The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1895-11-09
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For THE WING.
DOWN in A COAL MINE.
Paper No. 81
By ]. Barry Sheehan.

roundings while at home,
we will endeavor to throw some light on
his surroundings while at work And |
think we could adopt no better plan than
for me in the guise of an imaginary miner,
to assume the responsibility of leader of the
gang and while in this position, try, in my
own humble and fear inexpensive way,
to explain the manner in which the various
parts OF the mine which were familiar to
me, are worked. So | will begin, kind
reader, by stating that the first thing that
attracts the attention of the visitor on
alighting from the miners train, is the
"breakeI," which is building of man.
moth proportions and is defined to be "the
structure containg the machinery used for
the preparation of coal" 1t will be OBJ
served that the building of the breaker,
with its machinery to be connected with
the mines, determines to some extent the
location of the shaft or opening. 1t matters
not which was actually first located.
The breaker once built, is built with
reference to the opening. \ breaker is a
structure of great value; it cannot be safely
removed without great loss. On the other
hand the opening is the means of access by
the owner to his property; by property we
mean the coal as it is not uncommon for
person to own only the COAL with no sur
face save that for his opening, his breakers,
and for dumping ground. If the breaker
make his opening at least two hundred
feet therefrom, which is the law is might
throw him off his own land, in which case
he would own his property without access
to it, So with these few facts concerning
the breaker we will leave it for the present.
For, although it was the first thing about
the mine to meet our gaze, we will leave it
until last for our general inspection, as it
would be like beginning at the tail end to
will make our way to the top of the slope
and hunt up the engineer who, is the
genial good natured fellow they generally
are, and will give us a brief explanation OF
the hosting machinery.
What does that building contain from
which those large clouds of steam are
rising? asks the visitor as we approach
the head of the slope. THAT, SIR replies
theguide, contains the machinery for hoist
in, tbn npnl IN tba cprfaoa LAT,
in, don't know whether its Jim or Bob,
that's day shift this week, but | reckon its
all the same as | know them both, y and
with a few remarks similar to the above,
he is about to enter when his companion
suddenly eXclaims, 'Say friend, see that
notice ON the door? Positively no adj
we on business? Come right in with me
and don t let anything like that alarm you.
SO in we went, and one glance at the man
at the lever is sufficient, his gloved hands
and thin irregular growth of beard on his
drawn, tender LOOKING red face, tells at
once that i'm is on this week Heroic Jim
lluNtIb WHO llSkbt Ills lllt lDI lHe men III
the slope at the burning of the old engine
house, and as there seems to be an ineXaust-
able supply of coal at the bottom Just now,
don't mind telling you how he did it.
Twas this way, here, lets draw this tool
chest little this way, so the sun from that
window won't he so strong in our faces.
There that will do. Well now you noticed
how far back from the mouth of the slope
this building stands didn't you? Well
that's to enable them to land miners more
safely in case these buildings on top here,
should ever take fire again, and also to pre-
vent the slope itself from burning buildings
on top as it did before. When the fire took
place the engine house stood close to the
mouth of the slope, and was built over the
track so as to admit the cars as they were
holsted, to pass under it. At that time,
the mouth of the slope was the only means
of entrance or exit to or from that part of
the mine, and at any time it would be con
sidered foolhardy act to attempt to climb
'hS Slol'ti oNlIIS W iIS slecpucsS. III Will
ter time it would he almost certain death,
as Il great deal of ice forms on the slope in
freezing weather. Well, that's Just how
things stood one cold day in December, a
few years ago, when suddenly the engine
house was discovered to he on fire, and as
luck would have it, Jim was on.
He phoned to the bottom man to have all
the men in the slope assembled at the bot.
tom as soon as possible, and then to lose no
time in having them prepare for the ascent
as there was Il slight fire on top which from
the way the wind was, might become
uncomfortable at any moment. He
then flew to the boiler house and after dis
patching to one of the firemen to the
breaker to have the whistle sounded as an
alarm, and to procure what hose he could,
he grabbed up an old short piece of hose
used to drench the cinders after being
drawn from under the boilers, and connect
ing it to plug with the assistance of the
remaining fireman, they soon a (such as it
was) on the burning building. Then with
with few hurried orders to the fireman at
his side, he called out to the top-man in
charge that day and asked how many men
went down that morning to which that