The Arkansaw traveler., 1888-08-04


 loaded car, drawn by several strain ing mules and driven tor rather di- rected, for no reins were used), by . boy as black as the coal itself, his eyes glittering strangely in the light from the smoking lamp stuck in his hat band.
 And finally we reached the miners themselves, for all the men we had previously seen were merely the la borers. Each miner had chamber to himself, and into the walls he was viciously digging his drill. Of course his eyes get accustomed to the semi- gloom, but to us 1t seemed as If he must work solely by the sense of feel- ing. The miner we surrounded told us that he was almost ready for 6 blast. While we waited 6 car rolled noisliy up to pile of broken coal and a black and grimy laborer caught up shovel and sent the Jumps thunder ing into the car. Before 1t was filled the miner told us that his charge was ready and bade us go around the near- est corner. Fifty feet away we were halted, and then came an anxious pause, each one agitated somewhat, if the truth must be told. Then came a loud and reverberating roar, followed by the crash of tumbling rock. The earth shook beneath our feet, and from the slate roof, foot above our heads, splinters of reck seemed to fall around us. Perhaps no one really ex- pected the roof to fall and crush us, but there was sigh of relief when the blast was over. We hurried back to the chamber with the smell of powder in our nostrils. A jagged hole was pierced in the coal, and as we looked through the smoke and dust, blackened and demoniac face peered at us from its depths. The blast had opened passage directly through into the adjoining chamber, and the face was that of the good na- tured miner on the other side. The coal that the blast had loosened lay heaped in confusion by the opening. So shattered had 1t been by the explo- sion that it could easily be broken by pickaxe into size convenient tor handling. Nothing then remained but for the laborer to shovel it all, large and small Jumps and even the dust, into car that was hoisted into the breaker.
 Each miner is paid for his work 95s cents car, and his days stint, under ordinary circumstances, is six cars. But for this he is expected to furnish his own lsborer to load the cars, his own tools, powder, oil, and, in fact, all supplies. When this is done he still has left a fair living wage. There are more than thirty mules in the mine, and they are con- fortably housed in a stable that is clean and airy, but, of course, lacks the great blessing of light. The pitiful stories one hears of mules that are kept all their lives in mines until they become blind from the darkness, do not apply here. Whenever the work is slack they are brought to the sur face for run in the green pastures.
 The day before we descended the mine a fire broke out ill the engine house at the foot of one of the shafts. The mine became filled with smoke, and as some alarm was felt, the mules were all brought to the surface. The animals are sleek and well fed, and do not seem to realize any special hard ship in their lot.
 Among all the employees in the mine one of the most responsible posi- tions is that of the fire boss. His duty is to see that the mine is free from dangerous and poisonous gases. Every morning in the year, summer and winter, holidays and working days, he patrols every portion of the mine, commencing at three o'clock and fin- ishing before the men begin their days work.
 He carries with him Davy safety lamp, with which he explores every crevice and recess likely to accumulate the deadly fire damp. This gas, it will be remembered, is lighter than the air, and consequently gathers close to the roof. It penetrates the wire gauge surrounding the lamp, and burning there reveals its presence. If none Is found the fire boss puts his private mark on the slate roof with 6 piece of chalk. If any is discovered, however, the danger mark is put on the roof instead, and the currents of air are 60 arranged by means of the doors shutting in the various passages, that it is all drawn out by the fans. The miner, too, who would have worked in the chamber filled with the gas, is stopped at the shaft and not allowed to enter until all danger Is past.
 Another source of danger to the miner is the black or choke damp. This is carbonic acid gas, and being heavier than the air, gathers close to the floors. It will support neither life nor combustion, and its presence Is detected by the extinguishing of the lamns The fira hoaa waa aaked hv