The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1895-11-23
For the WIG.
DOWN IN A COAL MINE.
BY j. Barry Sheehan.
( Part -Four. }

Or "knuckle, as it is generally called and
asked the top-man il there was any chance
Tor us to get an accommodation to which
he replied: You're just about in time,
the blacksmith went down this morning to
shoe some mules aud l expect him up any
minute now"
On hearing this we each sat on key OF
spikes to await the signal to 'hoist men,"
Tor 1t Is not customary to give any or all
persons who come along, an accommodation
while there is coal to hoist, unless it is
absolutely necessary. Hence his reason for
keeping us there until the blacksmith was
coming up and that worthy person was
probably waiting like ourselves until
through some delay inside further-there
would be no coal on the bottom. Then we
would eceive an accommodation without
causing any delay on our part, for be it
known that there are two tracks in every
slope, and owing to the fact that both ropes
are wound on the same drum in opposite
dire ctions there is car lowered every time
one is hoisted, at one and the same time
and without reversing the engines. So you
see, when the bell sounded four times
which is as much as to say, 'hoist slow
men, we hurriedly lit our lamps, took
our places on the car, and slowly but surely
began to leave the top. And at the same
time and just as slowly and surely did the
blacksmith begin to leave the bottom
| Gradually the light of day was being shut
out from our gaze until the opening or
mouth of the slope seemed about the size
of the full moon, then suddenly that, too,
had disappeared leaving us in total dark
ness except the light from our miner lamps
which, is very little indeed, especially to
| those who are unaccustomed to their use. At
last we were at ''half way" and on the up
going car we saw the blacksmith as we
passed, which reminded me of a song |
used to hear an old miner sing. 1t ran
thus:
so when we were up, we were up, me
boys,
And when we were down, we were down,
But when We were in the middle, me BOYS,
We were neither up nor down"
That was the position we were in Just
then, but in Il few minutes we could tell
from the thunder like sounds we heard
below us that we were near the bottom of
the slope.
And on reaching there a moment or two
later we saw men and boys mules and
NINE Gals running about in every drec-
ton. In fact, so confused is a person liable
to become on his first visit in mine while
the same is in operation that at is continu-
ally lodging and jumping from one place
to another, and the place he would pener-
ally select as safe one, is the place above
all Others where he should not 20 at all.
But as | told Jim Travers in the engine
house, | was down for my tools, and the
breast on which worked being ON what
was known as the slant gangway, asked
the bottom man how soon he expected the
slant driver" out: On being told that he
was not long gone in, | weNt back to where
left my new found friend from the city.
On reaching him found him very much
| concerned about something which he de-
scrlbed as nOise which sounded to him
like mammoth repeating cannon, his
description was agood one but the noise
seemed greater to him than it really was,
| as it does to every one on first entering a
mine. However l knew at once what he
referred to, it was the pump, as the pump
| house was only a short distance from
where he stood
| So | told him that if he wished to satisfy
| his curiosity in that direction we would 90
and see the pumps work, of course he
| wished to, so in we went and the pumping
engineer described the pumps as follows:
| They are plunger pumps sir. with "a inch
| cylinders, 36 inch stroke and ID inch
| plungers, They are arranged to work
either single or double, and pump through
l2lnch main to the surface, a distance
OF $50 yards. They have capacity of
1000, 600 gallons daily and it is necessary
to run them day and night to keep the
water below the mark. In fact they
should never stop, but when we are COM
| PEELED to stop them on account OF some
thing breaking, we have a set of smaller
pumps on the other side OF the dump which
we run while these undergo the necessary
repairs but we find it impossible to keep
the water from raising above the rails on
the bottom, at times we have to depend
on the smaller pumps to keepit down for
many hours. Is the water good for use
when it gets to the surface? asked the man
from the city No sir, it is of no use what
ever. We can not even use it for the
boilers, it would destroy them in no time.
You don't say so? replied the man from the
city in establishment. And how is that?
Well said tie pump man, about as near
as could come to explaining that, would
be to say that as coal is a mineral the water
found in the coal mine must be mineral
water but as yet it is not found to possess
any health-giving qualities.
To be continued