The Roanoke times. (Roanoke, Va.) 1897-1977, 1897-08-13
TRAGEDIES OF THE MINES.
Curious Accidents That Have Happened to
Delvers After Hidden Treasura

Delivers After Hidden Treasure.
In this line of work we come across
some curious accidents and narrow
escapes, said Deputy Mine Inspector
Frank Hunter the other night. Zone
thing struck me long ago, and that is
how much it takes to kill man some
times and how easily the thread of life
is often snapped.
''Down i'll Colorado I knew a fellow
who plunged down 500 feet in q single
compartment shaft. He went to the
bottom, but did not break q bone Of
course he was pretty badly Jared up
and good deal frightened, but he was
all right again i'll day or two. When
he fell, he went down feet first, and q
big oilskin that he wore opened out at
the bottom and acted as parachute.
He said the last part of his descent was
so much slower than the first that he
hardly thought he was dropping at all
and half expected to remain suspended
i'll tho shaft, like Mohammed's coffin.
Nearly always when n man falls
any distance he turns over, if he starts
feet downward, and finishes his plunge
head first. 1 have seen number of
cases where the man fell with his boots
Oh and WAS found barefooted when he
was picked up suppose this is because
the blood goes to the head, making the
feet smaller, and besides the pressure of
the air upon the heel and counter acts
as u bootjack.
Il had to go over to Sand Coulee to
investigate an accident in which one
man was killed and another had three
ribs broken. Speaking of Sand Coulee,
1T struck mo while was there that if I
wanted to commit suicide would go
there to do it. 1 don't mean that life
becomes such burden in the coal coun-
try that the ties that bind are more
easily severed than elsewhere, but that
1t affords unsurpassed facilities for
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 Couleo route.
down in the coal mines there ia
one passage that is three miles long, and
III some OF the chambers air does not
seem to circulate. Upon tho walls
there is gathering of moisture, and if
you puff "a cigar i'll one of these cham
bers the smoke will seek the walls,
where it clings with an unduating
movement like II spray of weeds under
running water. That dew OH tho walls
IS white damp, and the dead air of tho
chamber where it is found is poisonous.
III few minutes q feeling Of drowsi-
ness steals over man who breathcs it,
and before long he is asleep and dream
ing delicously, so those saw who have
been resuscitated. But the sleep is akin
TO that of the lost traveller over whose
numbed limbs tho arctic snow eddies
and drifts, for unless help comes soon
there Is no awakening. If. however, the
venturcsome explorer of these under
ground deathtraps realizes his danger
i'll time and manages to staggcr ont in
to the fresh air, he has an experience
to undergo which may cause him to re-
greet that he did not remain inside. Ev-
cry bono and muscle aches with tho in
tolerable poignancy that is known to
convalcscents 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 III short time the patient has full
ly recovered. Butte (Mon. Miner.