Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1881-12-27
MINE sUPERsTIT1oNs,
HOsv a Terrible Accident Was Caused Ey
WhistLinD Far Beneath the Earth.


HOsU Terrible Accident Was Caused Ey
Whistling Far Beneath the Earth.
[Lansford, Pa, Cor. Philadelphia Times.]
A singular superstition prevails among
foreign born miners in the great Penn
sylvania coal fields that if any person
whistles in mine some disaster is sure to
follow. Miners born in this country do
not share this superstitious belief to any
great extent, but in Difference to the
wishes of fellow laborers they never
whistle in the mines. Sometimes they
sing and hum their plaintive ballads hun
dreds of feet below the surface of the
earth, and as rule miners are cheerful
and contented. The superstiiious belief
that 'good luck spirit turks
in every mine and at the
sound of whistling it flies and leaves
the miners at the mercy of the
numberless tsspirits of evil.' A terrible
mine, disaster occurred in 1910 which was
caused, it is claimed, by the whistling of
one of the miners. The mine was the
| property of the Delaware & Hudson
| Canal Company, and was not properly
supported with strong timbers. This fact
was known to most Of the miners and the
shaft, mile in length, was to have been
abandoned in few days. The miners
were about % quit work when reckless
person named slack Richards" suddenly
laid down his pick and startled his COM
rades by saving that be would whistle a
| jig so they could dance farewell in the
nine. The miners in vain protested, but
Richards laughed at their superstitious
ideas and commenced whistling. The
miners wore preparing to leave the place
at once, and the more frightened they
| became, the louder and faster Jack
whistled In the midst of the
tune a dull, roaring noise was
heard, and every cheek blanched with
terror, for they knew the mine was cav
ing in. stJack" advised them all to run
for their lives, and he led the way.
| Another crash came, masses of falling
rock Numbered down, and they were i'm
prisonsd, these seventeen men, in space
only forty feet square.
IMPRISONED IN A MINE.
The gust of wind that had rushed
through the shaft when the caving in
occurred had extlnguished every lamp,
| duU, 1OT d WOuucI, buCle was uOG d udlCu
in the party. They cursed Richards
heartily, but he did not respond Subse-
| quently he was found dead, crushed by
the fallen coal and rocks. He was the
only one Of the party who was injured in
any way. The imprisoned men
worked as men never worked
before, and as they were about giving up
all hope of ever seeing their friends again
a noise was heard against the rocks and
they could hear the regular click of the
"picks'' of the men who were working
to rescue them. Presently ray of light
was seen, and in half an hour more the
men were saved. The body of Richards
was extricated and taken to his home for
burial Very few of the miners attended
the funeral, believing that the disaster
was due entirely to Richards having
driven the 'sgood spirit" out of the mine
with his lively whistling. Richards had
no relatives in the world but sickly SIS
ter land she was so Frustrated by the loss of
her brother that she died next day, and the
two were buried at the same time. A
mine boss named Hosie-was also impris-
oned in the mine and given up for dead
Three days af,er the terrible accident he
made his appearance, haggard and pale.
He had dug his way for an incredible dis
lance through the debris, without food
or water to sustain him. This mine
tragedy Is favorite topic among the
old miners, who never fail to warn visit
ols who descend into the shaft that they
must not whistle or talk loud enough to
frghten away the "good spirits"
| THE BURNING MINE.
| Near this place and within few steps
| of the famous Switchback railroad is the
great burning mine, which has been on
fire since 1858. The origin of this fire is
accounted for by the superstitious from
the fact that a skeptical miner was
| whistling in the shaft and hardly had he
| ceased when the announcement came
| that the mine was on fire. This mine
has been flooded, but the fire cannot be
extinguished and every year it keeps on
gnawing it's way through the vast veins
of coal, destroying millions of tons ofan-
thracite.
On the I'd of December, 1872, Morgan
| Powell, mine boss, imagined he heard
a man whistling in the Shaft. Investiga-
| ton proved that no one had been whis-
Ting at all. He was told by the miners
| that he had had bad omen and that
| some trouble would befall him. That
night as he was leaving the store of
Captain Williamson, at Summit Hill,
midway between Lansford and Mauch
| Chunk, he was shot dead by Mollie Ma
guire assassins, who were afterwards cap
| tured by Detective McParlan and hanged
| at Mauch Chunk. The miners think it
was the whistle of the fatal bullet he
heard that morning.
Garfield on HIS Prospects at Chicago.