Helena weekly herald. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1867-1900, 1888-09-06
DOWN IN A COAL NINE.
WANDERING THROUGH PASSAGES
UNDERGROUND.
Descent in the Passenger Shaft-Gloomy
Passages and Narrow Tunnels-Mules as
a Motive Power-The Miner and His
Drill-The Blast.


: points preconceived notions. One cannot
, say exactly what he expected, but he Ger
tainly expected something different from
the reality. Here, for instance. there was
TO indication of the existence of the mine
save in the presence of the breakers ant
the huge pile Of culm. At short dis
tance from the breaker was little sheC
about ten feet square, and yawning in this
was the mouth of the passenger shaft
The other shaft, up which are hoisted the
the cars loaded with coal, opens directly
into the breaker.
AS we gathered about the passenger
shaft the car was hoisted several times
bringing up a number of miners and
laborers, and all looked like imps from
the Internal regions. Their bodies and
clothing were black as jet from smoke
and coal dust, and the only white one
could see about them was the whites OF
their eyes. In their caps were extin-
guished torches, which still gave out a
black and sullen smoke. Men we found
them, talking freely of their lives and
rather enjoying the curiosity they in
spired. Their appearance, and the mouth
of that black shaft leading down a sheer
300 feet into the bowels of the earth, led
some OF the party to conclude that they
would enjoy birds eye view Of Provi-
dence on the surface rather than tempt
Providence under ground. So less than
| forty made the descent.
Each of us was given little torch, and
then we gathered about the shaft, The
elevator is simply q platform like q
| freight elevator, with no railing at either
| side. Above it is hood to keep off the
water constantly dripping down the
| shaft from the seams in the rock. Ten
at time we crowded upon the elevator,
the torches haring up around US and fill
ing our lungs with smoke. The signal
was given, and every heart sank a little
| as the car rushed swiftly down.
Perhaps | reveal o woeful ignorance
when | say that | expected to see as soon
as stepped from the car vast rugged
chamber, glittering with distant lights
and alive with eager workers. | had read
descriptions of mines and seen pictures of
them. and yet this delusion clings to me.
But in one instant vanished all these
chimeras, and | beheld narrow tunnel,
so low that | involuntarily stopped my
head, whether such o proceeding were
necessary or not, and darker than mid
night. On either side were walls of coal,
glittering strangely as the rays of light
irregular shapes and narrow recesses
But the roof or ceiling seemed as smooth
and polished as marble. The vein of coal
runs Of almost uniform thickness, and
the slate above and below forms COM
paratively level floor and roof
Along this narrow passage we wand
ered the light from our Pickering lamps
making the darkness ahead the moro i'm
penetrable. At short intervals were cham
bers where the coal had been mined more
extensively, but between all chambers
pillars at least thirty feet in thickness
were left to support the tremendous
weight of the superintendent rock. And
in the chambers themselves were ioists
and beams of wood erected for the same
purpose One could scarcely realize that
all these passagewayS and chambers were
carefully laid out by engineers and sur
yeyors, and that plans were drawn, mark
ing all the turns and divergences as accu-
rately as the map of city.
But such was the case, and not blow
of the pickax is struck that is not fore
seen, and SO two passageways approach
each other from opposite directions, and
are finally united in one. At intervals
are heavy, air tight doors of wood, which
serve the purpose Of breaking the cur
rents of air, give perfect circulation, and
allow the steam fans to exhaust the fire
damp that may have accumulated in any
chamber, no matter how far distant. AS
these were closed behind us they gave a
crash like thunder, every sound being
magnifed by the rocky walls. Finally,
when we had gone hundreds of feet from
the shaft, we began to see dim and
twinkling lights in the distance and to
hear echoing cries, the crash of loaded
cars rolling along the rail, and the clang
of steel on the sullen rocks. Mules furn-
ish the only motive power, and perhaps it
is because of their well known stubborn
ness that they needed such vociferous di-
rection that for minutes we would hear
shouts and cries that wero echoed until
they seemed to come from a hundred
lungs. Zen we would range ourselves
close along the walls and up would rum
BILE and clatter and clash a loaded car,
drawn by several straining mules and
driven Tor rather directed, 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 them |
selves, for all the men we had previously |
Sccu NtIo tllO LaCu
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 it seemed as
if he must work solely by the sense of
feeling. The miner we surrounded told |
us that he was almost ready for a blast.
While we waited car rolled noisily up to
a pile of broken coal, and a black and |
grimy laborer caught up a shovel and
sent the Jumps laundering into the car.
Before it was filled the miner told us that
MS charge was ready and bade US go
around the nearest corner. Fifty feet
away we were halted, and then came an
anxious pause, each one agitated some
what, if the truth must be told. Then
,ame a loud and reverberating roar, fol-
owed by the crash of tumbling rock. The
,arth shook beneath our feet, and from
he slate roof, foot above our heads,
plinters of rock seemed to fall around
Is. Perhaps no one really expected the
oof to fall and crush US, but there was
Ugh of relief when the blast was over.
Ne hurried back to the chamber with the
nell of powder in our nostrlls. A
agged hole was pierced in the coal, and
s we looked through the smoke and dust,
blackened and demoniac face appeared
t us from it's depths. The blast had
pened a passage directly through into
be adjoining chamber, and the face was
hs.t of the good natured miner ON the
ther side. The coal that the blast had