The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1883-07-11
IN A COAL MINE.
A Nine Year OLD Detective In the old Con-
.aA e@ oshawen Mine.


A Nine Year Old Detective In the old Con-
eA.@ oshhwon Mine.
- Jim was fifteen, Sam was twelve, john
ny was nine, and then came the twin
babies, who were not of any age to speak
. s.a $50 Of NTheir father was miner who had
come from England to the mining re-
gIOn of western PennsylvaRia, having
heard that work was plenty and living
4 RaE Easy in the new country. He had been
I Wa killed By an accident In a mine only
three months after his arrival, and his
family were left to Eight their way in
aidi sn THE world alone. Jim worked in THE
-nua Ed mines now, but he was not large or
haliaa strong for his age, and his wages were
hsnlriI1i SMALL and there was not always enough
bread to go around, to say nothing Of
'i''' People were kind to them, especially
members of the Iron Company, for whom
their father had been wOrking but times
- were hard, and there were many poor
families to be helped. and lately there
-0t ynfn had been great robbery, by which the
FstiH Iron Company had lost many thousand
isV ob dollars and they did not feel they could
-n9 100 afford to give away as much as they had
Sam carried Jim's dinner to the mine
whenever there was anything better for
0b hr dinner than,a piece OF bread. One day
d o. their nearest neighbOrs, whe were as
81 eI poor as they except for the possession
.aII sinaof pig, which they had converted into
TOasts, and fries and sausages, sent them
t,, as q present fine roast, Not one of
''iti them would have cared to eat such
~ ,Na hle dinner unless Jim could have some
ffN' bOO OdL11 uhu D66u 30 uuIOfLuuhI0 dS 10
4rs cut hls 1901 S60PPing & WOOD shst sto MORN nm
l8 johnny declared he could carry Try Jim's
dinner as we'll as Sam.
There seemed to be no reason why he
conduit except that heT was so
small, not larger than most boys of z,
srs no and the mine on Humpback Hill was a
-, i rn good ways off from where they lived.
tu9s "a, His mother cautioned him great
many times not to wander out of the
path, and she followed him TO the door
and called after him to be sure and
to the right mine, because some of the
old ones were very dangerous, especi-
ally the old COnOshawen mine, which
was near the one in which Jim worked
s;$! $: $i::55
one tsiP'T u { tSs SSS ss This se
square openings did not look just alike
II was the third-nO, the f0urth-at the
- left hand, as one stepped upon the little
table-land half way up Humpback HILL
where was the semi-circle of tunDel-like
mines, extending not down into the
ground, like the mines Johnny remem-
bered in England, but straight into the
heart OF the hill.
But was 1t not, after all, the hfth Op-
ening2 Johnny was conscious of a little
confusion in his mind upon that point
~. as heatrlggled up hill and he wished
a. h3 had asked Sam; but he should be sure
agSA to know 1t when he saw it. And there
were almost always miners about the
openings, or men bringing out the ore
that kept their eyes blinking when they
came into the light, as IL they never
could ,gst,used to it There was dOneed
of making a mistake about the mines,
Johnny thought. He did wish his mother
would get over thinking he was such a
little fellow, and worrying about him
M Hh0 wasn't tied to her apron string!
When be reached the mines nobody
. ~ vVasin sight. He peered into the OPEN
ings of four or five, and could not see so
much as twinkling light in the dis
tance. And he had forgotten whether
Jims mine was third, fourth or fifth.
Hewas wondering what he should DO,
when there suddenly appeared out of
one OF the distant mines an Irishinan
with dray full Of ore and blinking
donkey.
81 say, mister, which mine is it my
brother Jim-Jim Pringle-wOrks IMP"
called Johnny.
The Irishman, who was busily engag-
ed filling his pipe, nodded carelessly In
the direction Of the opening at JOhnny's
al p4 cleft, It was the fourth mine. 'EIG Il
THAT'S Che one l thought, but was
10 nonot sure, 2 said Johnny, andran into it,
fastening the little miners lamp his
.uid mother had given him into his cap, and
rrfr "a cold before he found him. fTa ! II. f'.FI
- - '4~ Before he had gone so far into the
.}nr7 miHe that daylight refused to follow
him, the atmosphere became warm and
oppressive, like that of hOthOuse. The
walls.were dripping with water, and IL
he had not walked on the rails which
.-s, "a were made for the drays to run on, he
would have had to walk In mud and wa
ter over his Shoes. a
aWnp rt'It wasn't so wet the last time was
here" said Johnny to himself.
On and on he went. Jim'sdi GER
tainTy would be cold before he got it. ~
Surely it wasn't so far to go the last
az time was here" hethOught st dosen't
s+'s~ seem as if Humpback Hill could be so
thick through as this. This seems like
a tunnel going under the whole world
Could he be wfongP But no, the man
would have been sure to know, and he
thought he remembered that 1t was the
,S8SlL fourth opening. He wasn't exactly
afraid, but 1t did make him little neT-
VOus to think that 1t was under the
ground, The roof was supported only 10y
E. wooden beams; 1t seemed very easy for
10 the tons upon tons of earth above his
;-v head to fall and bury him. He wished
-1A4li Jim didn't have to work in mine.
4 Suddenly the feeble fiekering rays of
piA1 his lamp were cast upon solid wall Of
l. earth in front of him. He glanced up
Ia ward. One Of the wooden beams had
~ given way. r..r .--.A rr %
tA Johnny's heart beat like a trip-ham-
mer, and he grew sick and faint. There
had been an accident. How much Of
one it was impossible to tell. Perhaps
the whole mine beyond that point had
caVed In.
Where was Jim2 ~~.
Johnny uttered piercing cry-"JimI
JimP'-that the echoes brought back to
bin, but nobody answered
After a minute or two, growing a lit
tie calmer, he examined the wall Of
earth carefully, and saw that at the top