The copper country evening news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 18??-1907, 1897-08-21
TRAGEDIES OF THE MIure
Curious Accidents That Have Han
Delivers After HId,i., Ppened 70

Curious Accidents That Have u.
Delivers After Hidden T rea.nsts
"lr this line of work wa oo,,,.
come curious accidents and na aO'oss
escaIes," said Deputy Mine h saalow
Frank Hunter the other night r .su
thing struck me long ago, and u. one
now much it takes to kill man s"s Is
times and how easily the thread % sOm nS
is often snapped. VI NE
"Down in Colorado I knew en-
who plunged down 500 feet in . , s;s',
compartment shaft. He wen, @'"sie
bottom, but did not break n hon vac
course he was pretty badly iarroa VI
and good deal frightened. bnt no up
all right again in day or two. WIS
he fell, he went down feet first an n'"
big oilskin that he wore opened ont
the bottom and acted as a paroch,.a
He said the last part of his descent NV.
so much slower than the first tha. ""'
hardly thought he was dropping A. a Is
and half expected to remain suspended
in the shaft, like Mohammed's cofin
Nearly always when a man fan.
any distance he turns over, if he stor..
feet downward, and finishes his Mime
head first. have seen number 90
cases where the man fell with his NO.
on and was found barefooted when ho
was picked up. l suppose this is becauso
the blood goes to the head, MAKING ,ho
feet smaller, and besides the pressure of
the air upon the heel and counter octs
as a bootjack.
Il had to go over to Sand Coulee n
investigate an accident in which ono
man was killed and another had tbroo
ribs broken. Speaking of Sand Conleo
1T struck me while l was there that IT,
wanted 10 commit suicide | wonld oo
there to do it. | don't mean that life
becomes such a burden in the coal conn.
try that the ties that bind are mora
easily severed than elsewhere. but that
1T affords unsurpassed facilities for n
cheap and happy dispatch. It's won.
der to me that some of the many peo.
pie who annually launch themselves
into eternity from Butte do not take
the Sand Coulee route.
down in the coal mines there is
one passage that is three miles long. and
in some of the chambers air does NOT
seem TO circulate. Upon the walls
there Is gathering of moisture, and if
you puff cigar in one of these cham.
bers the smoke will seek the walls.
where it clings with an undulating
movement like spray of weeds under
running water. That dew on the walls
is white damp, and the dead air of the
chamber where it is found is poisonous.
In few minutes feeling of drowsi.
ness steals over man who breathes il,
and before long he is asleep and dream.
ing deliciously, so those say who have
been resuscitated. But the sleep is akin
to that of the lost traveller over whose
numbed limbs the arctic snow eddies
and drifts, for unless help comes soon
there is no awakening. If, however, the
venturesome explorer of these under.
ground deathtraps realizes his danger
in time and manages to stagger out in
to the fresh air, he has an experience
to undergo which may cause him to re.
greet that he did not remain inside. Ey.
cry bone and muscle aches with the in
tolerable poignancy that is known to
convalescents from yellow fever. The
treatment is simple, but effective Be-
ing nearly dead, the sufferer is nearly
buried. A hole is dug in the soft earth,
and the victim is made to stand up in it
while the dirt is thrown in around him
until only his head is seen above ground
This seems to draw out the soreness,
and in short time the patient has full
" recovered. Butte Mon. Miner.