUICKLY
satisfied. Tie miners here work almost naked for
a few minutes at time, and then drop their
Tools to be snatched up by another party, while
they rush into what is called cooling chamber
get into the blast of cold air pipe Through which
The wind is forced from the works aboye) and
drench themselves with ice water. In this wav
they manage TO remain at work eight hours and
are then succeeded by another SET and they in
turn by third, which fills out the twenty-fou
hours of the day. The alienation of day and |
night is meaningless to these toilers beneath the
" mountain bar" and so their work goes on I'M
ceasingly. This mine is getting out no ore The
drift the miners were working was prospect
1riftyein to find the IRON There was little really
to be seen, and never did mortal so sigh for
zephyr as we for the GOODNESS of the outer world
AN HOUR WAS QUITE ENOUGH,
and we began our ascent by reverse action. Ar
lived at the top the incline, while waiting for
he cage our guide entertained us.with the story
Of the unfortunate miner who, at lower level of
his same shaft not six months ago, slipped into
he water at the bottom and, though gotten out bv
MS companions in a few minutes, was literally
boiled alive that the flesh parted from the bones
Ind he died Still further, to heighten the charm
IF his weird chamber and soothe our nerves, this
ANCIENT MARINER OF THE DEPTHS
below pleasantly told the tale of the miner Who |
IN reaching the top of the shaft and stepping from
he cage, for some unknown cause swung half | {
around and disappeared down the adjoining di-
Vision of the shaft. His comrades heard not a | !
ound, save each the throb of his own heart as it
ceased to beat. All that was left of him they
brought up in a candle-box. When, at last, the |
age brought us again to the level of the floor do
fou think there was any uncertainty in our walk
No; straightforward and firm as soldiers ON dress
parade, we marched forth, nor turned to see the {
hole where that boor man fell until full twenty | ,
eet away. But it was not until after we had taken
shower bath and put on our own dry garments
hat our pulse regained its normal timbre and !
,est This is !