Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-06-20
WITH THE REScUERS,
GRAPHIC DESCRIPTION OF THE WORK
That IS BEING ACCOMPLISHED


By the Noble Band of Heroes Who Are
Bravsly Facing Death to Reach Their
Fellow Workmen-Where Pure Air 4,
Precious and Carefully Husbanded.
ESPECIAL TELEGRAM To THE DISPATCH
DUNBAR, June 19-Those who live and work
in Gods pure air and light have no idea of
what is being undergone at this moment by
the faithful rescuing party in the depths of
the Mahonlng mlnes There is not a word of
complaint heard, however. from the men, and
the only impatience is that shown at the prog
ress, all too slow, to the busy workers. and how
slow then must 1t be to the men waiting on the
other side should they be living and conscious.
favored few were allowed TO take trip
down the Mahoning mine this afternoon, and
the strange experience will not soon be forgot
ten by those who had never seen suuch thing
before.
Peter WISE Knight of Labor organizer in
this district, took the party in charge He was
sent here by the organization to look after the
men, and do all he could to push the work on
Just inside the mouth of the pit the party was
called to a stand, and each man asked to give
his name and residence to the brawny sentinel
at the door.
What for?" was the hurried question.
Its only record" Quietly. "Ye may
never come out again."
us 1t as bad as that?'
Its worse" (gloomily.) Everything is
worse here now. Nothing seems to get better.
You are on dangerous trip, but it's none of
my affair."" and the guard at the door sto cd
aside to allow the party to enter. Just inside
the mouth Wise gave Clenny safety lamp to
each, after he had carefully tested them. The
lamp Is made with wire gauze chimney instead
OF glass. Its merit is that the mine damp may
Inside the meShe8
nne to allow the flame to extend to the outer
air A faint blue flame, the men say. can be
seen burning inside the lamp when gas is en-
countered, but unless defective, it remains
there.
-
The Downward Trip.
WITH these slender barriers between them
and an awful death the party then began
the march downward. To eyes unaccustomed
to the darkness the sudden transition blotted
out everything but the faint spark from the
lamps.
''Step in here" said Wise. "and get your
sight. 1 mean by that" he continued, in ex-
PLANTATION, ''if you stand in this perfectly dark
chamber for few minutes your eyes will get
accustomed to the dark and you will be able to
see, not much, but enough"
"Will it bring your sight quicker if you close
your eyesf'
L os, tudt Will nelp NOW look at Lnab wall
over there, and when you all can see it plainly
we will start"
For full ten minutes the party stared in the
direction Wise pointed. At first nothing but
lnFy darkness lay in that diredtion, but little
by little there was nodded out of the darkness
strange patches of something. These grew
more and more defined and finally the party
with eyes round and wide could make out the
lump patches to be COAL Feeling compare
lively safer, with eyesight at least, the party
again turned downward, while the guide told
of queer experiences he had gone through in
regard to sight. One story was particularly
striking.
One Eye for Davlighf, One for Night.
7 N driving mules down into the deep mines,
one eye of the animal is handled for day
light purposes, while the other is kept for
night This is done by carefully blindfolding
the left eye when there is occasion to bring the
animal on top of ground. and as result the
animal goes placidly along, seeing perfectly
well underground with one eve and able to take
care of itself in daylight with the other. He
told also of when he was driving a car down in
the Scottdale mines, he had given to him a
mule that the other men did not seem to man.
age Wise drove him for awhile. but noticed
the poor animal invariably staggered from side
to side in an uncertain way, far different from
the straight walk of one that had its under
ground sight Wise carefully bandaged the
one eye when daylight was reached, but there
was no improvement. The mule positively
could not see in the mine.
The driver happened to change the bandage to
the other eye once. when it was found that the
animal could not see at all. He was and always
had been totally blind in one eye. Thereafter
the mule was kept under ground all the time,
and no further trouble was experienced.