The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1901-05-29

| down the. shaft. by the trousers legs,
and, catching the exhausted Mitchell
| by the hair of the head. saved him
| from horrible death by being dashed
| To the bottom, several hundred feet
| below Those are only a few instances
| when Brown courtcd death with that
sang froid which ono displays in the
| most trivial occurrences of every day
| life. ! knew all that, and | regretted
| that ! was with him on that mcmor-
| able morning. Mitchell, too, was cour-
| ageous in high degree, and If he
| lacked Browns spirit and dash and
| careless abandon. he was an element
| ON which to rely in contingency of
| this kind
1t was Il delightful day when we
entered the mine. The soft October
sun was only well above the distant
eastern hills, hut its mellow, tender
warmth kindlcd feeling to remain
in the gladstone air, where tho varic
gated hucs of fern and foliage made
beautiful the last blush of the dying
year. That was immcasurably so when
| ! contrastcd the perfect day with the
| black, damp aspect within the tun-
nel's 'mouth.' AS we lighted our
copper lamps all was as still as the
tomb. save the rhythmic dropping OF
water which fell here and there with
| painful regularity. and made one think
| of the clock Of destiny marking Off
the seconds for Time in his trcless
| sweep across the centuries.
The way led up three lowering planes
and our progress was slow and labor
| cd, especially on the last where the
| gradient approXimates thirty degrees.
There was no conversation all us he
| ing seemingly preocCupicd with the
| seriousness of our mission and the
great danger it involved. AS VIC as
| C"nded the last incline, Brown, who
first. stopped near the head and placed
a piece of plank lengthwisc, suggested
| that We sit. This was the first time
that we heard with certainty the
cracking and falling roof. distant. pos
sibly. nearly mile. The sounds were
distinct enough, but they seemed
faint and far Boys said Brown.
she is letting up. We shall continue
in this heading as far as we can. and
determine the damage and see what is
| possible in the way of sticking up ad-
| ditional props to further support this
place.
| But as we proceeded the unuistak-
| able noises of falling masses increased.
| They came quick and sharp. and to
my inexperienced ear forcbodcd
trouble at any time. Brown. too, it
| occurred to me. was disheartened at
those new evidences OF the extent and
progress of the fall still, We moved
| on without Speaking. Brown was first
Mitchell next and | had the honor of
| filling in behind. Indeed | had no de-
| sire to crowd either of my companions
for his place in the procession. l was
| an unwilling hero. | had no over
poWcrinG wish to write my name
| among the stars by display of hero
| ism such as the occasion might offer.
The valiant Wolfe. on that starry
| autumn night of long ago, said that
| he would rather be the author of
| Gray's Elegy than he the hero of the
| battle of Quebec. The immortal Cac-
| Sar will be remembered longer as
| RomeS peerless master of prose than
as her greatest general.
We were now nearly two miles under
| ground. The crumbling, crushing roof
| could be heard more clearly as we
proceeded. The noise increased most
audiblv as we turned a curve in the
road and got on the inside of a door,
| used to facilitate ventilation.
Hold on" | yelled. I'VE are walk
ing right into the fall-risht into death.
1t is foolhardy to continue" But there
was no response to my warning. Sharp
particles of coal, not larger than the
mead or pin, were now and then shot
out OF the pillars, so great was the
pressure on those natural walls of the
GangWay, and striking us in the face
left smartinS sensation. The road
too. was no longer clear. Large pieces
oi coal. the size of Il nail keg, were
streWn every few feet. forced, too,
from the pillars because of the great
weight under which they were
straining While we stopped a mo-
nent to refill our lamps from a bottle
of oil carried in Mitchells hip pocket,
there was a thunderOuS crushing of
the roof short distance ahead pre-
ceded by rush of air which almost
took us off our feet. All the lamps
We're blown out. Brown hastily
scratched match, and we soon had
llSht again. In another moment we
We're moving onward to the fall. pos
SlblN onward to death. Mitchell like
myself, would willingly ret;,,e. but
ms pride was al stake. and he dog
Sedly followed the road. which was
now almost impossible, the coal from
lho working pillars falling in huge
pies ana making our progress difficult
IN the extreme. The small. sharp par
tlcleS of coal We're constantly shooting
out, and We tried to screen our faces
With both our hands, the lamps being
hooked in our hats.
From the heading below us but st;,l
we'll up ON the mountain side, we could
hear fan after fall, and the crashing
roof suggested thunder storm in the
distance. Brown said. Boys, ! believe
the whole mine is working There is
evidently continuous squeeze em-
bracing the entire mountain side. |
would, however like to go as far as
possible here, and see if the fall is
broken off II il has, there is still
hope that the mine may he saved |
admit that our position is hazardous
enough, hut | am sure that we can
retrace our steps with safety at any
Time However, | shall go as far as
cam ana ! never asked any man to
follow me when his judgment directed
MN the other way With those few
words oi determination and caution
ne knocked up the wick in his lamp,
ny striRihg the latter against the toe
OF ms boot, and went forward again.
we followed him, but only few hun
area rect our Judgment, or at least
mine, hogan to direct me the other
way indeed 1t had been directing
me that way all day. Mitchell"
said, Il stop here. This is the most
unnecessary, and. at the same time
t,In ,i