Telegram-herald., 1889-06-29

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g t1Egsos1g or y zst-1g1oL Tie s4h1orIEy
< Tae aE1so=pnere b scEa~1nusk y t~ ~Qa-
-sred a.. ald saytnlng al 1assll as~
lie tAso aae ever worked All l2c-sFosed cIty
uisa Jnis vi % Il. Al oyeFoo4t = sery
lecesSzTy article 4 cio1Ll1g. zn1 where an
oas l. nox zoollEa4rs1 - such plzcs II i qllJs
aazaTdcls - indulge n pngsczl exsTclse.
s1rt zs ct-no-ng S.eep dec1satlss, unless ulsy
are prepared Win p.-ats u clotl,ng. foT a
SUDDEN cnll gives tle s1ScspslbLs quite
>sg1ss cold
There = tlt one ~ay 70 make rhe ascent L
place lks tals, and that Is - PAT yours-.f
GA the sadie q mountain mule. TIE All
mAi l. sure footed, and Z he l. gwen the hnes
taere Is 40 danger II aim falling either DAY
or GignS, lis animal gong over pl-.oes that a
Ian Eould never gisz
As - pretty ael known, the country OF
East Tennesses Is not thickiy settled. anu
eons7quen-ly TIE Hlace Is oot IN a very good
tate II cult usarion The thick wooded for
as u rho asoul ts.lns produce tLs nn-st
-imber IN tie world, Dot they are 80 mae
reSioie % railroads and wator COURSES that
the land can - bought for s. an acre Lum-
1-Fing. however. = one of the principal vo-
aticns OF the people Some mining Is done,
al being found Ia considerable abundance
"a some places. | went down 20 a mica mine
Yesterday before | came up here, and had
quite trsat In the way OF getting some in
formation that | ~ss heretofore Ignorant Of
beautiful drive uncommonly good aud
even for the riountains-of about seven miles
from johnson City landed us at "A spot where
4 strange kiad OF people lived or course
they were Americans. bu; there Is something
strikingly peculiar about these mOnntaineers
that on trst Gcquaint tance with them you ars
ed 10 believe they are foreign peopbe There
IS little colony Of them, and there they live
ISOLATED almost from the world. having very
little commercial intercourse with outsiders
They raise their own vegetables and meat,
aud when they have mined enough mica they
ship il away IN little low wagons, drawn
by the aforesaid mountain mules, and in ex
change for 1t they get clothing and other nee
essariss that their soil Will not produce.
The machinery OF their mine shows nothing
Of the improvement one would expect to find
in the coal regions Of Pennsylvania You
l. - -..l-~
chine, which consists or a rough platform, 10
which is attached a rope which Is wound up
by two pretty big strong looking fellows
looked al the rope IN critical way before
was lowered sixty feet below the surfacs. Sc
we all boarded the arrangement and down
ne went. Instead OF getting warmer, the
deeper We went, il usually does in mines,
the atmosphere seemed to get moro chilly
and colder Us we descended. But now we
were at the bottom.
Mica is formed only with great age, the
seOloglsts tell US, and it is only obtained by
blasting. SO after walking many devious
and dark little ways, almost frozen to death
we came 70 the place where the stuff is got
ten. One big six footer, who seemed TO be
bosS OF all the rest, ordered the blasting DOW
der 10 e brought. There is no dampness iD
these mines, and consequently there Is nc
arising Of nO1ious gas such as often explode.
IN tie coal mines OF Pennsylv lvania and IL
England; 20 the miners wore ordinary oil
lamps on their hats, the regular lamp used In
mines being unnecessary. You have no doubt
seen the manholes in railway tunnels. Well
they have such arrangements In the mica
aIne and have doors to them.
After the powder Is placed in various posi-
tions the fuse is ignitei and every man hur
ries to q manhole Suddenly the explosion
takes place. and Immediately ueon hearing
the report L started TO go out, but one of the
men warned me Of my folly, telling me
would be snotL cred. SO after |. few min
Utss' wait all went out, and there we
found a couple Of cart loads Of mica, and
general debris and dirt. One blast hke that
yields about what would til q bushel meas
ure, after the waste was taken away. Not
more than two blasts Ire made in these
mines in a day, on account of tue smoke and
gas arising from the burning of the powder
So beggn To figure TO myself and saw why
it vas such poor business. There is no very
great demand for it, bot | am told it Is the
only place In this country thai It is 70 be Oh
tanned in such purity. Hartford Post