Milford chronicle., 1892-03-18


saws Of the Comstock miner that when
he descends the great shaft, going down
and still down from 1000 to 5000 feet
he leaves behind all the grand upper
world, so broadly and beautifully lighted
nm by the sun. When landed at his sta
ton from the car (cage) Of his vertical
cable road he steps forth intP|quite a
different world-a world hey'n out by
the hand of man in the real1hso Of eternal
darkness. which. just bensath the sur
face crust everywhere enwraps our
planet.
All is not dark and di4nal in this arti-
ticial world On the cositrary, the great
stations. the main working drifts and
crosscnts and the largS chambers Of all
the principal levels are lighted up with
lamps and candles In ohe Of our great
mines there Is neither day nor night; it
( is always candle tight. Absolute pitch
darkness prevails only in some tar away
and little frequented drifts IN distant
parts OF mine
When landed at the station Of his
level. dinner bucket in hand. the miner
1 trudges away along a narrow subter-
ranean road to some drift OF chamber IN
which lies his work When on dnty IN
the depths he knows not whether 1t IS
day or night in the world abovei whether
it is cold or warm there, calm or tenn
pestuous.
The miner of the Comstock lode may
be said to live and labor in city be-
Meath a city There are streets and
crosscuts through which be may travel
miles and miles at points from LOCO to
9. 600 feet beneath the cities on the sur
face - Virginia and Gold Hill The
great underground city--in which is sut-
ficient lumber to build twenty towns,
each of 5000 people. has its busy places
as well as its lonely and silent hooks
and sections At the stations Of the
great hosting shafts, where many men
are employed on the several levels, cars
loaded with ore are seen arriving and
departing
IN THE DEPTHS
Great lamps with glaring rehectors
tsimilar to the headlight of a locomotiVe)
light up the station. which is an under
ground hall large enough for a first class
ball room, and the main drifts radiat-
/ ing from the station to different parts OF
the level also have their lights, the line
Of which extends so far away that the
most distant seen seems mere spark or
point or light. like the most distant star
| visible in the heavens-a mere pulsing
twinkler
The station has much the appearance
of the store or lumber room OF some big
factory Of the surface world. Along the
floor against the side walls are seen
coils of rope, boxes Of candles, tools and
many small lots of various other artl-
cles required on the level Also in the
station is seen a huge cask of ice water
water in which several small ici .rgs
are floating and against the siiipJf the
casls hangs big tin dippeSIinuat is, it
so hangs when it has nth Dnt's rest,
but it is almost constantly De the hands
Of some thirsty soul n Bnt
AT each level (gen9 If " about 100 feet
down the shaft { you the point where
ore IS first enco. Kelly,D there is such d
station as na,Sa described 1t is the
center of life ON each level, though al
several points on the level there may be
At work in the ore breast considerable
squads of men. From such sections OF
the mine at certain times come the
booms of blasts, sounding like distant
cannonade When one is in drift IN
the vicinity of the spot where one of'the
pir dynamite blasts is fired one feels
more than hears it. The conclusion OF
the air in the narrow drift painfully
strains the drum of the ear, and even al
a distance the sensation is disagreeable
HlGn TEMPERATURE
The mines of the Coinstock are now
much better ventilated than before
drifts connected the several main shafts
and wines Of the many levels. Still the
work of the miner is often in hot and
sitting atmosphere Very frequently
his work is at the face Of a long pros
specting drift, where the only air he ha;
TO breathe is the scant supply pumped
down to him through pipe from the
surface, as though he were pearl dlvel
fathoms beneath the sea. The place II
which he works at times shows a tenn
perature of from 100 to 40 degs., ol
even as high as l20 degs In such places
he is stripped Of all clothing but
breech clout (heavy shoes protect his
feet and he wears a cap to keep the sane
from the shaking rock out Of his hair
yet perspiration streams from every
nore of his body. But for the gallons
on gallons of ice water he swallows he
would be baked in his skin like a potato
the very life blood would be dried II
his veins.
Though sweltering and gasping the
miner must still swing his pick or sledge
must still handle a shovel or crowbar fol
a certain length Of tine-till the end oi
his ,.pass" (of fifteen to twenty minutes)
when he can pass out Of the drift to the
cooling off station and send in his part
ner to work his ''pass.
For the dangers a miner must brave
and all the suffering he must endure
from heat aud bad air insufficient oi
vitiatedl four dollars a day is by nt
means too large sum to offer him fol
eight hours work in the sweltering low
er levels. Simply to remain eight houri
in the subterranean regions Is wortf
something, not to speak OF tolllng ina
number Of hours at the hardest Of work
Visitors who enter the heated regions o.
thesilver mines usually find that merely
TO walk through the various drifts. foor'
and chambers is about all they care u
endure in the way Of exercise. New
York Telegram
The introduction Of the rubber tree int
the Bahama islands has not proved success
full commercially, as the trees secrete littl
rubber
Careful investigation in Prussia reveal
} the remarkable fact that the average lif
{ Of Jews in Prussia is five years longer thai
J chat of Christians