The Newberry herald. [volume] (Newberry, S.C.) 1865-1884, 1883-06-07

four of us crept on to the month
and looked down. The explosion
had destroyed the cage, but it hadn't
injured the signal-rope; hence q
means Of communication remained
for any one Immediately below. AS
soon as 1 saw this l proceeded to
rig a cross-bar, and presently had
it ready.
"Just lower me gently;I may
pick up one or two, if there's any
near," I said to two banksmen.
"You can't 60 down yet" said
the viewer, 'How many are there in
the pitt"
"Half an hour ago there were
fifty; but Pm thankful to say they
all came up but ten,'' replied the
time-keeper.
"And they are lost, for there will
be another explosion presently"
said the viewer.
"rll go down, anyhow" I said
doggedly; and if nobody lowers me
'srll jump down."
A good many were on the heaps
now, and two or three called out,
"Good-by, God bless you, dear
lad" The banksmen lowered me
down, and I sank through the pits
mouth, A Davy lamp was tied
round my waist, and I held rope
in my hand, so that I might signal
to be hoisted up, if the air became
foul. But had no intention Of
going back until I had searched the
pit and seen if there were any alive.
One thing, I didn't care about my
life, and another would have been
ashamed to face the folks above
without doing something, so I felt
impatient that they lowered me at
such a snairs pace, and kept look
ing up and down,to measure the dis
tance yet to be traversed. But my
progress was notified by the in
creasingsdensity of the air which
began to affect my breathing; and
as I went on l had to shift ray face
from side to side to make a little
current. At last my feet touched
ground.
1 looked &ound as I jumped off
the straddle, and saw the furnace
was out, which put stop to the
ventilation of the mine, and no air
entered but by the shaft. The
stencil was ovcrpowering, and from
this and the silence l guessed the
worst. 1t was evident that the
explosion had killed the horses, for
no sound came from the stables,
which were close to the shaft; and
what hope could there be for hu-
man beings in distant part of the
pit? l did not stand to make these
reflections; l was working forward
as they went through my mind. l
knew the old pit blindfold, but what
with the gloom and my shortness
Of breath, l was some minutes
scrambling for the incline. When I
reached the first gallery I pushed
open the trap and went on a few
steps, but my lamp was "afre,"
and l knew the atmosphere was so
much gunpowder. AS l stumbled
along it came into my head what
Amy had said about Jack being in
the pit. I rushed forward like mad;
my foot struck something; 1 bent
over what appeared to be corpse,
and the CLEAN of my lamp fell upon
it's face. It was Jack. I caught
him in my arms, and with the
strength Of a giant and the speed of
q deer-hardly conscious, hardly
hreathing-I made a dash for the
shaft.
Itwas easier work going back, when
you were in the main or horse road,
and I found that Jack was breath
ing when l reached the shaft. The
discovery kept all my senses at
work without my seeming to notice
it. 1 only felt there would be
another explosion. I placed Jack
on the straddle and tied him hand
and foot; then pulled the signal
rope, and as the people above haul
ed the tackle, / hung on by my
arms.
1t wasn't till we had reached
twenty feet up that I felt the strain
of standing on nothing; but from
that moment it became terrible. My
hands seemed ready to snap and my
head spun round in an agony. I
watched the mouth of the pit until
my eyes swan, and I thought I
must drop before I reached the
T. 4.