Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1886-11-09
DOWN A SILVER MINE

"Silver 0uleh." and on the morning AZ
ter my arrival we were TO explore the
mine which they were developing. When
the matter wi. proposed to me ! had no
hesitation in eonsen,ing 10 the arrange.
men,. for I had already visited several
coal mines In Iowa. where We had de-
.cended . thousand feet into the earth.
and bad come TO believe tha, Was .
veteran Ia such explorations.
We ate q hearty breakf.s, in the rude
log cabin owned by my friend and his bus.
mess partners. and then s the sun Was
appearing over the mountain range. hll-
log Silver Gulch With his golden foods
Of light. We walked down the principal
streets Of the town. This We call
Metropolitan Avenue. remarked
my old friend Joe and as glanced
At the scattering row Of little cab.
in.. numbering In all le. than
twenty. | could no, resis, the iemp,a.
ton TO laugh =, the ari.,ocra,ic title OF
the street. "wsi, until the railroads
ge, here. then you won't laugh. when
hotels. depot. and big stores al this av-
.nur. a, they AZ. sure to DO" continued
Joe Ia |. tone Of indignation aroused by
my lack Of good breeding.
Al ths, momsn, We reached the mine
aud began TO prepare for the descent. |
am obliged 10 confess ihs, ! did no, find
thing. +. I had expected TO aud quickly
comprehended rhs, to descend q mine in
"Silver Ouleh" was no, descending .
coal mine In Iowa. In the latter place
the de.cen, had been made pleasant. and
secure by the mos, elaborate machinery.
The shaft va. ,imbered iis entire length
aud the platform upon which We made
the de.een, was made TO ~ the ,imber.d
shsh, 90 ths, there ws no possible dan
ger Of falling OF. The platform was
lowered and elevated by big steam en-
gine and an iron cable revolving around
. large drum.
But In "silv,r Guleh" there were no
,imbering,. platforms. iron cables or biz
engines. | say. however. where a gres,
ragged .hsf, bad been blown in the SOL
ia ioek large upright timber stood on
each side OF ,hi. gloomy pi, there ~'
q horizontal roller with It's ends resting
upon the uprish, iimber; big long
rope and dirty oli tub compelled the
equipment. The roller vas operated by
q ~indls.. the motive power being fur.
ni,hed by the muscular arms Of four
bn~ny Norwesi.n'.
II is quite needles. for me TO write
that as looked the property over fel,
the courage ooring from the tips Of my
fingers. and resolved no, TO 90 down In
the mine providing could devise some
honorable excuse for no, doing 90, and
vsni,red TO suggest, "Ths, {. the mine
looked damp there would be a danger
Of catching cold. snd as ". q
long distance from home. pehap. had
better forso the pleasure Of making the
descent" "She 1, ss dry q. bed cham.
ber." responded Joe. and that pre,ex,
"a. destroyed. Other excuses shared
the same fate. and asa elineher my old
ehum remarked. The only trouble see
in ,hi, matter 10. how on earth you will
manage to &c, both Of those fee, into the
tub =, the same time. don, know" AZ
that unkind remark indignation ehoked
my utierahee and I offered no further
protest. Dick .prAng into the tub say
ins. III will 20 down iir,. ,hen you FOL.
low" experienced no sensation Of
pleasure n | saw the tub Disappearing.
.wsyins and swinging frigh,fally down
the ya~nins eh.'m. This vehicle OF
transportation soon reappesred and the
moment Of my martyrdom bad arrived.
| stepped into the dreaded tub. Joe as.
.uring me as | did 20. "Ths, II didn't
lei 20 Of the rope there would be no ,roa-
ble unless the rope broke" SIo"ly the
descent began.
The las, ray Of ligh, VA. eIiinsui,hed
and | va. in the ,hiekes, degree Of dark.
ness. Tvs. fearful that my carriage would
tip over aud turn me out. | elans TO the
rope for dear life in my esgerness TO
preven, the tub from .~sying. isno-
rsntly increased is motion. and !, WAS
soon swinging from one eide Of the shaf,
TO the other in the mos, approved penda.
lum style gr..Ped the rope With in.
creased ,igbr aud by some mshap the
tub gracefully curved up on one side.
and q moment later one Of my fee, was
suspended in mid air. and despite my
frantic efforts found /, impossible to
restore !, to il. former position. Each
second seemed an hour; my hand clasp.
ed the rope with the desperation OF de-.
.pair. one foo, 10 the tub, the other wav.
ing like . signal Of di.,re. outside Of H..
The per.pira,ion s,ream,d from my face
and |, appeared to me tha, | vi. miles
from the mouth Of the shaft. What .
fool | VAS TO make the descent. Wha,
would not have given to have been
safely ou, OF ,ha, horrible shaft
There vas . glimmer Of light, and
the next momen, Dicks voice greeted
me with here you are" aud /. land.
ed beside him he continued "well. old
fellow. l mus, say you are cool one TO
come down the shaft swinging your foot
outside the tub like that would have
supposed you Vas old miner" law
In momen, ,ha, Dick not did comprehend
the situation and that bis mistake Afforded
me sfavorabls opportunity to escape from
my embarrassing situation and careless
ly replied 80. I zee nothing to frish,en
. man" Joe and Bill stood beside US
and we then began TO explore the mine.
Its owners had been some two years At
work upon their task Of developing their
lead which they had followed to depth
Of 500 feet AZ that depth We saw the
vein which Was several feet thick and
rich with gold and silver; from the 100,
Of the shsf, they bad drif,ed out in var-
Gus directions and experienced singu.
lar senss,ion as I looked upon the great
mass OF ore 90 rich in precious metals
which had waited 20 long in its place ol
concealment for the human hand to
seire IN and then pour Ia in stream oil