The Portland daily press., 1895-07-20
JERRY'S BABY.

A little group OF miners were in the low
rooted chamber at the foot of the shaft.
The orange glare from the little oil lamps
Oh their caps made occasional swift ref1ec-
tions upon the black walls, and when the
men spoke or smiled there was marvel
Gus flashing of teeth from their dark faces.
Always, too, there could be seen the gleam-
ing of their eyeballs, of fierce steel color
in this somber light. The greasy cables in
the shaft were running rapidly, and some
where in that strange, chimneylike hole
that extended to the faraway daylight the
elevator was falling like missile. A
subtly strong odor of powder smoke OIL
gas, wet earth was eternally in the nostrils.
Suddenly from behind those curtains of
inklike night That stretched before the
passage that led away from the foot of the
shaft there came mystic low rumble, the
clank and rattle of the chains, the whis-
Ting slash of whip and boys shout.
Then train Of two cars, drawn by a tan
dem of straining mules. appeared from out
the darkness. The driver, tiny, begrimed
urchin, yelled imperatively, swinging his
long lash. The train stopped at the foot of
the shaft, and as the urchin unlocked his
team and swung them about he yelled to
oiC Il0ii, ALI LII ltetr Qulltlu blIll6!
The elevator suddenly appeared, like an
apparition, with its load of miners, whose
lights flickered and fluttered in reddish
movements. The ''inside'' foreman, as he
stepped from the platfrom, called sharply
to the urchin: 'It'll be quittin time fer
you if you don't hustle out more trips.
Git in with them thar mulesl'
With another shout to his team, the ur-
a1,f - L
and the rumbling of the wheels on the un-
even track continued until the little dane
ing flames on the boys cap and on the
head of the lead mule were but mere yell
low points Of light. 4ne'
In the chamber at the foot of the shaft
the inside" foreman spoke to the men
"Mr Williams told me tn baby's comm
when tn shifts cbangep'
"Git out Is shep"
'Jerry's babyp
"Sure she is said the "inside'' fore
man.
The men smiled. Jerry's baby was pop
ular with the miliers of Maffets Patch
shaft. She gave them adorable confidence
She was such a charming and trustful
friend to these men, rough, grim and dark
with coal dust, who labored all day in this
deep hole in the earth, far from sunlight.
Jerry's baby, with her lisped sentences and
little gestures treated them all as COM
rades When they spoke of her, one might
think they were talking of a little silver
idol of some religion And her power was
never questioned. Her baby smile ruled
men, and, moreover, she had done that
which ITO man in the Maffets Patch had
succeeded in doing. She had tanned jerry.
IL I. II =.
time, who Jerry was, the stable boss if
you were man, would have told you in
most vivid and picturesque manner,
which, though it might have shocked,
would have forever impressed you with
Jerry's character If woman, the stable
boss would have said, after a little time to
collect in his mind words to fit the occa-
sion. HHs is the viciousist, contraryist,
stubbornist, wickedest and worst kicking
laule in all the Lehigh and Wilkesbarre
Coal company 8 mines''
In the first place, Jerry had bad rec-
ord. He came from the south with lot
of others, and was sent down the mine to
wear his life away in the damp, lamplit
darkness, pulling heavy cars during the,
day, eating mush and corn, sleeping in
little stall, and having rats as large as kit
tens run over him at night
This was decidedly Objectionable to a
mule of Jerry's high spirit, but he appar-
emily realized he could not help himself,
and forthwith proceeded to make life as
disagreeable as possible for those who had
anything to do with him. He could work
if he wanted and when, as the driver said,
he had ''a working streak on, he could
pull heavier load and do 1T quicker than
any other mule in the mine. But he did
not always have working streaks on
He was not different from ordinary mules
except in one particular. His hind legs
when he was walking, appeared to have no
joints. One miner, when Jerrys life as
mine mule commenced, remarked this fact
and said
"That mules no good; his Joints ia
stiff, )" and he scratched Jerry's leg with
long wisp of straw. 1t tickled, and the
man lodged just in time to escape Jerry's
hoofs, which splintered the end of a car
against which he had been leaning. Tbns
Jerry earned his reputation as a yicious
animal.
He killed one man. The fellow was A
brute, and Jerry was obstinate at times:
consequently the mule was sometimes hor-
ribly beaten and kicked. One day the fell
low resolved to get rid of the animal for
ever and mixed a lot of broken glass with
his corn
There" he said as he completed the
operation, "that'll fix you'll" and he aimed
terrible kick at jerry The heavy nailed
boot cut open the flesh. Jerrys hoofs few
out with lightning speed and struck the
man. In the excitement which followed
Jerry did not eat his corn, and his next
driver discovered the glass, and threw it
away.
Thus 1t was that Jerry sustained his bad
reputation and added to it at yario,1s
times, to the terror of the driver bows and
stable bosses.
The baby was the only child of Young
John Williams the clerk in the mine az
flee. She caught heavy cold during the
winter, and the doctor was called in and
prescribed medicine which the babv sxyal.
lowed with greater or loss avidity. aecopd.
ing to its sweetness or Dastiness Bnt tba
medicine did the baby no good, and she
was growing SO weak and thin that Mrs
Williams found tears starting to her evas
as she looked at her, and Mr.. Willian,s
went to the efflce with very grava faco
and worked nervously over his hooLs