The Durham daily globe. (Durham, N.C.) 1889-1894, 1892-03-01
BELOW H SURFACE
LIFE THOUSANDS OF FEET IN THE
BOWELS OF THE EARTH.

DOiDgs In "A Great SuDterraheah Oity
with Hundreds of Miles of Streets
Where Work Never Ceases.
Very different is the life led by the
miner Of the ComstOck lode when on
duty from that of the old California
gold washer. The scene of his labors is
hundreds of feet beneath the earth in
s~ubterranean regions to which no ray OF
sunlight ever penetrates. DR.. guile
saws Of the Comstock miner that when
he descends the great shaft, going down
and still down from 900 to 5000 feet.
he leaves behind all the grand upper
world, SO broadly and beautifully lighted
ND by the sun. When landed at his sta
ton from the car (cage) of his vertical
cable road he steps forth into quite a
different world-a world hewn out by
the hand of man in the realms Of, eternal
darkness, which, just beneath the sur
face crust everywhere enwraps our
planet.
An is not dark and dismal in this arti-
fetal world. On the contrary, the great
stations, the main working drifts and
crosscuts and the large chambers of all
the principal levels are lighted up with
lamps and candles. In one of our great
mines there is neither day nor night; it
is always candle light. Absolute pitch
darkness prevails only in some far away
and little frequented drifts in distant
parts Of "a mine.
When landed at the station of his
level, dinner bucket in hand, the miner
trudgCs away along a narrow subter-
rancan road to some drift or chamber in
which lies his work. When on duty in
the depths he knows not whether it is
day or night in the world above; 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 a city be-
meath a city. There are streets and
through which he may travel
miles and miles at points from 200 to
. 900 feet beneath the cities on the sur
face Virginia and Gold Hill The
great underground city-in which is suf-
ticient lumber to build twenty towns.
each Of 5000 people, has its busy places
us 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 reiectors
to the headlight Of a locomotive
light up the station. which is an under
ground hall large enough for d 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
point or light. like the most distant t a
in the h~eavens--a mere pulsing
twinkler
The station has much the appearance
Of the store or lumber room Of some big
Of the surface world. Along the
against the side walls are seer
coils Of rope, boxes of candles, tools and
many small lots of various other arti-
lies required on the level Also in the
is seen Il huge cask of ice water
IN which several SINAI" icebergs
are hoating-and against the side of the
ask hangs IA big tin dipper;, that is, it
hangs when it has a moments rest,
out it is almost constantly in the hands
IF some thirsty soul.
AT each level generally about 100 feet
Town the shaft from the point where
IRE is first ~encountered) there is such a
IA have described. 1t is the
of life on each level, though at
points on the level there may be
II work in the ore breast considerable
of men. From such sections Of
he mine at certain times come the
of blasts, sounding like a distant
,annonade. When one is in Il drift in
he vicinity Of the spot where one of the
Dig dynamite blasts is fired one feels
more than hears it. The conclusion of
he air in the narrow drift painfully
the drum Of the ear, and ever at
1 distance the sensation is disagreeable.
HIGH TEMPERATURE.
The mines Of the Comstock are now
much better ventilated than before
irifts connected the several main shafts
md wines Of the many levels. Still the
work of the miner is often in a hot and
atmosphere. Very frequently
lis work is at the face of a long pros
Ipecting drift, where the only air he has
o breathe Is the scant supply pumped
10 him through a pipe from the
as though he were a pearl diver
athoms beneath the sea. The place in
which he works at times shows a tenn
of from 100 to 40 dogs, or
wen us high us l20 dogs In such places
lie is stripped of all clothing but IA
,reech clout (heavy shoes protect his
eet and he ears a cap to keep the sand
rom the shaking rock out of his hair),
'et perspiratiOn streams from every
,ore of his body. But for the gallons
N gallons of ice water he swallows he
vould be baked in his skin like "A potato
= the very life blood would be dried in
lis veins.
Though sweltering and gasping the
miner must still swing his pick or sledge.
must still handle a shovel or crowbar for |
certain length of time-till the end of
lis pass" (of fifteen TO twenty n.inutes)
when he can pass out Of the drift to the