San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1890-12-17

his head. Such man had better leave the
mines at once.
"When worked in the Savage used to
see shift of specters working, most gen.
orally at the foot of the incline, but some
times in the east drift of the seventy-tifty.
There was about half dozen of 'em at
work as a rule, but sometimes more. They
would pick away in the face of the drift
and make no sound, and pale lights burned
at their sides When the o'clock whistle
blew in the morning they would vanish.
"Once | saw man sitting down on the
steps of the incline. He was in my way,
and / touched him on the shoulder. Heav
ems! how ! spTlng back; for there was no
flesh and bones there-only a shadow, as it
were. He turned round, and his face was
half gone and his shoulder torn away
from a blast. Blood was streaming from
the wounds He then walked down the
incline, and melted into the vapors that
rise from the waters of the stump. The
next day John Owens slipped at that very
spot, unable to hold on to the Shiny tim
bers, and fell into the boiling water He
was cooked like a lobster.
''At times one hears strange voices.
Ghostly voices call to each other from drift
to drift; there are whisperings i'll the rocks
and terrible groans in the sides of the cross
cuts. In the Belcber 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 flame
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
it 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 he worked under
ground, but lie always seemed discomfort
ed, even morose, because it was no longer
permitted to him to grasp the lever of an
engine. He felt 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,
II hear the death moan on the wheels.
Tom
Had the engineer looked at Marks face,
masked in horrible pallor, he would have
indeed thought the man had heard sob
from the grave Mark bent his head
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
a maze. A moment later puff of smoke
drifted from the shafts mouth, and then a
shower of sparks. The mine was on fire.
The cage came whizzing to the surface,
and crowd of half naked men reeled off,
histered and half suffocated, into the
dressing rooms. The whistle of the mine
sent forth n 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 Delcher.
Scarcely was the cage emptied when those
below signaled sharply for it 70 come
down. Il shot back into the depths almost
as fast as If it had been dropped. The
cable touched piece of iron near the
sheaves, and from the point of contact
streamed a line of sparks. Another burst
of smoke came up the shaft and a sheet
Of fame followed for an instant. The tim
bers became a mass of fire The hosting
works went like 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 n falling timber knocked
him senseleSs. .... ........ . ... ....
A dozen men sprang to the unnamed
engine; but Mark was there first, and pick.
ing up the body at his feet he handed it to
the nearest two men as If it had been a
child and merely said, Take him away"
A mHn 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. It
would be long minute and a half before
the cage reached the surface, where he
must prevent its dreadful ascent into the
'sheaves." His hand held the lives of a
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 insensiblc 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:
''One thousand dollars to the man who
saves hinl!''
A dozen brave men had already started
It was too late; the flames had over
whelmed him. Three days later the men
whose lives he had saved dug among the