The Republican journal., 1886-11-11
Sketches for the Boys.
BY REV. T. GERRISH.

posed to me had no hesitation in conscntmg
to the arrangements, for had already visited
several coal mines in Iowa. where we had de
scended a thousand feet into the earth, and
had come to believe that | was Il veteran in
such explorations.
We ate a hearty breakfast in the rude log
cabin owned by my friend and his business
partners. and then the sun was appearing
over the mountain range, filling Silver Gulch
with his golden floods of light, we walked
down the principal street of the town. ''This
we call Metropolitan avenue" remarked my
old friend Joe, and as glanced at the scatter
ing row of little cabins numbering in all less
than twenty, could not resist the temptation
to laugh at the aristocratic title of the street.
'Wait until the railroads get here, then you
won't laugh, when hotels, depot> and big
stores fill this avenue, as they are sure 10 do"
continued Joe in tone of Indignation aroused
by my lack of good breeding.
| At that moment we reached the mine and
| began to prepare for the descent. am obliged
to confess that did not find things as | had
| expected to and quickly comprchended that to
| descend mine in Silver Gulch was not de-
scending IL coal mine in Iowa. In the latter
| place the descent had been made pleasant and
secure by the most elaborate machinery The
shaft was timbered its entire length and the
platform upon which we made the descent was
| made to fit the timbercd shaft. 50 that there
| was no possible danger of falling of The
platform was lowered and elevated by a big
steam engine and am iron cable revolving
| around large drum.
But in Silver GuIch there We're no tim
behring's. platforms, iron cables or biz engines.
| saw, However, where great ragged shaft
| had been blown in the solid rock; Il large up
right timber stood Oh each side of this gloomy
pit: there was horizontal roller With its end,
resting upon the upright timhcr>; Il biz long
rope and dirty old tub completed the equip
mcnt. The roller was operated by L windas>,
the motive power being furnished by the mus
cular arms of four hrawny Norwcgi;mS.
1t is quite needless for me to write that u>
looked the property over | felt the courage
oozin@ from the tips Of my fingers. and re-
solved not to 20 down in the mine prov ding |
could devise some honorable excuse for not do
| ing 50, and Ncnturcd to suggest, 'llat rs the
mine looked damp there would be danger Of
| catching cold, and Il, | was i long distance
| from home, perhaps | hal better forrgo the
pleasure Of making the descent" She is II
| dry a. IL bed chamber" responded Joe, and
that pretcNt was destroyed. Other excuses
| shared the same fate, and Us tlincher my cid
| chum remarked, "rhe only trouble | see in
| this matter is. now on earth you will manage
to Get both of those feet into the tub at the
same time. | don't know" At that mkind
remark Indignation chokrd my Uttcraurc and |
offered 10 further protest. Dick >pran@ into
the tub saving, II will 90 down first, then YOU
follow" | experienced no sensations of pleas
are as | saw the tub disappearing. sWayin@ and
swinging fright -ully down the yawning cha>n.
This vehicle Of transportation soon reappearrd
and the momcnl Of my martyrlom had darriyed.
| stepped into the dreaded tub, Joe assuring
me as did 80, THAT if | didn't let 20 of the
rope there would lie no trouble unless the rope
broke" SLOW y the descent began.
The last ray Of light was eNtingu-hr'l amt
wa, inhc thirkrst degree of iar>ne,~. WAS
fearful that my carriage would tip over and
turn mo out. 7 clung to the rope for dear life; ;
in my cagcrnr~@ 10 prevent the tub from sway
ing, i@noranty increased it~ motion, and it
| was soon swinging from one side OF the shaft
| to the other in the most approved pendulum
STYLE. graSprd the rope With increased yGor
and by some mi>hap the tub gracefully curved
| up on one side, and moment later one of my
feet was suspended in mid air, and despite my
frantic effort, found it impossible TO restore
it to it, former position. Each second seemed
an hour; my hand rlaSpcl the rope with the
desperation of despair, one foot in the tub, the
other waving like 4 Siynal Of distress outside
of it. Tha perSpiration Ntreamed from my face
and it appeared to me that | was miles from
the mouth Of the shaft. What a fool | was to
make the descent. What would | not have
given to have been safely out of that horrible
| shaft:
There was a glimmer of light anl the next
moment Dick, voice greeted M with ',hcre
youare,'' and as | landed beside him lie contin-
ucd: "WclI, old fellow, must sly YOU are Il
cool one to come down the shaft swinging your
foot outside the tub like that. | would sup
pose youW as an old miner" | saw in Il moment
that Dick did not comprehend the situation and
| that his mistake afforded me favorable oppor-
tunitv to escape from my embarrassing ~itua-
ton and rarce>sy replied 20, see nothing
to frightcn 4 man" Joe and Bill soon stood be-
si'ir us and we then began to explore the mine.
Its owners had been some two years at work
| upon the task Of developing their lrad, which
they had followed 10 depth 800 feet. AT that
depth we saw the vein. which WAS several feet
thick and rich with gold and silver; from the
foot of the shaft they had lriftct out in variou~
directions, and | experienced a singular >cnsa-
tion a> looked upon the great mass of ore SO
| rich in precious metals which had waited 50 long
in its place of conccalmcnt for the human hand
to seize it and then pour it in a stream of prcc-
| ious coin upon the markets of the Earth. My
| friends were now waiting for the coming line
| of railroad to bc constructed, which would
bear to them the heavy machinery of engines,
crushers and smcter> and thus enable them to
utilize their wealth. And may its possession
soon place them among the miIlonarrs of
The North West.
There We're many terms and names which
| sounded strangely to my Impractical ear. Each
rock-drft chamber and every portion of the
work was chriStcncd by name peculiar to the
vocabulary of the mines. Each man wore a
| small lamp on his cap, and these feeble lights
di>pclled the gloom sufficiently TO enable us to
| explore the chambers With comparative ease.
In places the rock was solid. i'll others broken
| and loose enough to create a Shudder is |
| thought of the result should one of those
| treacherous masses decide to tumble down
upon Us. In sections we could walk upright,
| in others we proceeded upon our hands and
| knees. Before the trip was completed | had
seen enough of silver mines to satisfy me for
many days to come.
The pleasure of my underground visit was
somewhat disturbed by thoughts of the com
| ing dangers of the ascent. When the final
moment came | took my place once more in
| the tub, sra>ped the rope, closed my eyes, held
my breath and was slowly pulled up TO the
light of day without accident or any incident
| worthy of note.
In my next article I will describe the manner
in which the silver is cNtricatcd from the ore.
Black Bass in Maine.
The Augusta, Ne. journal says that ''fishcr-
men in many parts of the State are forming
petitions in regard to ending the close season on
l.