St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1889-09-23
A NIGHT IN A COAL NINE.
Industrious ToiIers Working Be
meath the surface of the Earth
"A Weird Scene Graphically


meath the surface of the Earth
"A Weird Scene Graphically
Described.
Philadelphia Press
A small doorway, made of upright
logs and 4 crossbeam. marks the en-
trance to the leading mine in the heart
of the anthracite region. 1t is located
on the mountain road just above Black
Jeddo, in LuZerne county. place made
notorious during the Molly Mcguire
reign. In company with an experienced
guide with a small miners lamp
suspended from hatband, a tour
ist enters the dreary, cavernous
depths of night. As his eyes become
accustomed to the darkness. making his
way over rivuiets OF running water and
stumbling over shining pieces of anthra-
cite, he reaches the railroad track which
connects the toilers in this underground
workshop with their brother Yorkm en-
in the mammoth breaker perched on the
mountain side in a building of such
magnitude that the ten-Story structures
on Chestnut street sink into insignif-
canoe when compared with it.
The sharp whistle of the little engine
which winds its way through the dark
reeesses of the mine warns all corners to
give it room to pass. and the tourist
hastily jumps into the ditch and presses
close to the sides of the bank. The
little engine, with its train laden with
coal, rushes by. Passing onward the
tourist enters a roomy chamber where
dusky men by dingy lights, with heavy
drills, are tapping into the hard. black
rock beneath their feet and Seooping up
Saso
depth is reached. when the explosive
material is inserted, the fuse applied
and the warning cry is given.
All rush for shelter behind the pillars
or lie fat on the ground until the burst
ing rock has ceased to scatter. The
mass thus detached is sufficient to fill a
small train of cars, but body of labor
ers, with pick and shovel, and sledge-
hammers. reduced it to convenient
size for handling. The train is soon
loaded, and the little engine takes it to
the bottom of the slope, where a NAM
moth wire cable is attached, and power
full engines at the mouth of the slope
draw the load to the outer air. The cars
are then placed on the tracks
of the breaker. and powerful ma
chinery carries them upward to a great
height, where the mass is shot down on
an iron-tlOored room, where brawny
men break up the large Jumps and the
mass is again started downward. pa ss-
ing through several chambers and being
picked over and examined by numbers
of old men and boys. who are consid-
cred fit for nothing else but to pick
slate.
These mines are worked day and
night, and there is no intermission. No
daylight penetrateS the gloom of the
mine. but the flicker from the little
lamps suspended in front of the head
gear OF the army OF workmen some
what dispels the gloom. With cans
upon their back. one filed with oil,
another with water and another with
powder, the miners wend their way
into the bowels of the earth.
Returning again to the earth's sur
face, looming up in the darkness is the
mammoth breaker. Electric lights
shine from its many windows. The
tourist aScends the steps, and now and
then feels splash of spray from the
water through which the coal passes,
until he approaches the upper cham
Der.
u Here, seated around a network Of
shallow pans in which the coal is con-
SANITY in motion and pressed forward
on its journey to the ear, is large
body of people of all ages and nation
aIitieS. As the streams of glittering
coal pass in review before them, each
piece of slate Is removed and thrown
into box alongside of the busy work
erS. Thus every piece of coal which is
brought to the market is handled by a
number of people.