The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1890-10-30

AT times one hears strange voices.
Ghostly voices call to each other from DRIFT
to drift; there are whisperings IN the rocks
and terrible groans in the sides OF the cross
cuts. In the Belcher once heard fear
full shrek come from the Wine. 1t echoed
from drift to drift and startled everybody.
| rushed to where the sound was, but there
was nothing Bill Sharon don't dare to go
down the Yellow Jacket The last time
he did troop of miners sheeted in fame
followed him along the drifts TO the foot
of the shaft. He rushed to the cage like a
mailman and rang for the quick hoist
When the cage reached the top he lay on
the floor insensible. He never told what
il was, but know"
Thus the poor fellow would spend hours
telling of the mysterious sights and sounds
he had encountered in the depths of the
great lode Sometimes be worked under
ground, but he always seemed discomfort
ed, even morose, because it was no longer
permitted to him to grasp the lever of an
engine. He felt a stain upon his reputa-
ton, and looked hopefully forward to the
time when he could wipe it out.
The opportunity came. One night he
came into the South Consolidated works
and sat watching the machinery. Sud
denly he turned to the engineer and said,
81 hear the death moan on the wheels,
Tom"
Had the engineer looked at Marks face,
masked in a horrible pallor, he would have
indeed thought the man mad heard sob
from the grave. Mark bent his head a
little lower and waited Out of the roar
and rumble he heard only the death
moan," as he called it. Suddenly the bell
rang out so quick and sharp that both
men were startled 1t was the signal of
danger and the quick hoist. The wheel
began to whirl until the spOkes mingled in
maze. A moment later a puff of smoke
drlfted from the shafts mouth, and then a
shower of sparks. The mine was on fire.
The cage came whiZZing to the surface,
and a crowd of half naked men reeled of,
blistered and half suffocated, into the
dressing rooms. The whistle of the mine
sent forth a cry for help, and in few sec
onds more other whistles took up the cry
and beloved forth their hoarse notes, from
the North Consolidated TO the Belcher.
Scarcely was the cage emptied when those
below signaled sharply for it to come
down. 1t shot back into the depths almost
as fast as if it had been dropped. The
cable touched a piece of iron near the
sheaves, and from the point of contact
streamed line OF sparks. Another burst
of smoke came up the shaft, and sheet
of fame followed for an instant. The tim
bers became "A mass OF fire. The hosting
works went like a finder box.
The engineer must not only bring the
cage to the surface, but must stop it there.
The machinery was growing hot to the
touch. The cage reached the bottom; then
came the signal to hoist. Just as he re-
versed the lever falling timber knocked
him senseless.
A dozen men sprang 20 the unnamed
engine; but Mark was there first, and pick
ing up the body at his feet be handed it to
the nearest two men. as if it had been
child and merely said, "Take him away"
A man close at his side leaned forward
to grasp the lever, but he flung him back
into the crowd. A fare of flames sent
them all staggering away. Mark laid his
hand upon the lever, the first time in five
years, and grasped it with his old energy.
The breath of hell was in his face 1t
would be long minute and half before
the cage reached the surface, where he
must prevent its dreadful ascent into the
Shelves. his MANU- nclu UDe llN6S OF
dozen men. He faced the fire like a sala-
mander. A cheer went up, and the folds
of red smoke covered him from sight
The cage reached the shafts mouth full
of men, most Of them insensible as they
were dragged out. AS Mark threw the
lever back to its place and stopped the en-
CINE the flames closed about him. The
superintendent called out:
lone thousand dollars 10 the man who
saves him!"
A dozen brave men had already started
1t was too late; the flames had over
whelmed him. Three days later the men
whose lives he had saved dug among the
ruins Lying by the engine they found his
charred remains, and stood by them a
while with uncovered heads. They bore
away the remains of Mark Haverly in a
box, and the next day 5000 mourners
walked behind the coffin. As they pressed
down the earth over his grave and threw
the last sprig of green down upon it, one
Of the pail bearers remarked, There was
good leather in that man."-Sam Davis
Collected Sketches.