The Russellville Democrat., 1885-08-13


Well, sir, it's Gospel truth I'm telling
YOU. | went down the pit at ten o'clock
| that day, and before twelve was car
ried home smashed all to pieces. Inever
! left my bed for seventeen weeks. a full
tub of Goals caught me on the incline,
| by the neglect of the man working with
me. The tub ran away. There was no
room to pass. ran for my life; but
the wheels passed over me and smashed
me up. And that's all I've ever thought
about going to America. ! thought it
strange, sir, mothers having said that,
and me being nigh killed the very day
I'd settled to GO"
| Can we call these brave men heartless
or unfeeling because they speak Of such
things as trifles, or indeed rarely speak
of them at all? No; their lives make
them familiar with danger, but none the
| less is their silence that of a noble
courage.
The following NAV show that graft
tude to a Higher Power is oftencr felt
than expressed to the outer world.
Pardon little preliminary detail.
| Square tubs, on four wheels, running on
tram-lines along the workings of the
pit, are used for drawing the Goals to
| the shaft. On some occasions. as when
going to distant part of the workings,
one or two tubs will be drawn by q
pony, each tub carrying perhaps 70 r
men. When the seams are low, therc
will be space of only few inches be-
tween the edge of the tub and the
..balks' of timber placed crosswise to
support the roof of the coal-seam; thus,
the men must keep their heads down to
the level of the edge of the tub.
"On one occasion" said my inform
ant, "three of us were crouched down
in tub. The pony was going at
! walk up slight rise. | can't tell you
how it happened, but | must have raised
my head unconsciously above the level
of the tub. felt my forehead touch a
crossbeam in the roof, and before had
time to reflect, knew that | was in
fatal peril. The forward movement of
the tub iammed my head between the
beam and the edge of the tub. gave
myself a wrench, trying to get free; but
/ couldn't. All this of course passed in
fraction OF second. and gave my
self up as dead. Now comes the most
wonderful part. At the very time my
head touched the roof in the very crisis
of my agony of mind, when the whole
situation flashed on me, the pony
stopped. No one had touched it or
spoken to it. / had uttered no cry.
The pony stopped | drew down my
head, and crouched almost fainting in
the tub. Ny life was saved. | never
told my companions until we came out,
when they remarked how pale looked.
For weeks, whenever | went down the
pit, was almost unnerved by this terri
bic recollection. And | tell you, sir,
I've read of drowning people
seeing rs at glance all the
past scenes and doings of
their lives--l never thought much of it
but tell you, every scene and deed
of my life seemed to come before me in
a flash of light. l sac everything. l
have never forgotten, and shall never
forget, the feeling of that day. How it
was that pony stopped and my life was
saved, | can't say; but if it wasn't Prov
idence, / don't know what else it can
be.
A similar miraculous escape was told
me by one of the managers of pit
81 was down making survey with
man and young assistant. We sat down
10 lcSt Siuc ny slue, oui phchs az diHse eiiO
wall of the coal. The man was sitting
on my right hand, the assistant on my
left. After we had sat few sec
onds the assistant, with no apparent
reason, got up and went and sat at the
other end of the row, next to the man.
He had no sooner sat down than, with
out any warning, a huge mass of stone
crashed down from the roof onto the
very spot where the assistant had been
sitting! Part of it grazed my arm, but
did no injury. "A near shave for you,
we both said to the assistant. 1t was
near shave he replied, somewhat
nervously. We went on with our work.
Perhaps we spoke lightly; but believe
not one of us could have said all he
thought. = Chambers Journal.