Los Angeles daily herald., 1886-11-28
A Night of Horror.
BY G. M. r.

BY @. NJ. +.
Down in the English iron country,
where spring flies are frightened from the
roar of furnace blast, the ring of ham,
.mer, the hiss of steam and the rolling
clouds of black, soot.laden smoke
where, but for the swarming around the
busy hives of industry, the country
might be another Sodom or Gomorrah
beIching up sulphurous flames and
smoke toward the lowering sky; every.
where scorched and withered herbage;
stuntsd, ragged, skeleton-armed trees,
dragging on q miserable existence be-.
tween life and death; while piled around
cinders. scoria, caked together. half
fused bricks, torn and shattered, or
eaten and rusted iron; and ever by
night the wild red glare from the fur.
naces, shooting straight up in we'll
defined rays far into the murky air. An
angry battle going on; the coal and iron,
hurried deep for centuries upon cen.
turies, now dragged from the teeming
bowels of the earth and tortured be-
meath the mighty steam blast-teaehing
the Goals forked and dancing tongues to
flicker and goad the iron stone till the
gray masses began to glow; then crack
and crumble away; and at last, fused by
che raging heat, give up the ruddy,
newIy-molten metal now set at liberty
and ready to become the valued friend
OF man.
No such thoughts as these animated
the breast of Samuel Hardesty, as leav.
ing his frugal tea he went to work for
the night to watch the furnace and feed
it with fuel. Along the gloomy. black
streets he took his way, aud had soon
relieved the man anxiously awaiting his
coming.
sJust made her up, Sam. Winds
changed, and the stoke-hole rcars
again"
'sAll right" said Hardesty, and the
man took his departure, while the new
Gomez prepared for his long night watch,
and stood gazing on the sunny-colored
Aames, dancing in the furnace-scarlet,
crimson, blue, green, yellow, orange and
purple-colors of every shade and tint.
But Samuel Hardesty saw not the
bright hues of the roaring furnace-the
sirht was too familiar, and his mind was
taken up by the quarrel he had bad the
night before with a fellow. workman
soocerning the threatened strike. There
bad been high words. which ended, in
che heat Of discussion, by Hardesty
calling his opponent "a fool" receiving
= blow in return, and then dashing his
zssaiIiant to the ground, where he lay
slammed and bleeding.
His fit of anger passed, Hardesty an
uuered the murmurs and dissatisfaction
shown among the onlookers by STOPPING
dswn and helping his adversary to rise;
bat the man no sooner recovered him
self little than, with fearful and
bIasphemous oath, he shook his fist at
Hardesty and staggered out of the place.
The night was advancing, and again
ami again the watcher heaped fuel be-
tween the Jaws of the Unsuitable roaring
Fnouster he tended, and, utterly heed
lcss Of the noise and fiery glare around,
he stood, time after time. watching the
glow.
81 didn't want to hurt the lad," he
nuttered. "'A fool called him, and
70 he was. or he would have kept his
hands of me, for man can't stand
that I'd have What was thats" he
exclaimed, starting, for be fanoied he
ssw . figure pass the light.
arm ell wrong tonight" he NUT.
ssred, s'and full Of fancies; / could have
sworn some one was looking over my
slheulder half an hour ago"
10 vary his lonely watch, HArdesty
uunt 70 the stsam engine, down to the