The Arizona sentinel., 1889-09-28
MINING AT NIGHT.
Industrious TOilers Working Beneath tn,
Surface of the Earth.

Industrious ToiIers Working Beneath the
| Surface of the Earth.
A small doorway, made of upright
! logs and 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, a place
made notorious during the Molly
Mcguire reign. In company with an
experienced guide with a small miners
lamp suspended from hat-band, a tour-
| ist enters the dreary, cavernous depths
of night. AS his eyes become accus-
toned to the darkness, making his way
over rivulets of running water and
stumbling over shining pieces of
| anthracite, he reaches the railroad
track which connects the toilers in
this underground Workshop with their
brother workmen in the mammoth
breaker perched on the mountain side
in building of such magnitude that
the ten-story structures on Chestnut
street sink into insignifcance when
compared with it.
The sharp whistle of the little en-
gine which winds its way through
the dark recesses of the mine warns
all comers 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 it's
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 be-
meath their feet and scooping up the
powdered dust until sufficient depth
is reached. when the explosive materi-
al is inserted, the fuse applied and the
warning cry is given.
All rush for shelter behind the pill
lars or lie fiat on the ground until the
bursting rock has ceased to scatter.
The mass thus detached is sufficient to
fill small train of cars. but body of
laborers with pick and shovel and
sledge-hammers reduce it to a con-
'NAAOhO OAAC AOL uG
is soon loaded and the little engine
takes it TO the bottom of the slope,
where a mammoth wire cable is at
tached. and powerful 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 machinery carries them
upwards to great height. where the
mass is shot down on an iron floored
room, where brawny men break up
the large Jumps and the mass is again
started downward, passing though
several chambers and being picked
over and examined by numbers of old
men and boys. who are considered 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 lit
tie lamps suspended in front of the
head-gear OF the army of workmen
somewhat dispels the gloom. With
cans upon their back. one filled 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 spra from the water
through which the coal passes until he
approaches the upper chamber.
Here, seated around a net work of
shallow pans in which the coal is con-
stantly in motion and pressed forward
on its journey to the car, is a large
body of people of all ages and nation
alities. 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
number of people. Philadelphia Press.
.