Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1888-12-06
DOWN IN A COAL NINE.
A Trip into the Darkness Of the
Main Shaft.
Graphic Description of q Journey Where
the Sun Never neutrality-suspicious.
and Queer BeIIefs-Whistling
Brings Bad Luok-An
Old Miner Talks.

eff thee be gooin' doom tn shaft,
lad" said the grimy old coal miner,
stepping into the car that was waiting
for the signal to lower him and his
equally grimy comrades into the yawn-
ing thoroughfare to the mine, don't
thee be stan'in' THUR thenkin' on it,
an don't thee shy an eye doom tn
shaft to see tn blackness o. it, nyther,
or thee'n never stir an inch toords tn
bottom at all, an it's bit o Loord's
truth be tellin' thee. Steppit in Off
han like. THUR! Steady! Doom we
goo, No need to shut thy even so
tight, lad, for it's na'nk thee'll see
now wi 'em wide open. save yOn fadin'
patch o. day we be leavin', an sil'er
dollar'll be bigger'n tn likes O. that
afoor we dump thee in tn CRIME at tn
bottom"
The old miner was right. The cam
didate for the experience of visiting for
the first time coal mine by way of the
perpendicular shaft that leads to the
Zimmerman depths must not pause at
the edge of the chasm to consider the
matter. The rope that slowly unwinds
at the surface as the car and platform
are lowered through the darkness may
part before the journey is fairly begun.
and the bottom of the shaft is a good
quarter of mile below; but if the
visitor stops to ponder over that posi-
bility, and fingers to calculate its con-
sequences, the chances are that he will
never see the inside of coal mine. If
he really desires the experience he
must step in "off-hand like" as the old
miner said, and imagine he is going to
picnic.
1t is an exciting trip down coal
mine shaft. One who is nervous in an
ordinary elevator, surrounded by up
holstery and light, guarded by safety
appliances. and with the monotony of
the trip relieved by frequent stops and
constant changes among the occupants,
would simply die on the journey down
a mine shaft. Visitors who have the
courage 10 make the trip are not many.
Hundreds go to the colliery firm in the
intention to descend the shaft, but
nine-tenths of them change their minds
when the clash and clangOr and whirr
of the machinery, the sitting dust and
the hurrying, sOOty workmen surround
and fit about them. Some visitors,
who have kept up their courage to the
tered the car. lose it when the descent
into the depths begins and cover down
to the bottom of the car, motionless
with fear, and not infrequently lose
consciousness.
"Aye, lad" continued the garrulous
old miner, as we dropped into vacancy,
"monny's tn pore laddybuck that I've
see whinin' an pleadin' for to be let
out, an monny's tn one I've clinched |
wi all me might to save tn joompin of |
i'm over. An don't | mind well tn |
pore lad an lass, monny an monny a |
year agone, as would be goin' doom tn |
old Staffordshire mine in England, for |
a lark, they said, on the very day they |
bed married. LoOrd save us! Could |
ever forget tn like O. that? She |
wurr wee, frail think, the lass wurr,
an THUR COON q big fright to her
almost tn mennit we dropped doom
from atop. She went clean daft as
tn darkness crowd an even tn whites
her lad wurr hooldin' an soothin' of
her, she gil that cry which tn like O.
it IL never leave me ears, an wi tn
leap o a deer she cleared tn toob an
hurled hersef doom, doom, through the
blackness. We miners stood there
stroock all doomb, an urr hearts soor
t tn boorstin'. We could see tn white
face o tn pore lad, wi his eyes a
starin' wide, an his hans clootchin' at
his throat, o. tn sight O. him, as it
gloom'd out by tn dim glimmer O. our
lamps! l can see it now! But, hap
less, we read naught O. what he wurr
minded to, pore lad Sudden, wi a
cry to his lass that lay croosh'd and
mangrd doom in tn darkness: L be
coo ain lassr says he. he leapit as she
had gone, an the shaft wurr choked
wi horrors for we pore miners tn
monny long day.
The space is narrow in a mine shaft,
and the impenetrable darkness makes
1t appear the more contracted than it
really is. The miners lamps are
as freely twinklings. Water filters
through the rocky walls and patters
upon you as you pass down like I'M
comfortable raindrops from dripping
caves. The oscillations of the rope
that holds your life are painfully ap-