The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-11-15
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Dream and Death.
Remarkable Experience Prospector in An Abandoned
Montana Mine
Special Correspondence of the Globe.

| Special Correspondence Of the Globe.
| BUTTE, Mont, Oct. 2S.-There has
come to Butte, through Deputy Mine
Inspector Frank Hunter, the story of
enc Of the most remarkable experiences
| that ever fell to the lot of a miner. 1t
| happened in one Of the abandoned
mines of Sand Coulee. 1t draws atten-
| ton to a new terror Of the mines-that
! is, new to most people-which is called
white damp.
| The following circumstances are told
| largely as dictated by Mr.. Hunter him
self, and they reveal facts that form as
unusual an experience as was ever re-
| lated by the most imaginative novel
| list. There are situated at Sand Coulee
a number of mines which were worked
by the earlier delivers in the earth and
| then abandoned. This was before the
days of the mining machinery that is
now in use, and so beds of ore that
were then considered practically worth
less owing to inability to handle them,
are now Of great value.
| 1t often happens that prospectors
travelling through these shafts will dis
cover a first-class lead, and, in fact,
many aminer has turned up a hand
some fortune in that fashion. Down in
one of the coal mines there is a very
long passage which, up to a short time
ago, had not been of recent years in
vestigated. No one knew anything
about it, and the bravest of the in
spectors rather hesitated to explore it,
because of the curious sounds which
came out of it. Very recently one of
the miners, a big. road-shouldered.
fearless chap, declared that he had
never seen anything underground that
careful man need be afraid of, and
announced his intention of exploring
the long and mysterious passage.
Equipping himself with lights and
implements, he started in early one
morning, several of his mates accom-
panying him perhaps a quarter of a
mile into the mysterious passage. The
footing was firm and fairly smooth all
the way to and as far as the lights
could penetrate ahead there was moth
ing out of the ordinary to encounter in
sight. The venturesome explorer was
positive from the general appearance of
things that it was worth while to con-
! tinue his journey, and so he told his
companions that he would go ahead for
awhile, and for them to meet him at
the mouth of the passage in two or
| three hours.
This they agreed to do and then
| separated. AS they were retracing their
steps and before they got fairly to the
| current of fresh air that all the time
puffed into the passage, they began to
| feel drowsy, and it was noticed that
smoke from the pipe Of one Of the men
sought the walls of the passage, where
| it chung with an undulating movement
! like a spray of weeds under running
water. Closer examination of the walls
revealed the fact that they seemed to
| be sparkling with what looked like
dew, but which one of the old-timers
in the party declared with exclama-
| lions of horror to be that rarity known
| as white damp.
This should not be COMPOUNDED with
fire damp, as the two are as different
as darkness and daylight 1t is the
result of bad ventilation, and rarely
| indeed has a man been known to re-
| main within it's influence for any
length Of time and escape with his life.
The miners reached the mouth of the
! passage in safety, but the discovery
Of the white damp alarmed them
greatly.
The original explorer Of them all had
gone on into the passage. 1t was
| quite probable that, being in utter ig
norance of the white damp, he would
not notice the drowsiness until it had
| gained so great a hold upon him that
he would be unable to escape before he
was forced to yield to it. 1t was
question whether it would be posi-
BILE for them to rescue him, for they
hot q
passage too far, they might also be
overcome by the damp.
At last they resolved to make the
attempt, and, after penetrating the
mine a quarter of a mile, they found
| their companion prone upon the floor
| With great difficulty they carried him
to the mine proper, and then up the
shaft to the surface, but all this time
| he remained unconscious. Finally, the
| old miner, who had discovered the
| white damp remembered that he had
been told the remedy for persons suf
fering from the effects thereof was
to bury them up to their necks in
earth
hole was soon dug, and the unfortu-
nate miner. with no more clothing on than
when he first entered the world, placed
| in erect position therein and earth loosely
| packed abount him until his collar bone
was covered. There he was permitted to
of half an hour he regained consciousness
and recognized those about him. When re-
| moved from the excavation at the end of
four hours he had sufficiently recovered to
relate his experience to his companions. He
| had, he said, penetrated fully three miles
into the passage before the drowsiness be
natural. He tried to throw it off, but to
his horror. it seemed like the tentacle of
| gigantic octopus slowly closing in upon him.
As rapidly as possible he retraced his foot
| steps, running as much as he could and the
surface of the passage would permit, until
| at last he fell In stupor He remembered
| lying on the ground for a moment and then
| all thought left him. How long he had lain
| there when he found no one knows
but it is probably not more than a few
moments. But the strangest feature Of the
| affair is yet to be told.
The dreams of the miner were something
| far beyond that which are vouchsafed to the
| user of either hasheesh or opium. Visions
of unspeakable beauty came to him. He
| seemed to be in land beside which Elysium
was almost a purgatory. The world was peo-
| pied by beings such as intoxicated one to
look upon. Life seemed to blissful for con-