The herald., 1896-08-21
AHALF WITTED HERO


very few to beat that of which the hero
was poor, half witted Bill Smith, whom 1
met at an appalling mining disaster in
Scotland 10 or IL years ago. At that time
was doing my yearly round Of the man.
ufacturing towns in England to get line
on the newest thing In carpets and ran
north to Glasgow to visit somo friends.
The district for miles around is fairly hon
eycombed with coal mines. One forenoon
the startling information reached the city
that there had been an explosion In one OF
the pits at Blantyre, a village seven or
eight miles away, and curiosity drew me
thither. l don't believe I'll ever forget
the awful spectacle. Over 200 men were
entombed, great volumes of smoke shot up
through the pit mouth, and the wives and
mothers stood by as near as they dared,
weeping and wringing their hands for the
doomed men below.
Rescue parties were quickly made up,
but they were driven back repeatedly by
the binding, choking fumes that belched
from the pit mouth The cries of the
women were heartrending as they entreat-
cd tho rescue party to go down. AS
quickly as human hands and human hearts
could do 1t n fan was placed in position
and the cage lowered over the deadly shaft,
Still tho men, Injured as they were to dan
ger, shran1 back. Billy Smith pushed his
way through them. He was big, strong,
1anky fellow, sluggishly good natured and
known in the village as the man who
didn't know much. He had wandered
into the village half dozen years before,
with dirty, iimping cur at his heels.
When he was asked his name, no said it
was only Billy-nothng more. So they
stuck Smith to tho Billy because it was
easy and rugged him out with full name.
"Haud the pup" he said quietly, land
lot me gao DOOM An elderly wom-
an who had three sops in the pit blessed
him with the tears streaming down her
cheeks, while thu mon stood back abashed
and half ashamed. Billy was lowered
quickly, and in q few moments-it seemed
like an eternity to tho wailing women
ebove-he siGnaled for the cage to be
brought up. 1t carried three men and a
boy, blackened, choking, but unhurt.
"A few of the rescue party went down
with the cage again, for tho shaft was
clearer now, and moro Of the entombed
miners were quickly sent to the top. Then
the horrors Of the soene began to present
themselves. There had been great up
heaval in tho mines by tho force of the ex.
plosion and the passages were hopelessly
choked up with tons of fallen coal and de.
bris. More men went to the rescue. They
dug their picks into tho awful wall in
front of them, urged on by tho energy Of
despair. Night fell, but still the moroto-
nous ring of tho picks struck through the
mine which even now was tho tomb of
many strong man struck down in his
prime. Presently sort of opening was
made into the stubborn wall of coal which
blocked up the way and mans arm pro-
truded. The victim was quickly dug out
and conveyed to the pit mouth. He was
beyond all human help. He was not badly
mangled; he had simply been chokzd to
death by the fire damp. His widow had
lowered all the day near tho pit and in the
blackness of the night the Pickering lights
of the lamps shed feverishly ON her wan
face. They had been married only month
and she was on her way to the pit with
her husbands dinner when the roar of tho
explosion reached her ears. The dead man
was tenderly laid at her feet. She flung
herself on the body, kissed the poor black.
ened face and tatted the limp, lifeess
hands as she cried out: Speak to me-
John! For Gods sake speak to mep
''As the rescuers in the mine dug farther
aboO eio opOhALS tiOJ iini iiistNo tiC NCoei4S
fire damp rushed through and drove them
back. The fatal fumes pursued them, and
they hurriedly gave the signal to be drawn
up till the pit could be cleared of tho foul
air. Only half wittod Billy Smith re.
mained. You see he did not know much
Ho flung himself on the damp ground and
lay there for hours, helpless and half
conscious
"By and by his dull intelligence told
him of the buried miners in their living
tomb beyond. Ho took up a pick and
dug, dug, dug, slowly at first, but some
God given feeling within him prompted
him to persstently work. For seven
hours he dug on till tho ring of his pick
reached the entombed men. Sweeter mu-
sic mover struck mortal ears. They, too,
seized their picks and dug through the
black wall to meet their rescuer. Sud
denly 1t fell through, and a hole was left
large enough for a mans body to pass
through. Day was breaking at the pit
mouth when the Very, wretched watchers
there were startled to receive signal for
the cage. 1t was quickly lowered and
came up presently with q grewsome col
lection Of limbs that had been torn off
dead bodies and living men.
1.-THE work of rescue now went bravely
on and the awful extent of tho calamity
was soon discovered. A dozen or so more
miners were dug out alive, and as each
pitload reached the mouth the rescued
miners were seized by their friends and
hurried off to the village public house.
Soon the sounds of revelry swept down to
the pit mouth, where wornout, broken
hearted women stood waiting for their
dead and strong men sobbed for their boys.
The dead miners were drawn up the shaft
in pitiable state. Some had had their
arms or legs torn off, others had lost their
heads, while more had their faces SO black
touch.
Suddenly somebody in the crowd cried,
Where's Billy Smith, Nobody knew,
and two good natured miners volunteered
to go down the shaft to see If he had been
hurt in the mine. They searched per.
functorily enough, for they did not sup
pose that he had been left behind. But
faint moan reached their ears from among
the debris, which had fallen near the hole
that had been battered in for the rescue Of
the entombed miners. They cleared the
rubbish away quickly and pulled out
man. Yes, it was Billy. He had dug his
own grave. He was hauled to the top and
laid down. Brandy was poured down his
throat, and by and by he opened his eyes.
'Whaur's my dog? he family choked out.
Somebody brought the cur to him and laid
1t in his arms. He hugged it closely, and
then, with a smile on his blacSened,
scorched face he ouietly died Billy was