The Daily times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1886-1889, 1889-03-12
A sUBTERRANEAN TRAGEDY.
A prlI Kills Mule 500 Te-. Below the
Jarth's surfacn

iIftb
A qhasfly aud for n time iDcxplcable mys-
tory. which kept the nerves Of the good peo-
pie Of l.tchncld. Ills. strung at high tension
for few hours, was graphically described
by Mr.. l.. C. Van Week, the promoter Of the
natural gas enterprises Of that section.
About 10 O'Clock one morning" said he,
"whiic Sam Warner. the head driller for tho
/ Litchnel Natural Gas Company, was at work
al a well on tine Potts farm. about a mile and
n half from the town. on the Mount Olive
( road. the drill got stuck aud refused 10 re
sr.Onl 10 the efforts Of the machinery Ia raise
IT, The drill is composed OF a large lar Of
steel weighing about half a ton, ani Is drawn
M 10y q wuilas and then dropped. some
times a. mnch n fifty feet. This drill forces
/ rs way through thick siratas Of rock and +
often sunk 90 the depth Of 300 feet The
vel In question hal becn sunk about $9f
Mr Warner worked for nearly an hour he
fore he could get the drill free. and he then
brought 10 10 the surface 10 make an exam
nation As b. came 10 view he was aston
i.hoi 10 discover that il was covered with
blood. ms was tine rope for several feet above
the dril lie called his assistant. and both
decided that the crimson cl0is On the drill
and rope were unmistakably blooL
"To sag that they were alarmed Is *
pressing the state Of their feelings mildly.
They were horrliied Tho ponderous bar %.
steel had puncturei the life ont Of something
in some remote place far down in the bowels
of the earth Warner placed his ear 20 the
mouth OF the tubing and could plainly hear a
roaring sound While he was IN thi, posture
a voice came up You have killed some
body down here, il said, aud Warner was 30
dazed that he and his assistant made for the
village 40 Il rapid rate Of speed
The two men hurried into town, and their
earnest manner inspired belief IN their story
People lockcd 10 the Potts farm. and gather
ing about the well examined the bloody evi
denco OF the subterraneap-~ egedy and dis
cussed its probable cause y physician and
q chemist who were in the crowd both dc
clared that the red clots on tho drill tip were
blood, but could not tell whether 10 was
human or animal. Tie mystery docponed
until an analytical student figured it out this
way.
" 4 have IT. have i'll Tie drill has killed
somebeiy qs,,ssopething in the Ltchiiold Coal
g. sa, I, y, him, and tE% o o. 'lei NINE eA
Jesus Christ ha. tow, -, III, ,bo ~ l,,a
e has goneata ~ alor ~, ''S 49,,
GU u son. 49,. .ahate workman down
thorc.' .-.e..-.
This sounded plausible enough aud tine
whole crowd made rush for town as fast as
they could run. When they arrived aud be
gan % relate what they hal seen and heard
a big del cation startedsfor the mine on
their way they met } e. W Amalcn, score
rotary OF the coal company, and clustering
about his buggy piled HIM with excited ques
tons.
when bis questioners stopped for breath
ne said, with pathos Yes. fellow citizens. a
lamentable tragedy has occurred in the mine
One poor creature has been stricken tO death
aud now liCs licIc8 far down lon the dark and
dingy depths This he said, viii explain
more fully ami the crowd almost tainted
when ho drew a slip Of paper from his pocket
and read:
LncHwrLD, U.s.. Teb u
IltcAnell Natural Gas company 10 ono mll,
Killed by gas company dnll THIS day So
"'Aud, fellow citizci.s. there was never q /
more faithful! or useful mule Ia "a coal mine F,
than old Tom, who has met sotraeic "a death /
-' tAlhthtll'h l''ifi tho uIhu oi iie /
horrible charm, and was a fruitful theme Tor 4
muiA the rest of the day.
"Eut wien sou come 10 think Of he whole /
thing said mr. Van Nlock, 10 Is not such q /
laughing matter, after al think it will go /
down 10 history as "a most remarkable, mas /
say unprecedented, occurrence la connection
with well digging. n-st Louis Globe Demo
GRAFT