The Camden chronicle. (Camden, Tenn.) 1890-current, 1904-11-04

silent ana uGSefLeu. overhead the
black, chasm-saamcd rocks extend, and
seem ready 10 descend upon him at
any moment; the water drips from nu-
merous crevices, and falling upon the
hard floor gives forth weird, unnat-
ural sound. 1t seems to the lone min
er that those strange noises are made
by the nails being driven into coffin,
and he shudders. Slime oozes from the
sides of the old "gangway," and the
iron mine rails are Fusted, and de-
cayed by the action OF sulphur water.
Deeper, and yet deeper he makes his
way into the mine, and the cold, damp
air strikes upon him like a chill breath
from the grave.
The mine lamp upon his hat sheds a
fitful light upon the uncanny place.
and the miner sees that here and there
the wooden props that were to sustain
the roof from where there were no
pillars" have fallen from their places.
He has now reached the point at
which his work is to be commenced,
and he sets about the task of drilling
a hole into a huge pillar Of coal He
labors diligently, and when the drill
measure" tells him that the required
depth is reached he puts the powder
into the hole. and prepares to fire
the shot" that is to blast away the
coal.
All is in readiness, and he lights the
fuse that is to ignite the powder and
then hastens away to q safe distance
to await the expected explosion.
One, two, three moments pass, and
the explosion does not take place.
The miner thinks the fuse must have
gone out ere it reached the powder,
but he waits a moment longer He is
no quite sure that the fuse has fail
ed, and he returns to examine it. He
is but few feet from it when there is
a binding fash. followed by terrific
explosion that seems to shake the
earth to its foundation, and the same
instant a mountainous mass of coal,
rock and earth deScends upon him.
He is crushed to earth, but not kill
ed outright, for a fallen prop that
CHANGED to lie near where he fell sup
ports the mass somewhat. He strug-
giles desperately to free himself, but
the effort is useless, for he is held
down by weight that no one could
move. Air comes through the cracks
about him, and he thanks God for that,
for, with the blind infatuation that
prompts the drowning man to catch at
straw. he yet hopes to be saved.
There seems little grounds for hope,
and as the time drags on. and no res
cuer comes to his aid a terrible deS-
pair takes possession of his heart.
ooh, God" he cries, spare me,
spare me for the sake of my helpless
family"
But no one comes. and he thinks
that he is doomed to die alone in the
darkness of that living grave.
The clock strikes six, and Mary,
John Fayne's wife looks anxiously
forth from the window of their cot,
hoping to see the welcome form of her
husband returning from the mine, but
sight of him does not gladden. her
eyes. A half hour passes, and the
waiting wife begins to fear that some
danger has come to the absent one
Another half hour is gone, and now
the expected one is an hour late.
For the last few moments the terrible
fear that had arisen in the mind of the
miners wife has become almost
certainty.
At last she can wait no longer and
throwing q shawl over her head she
hastens to the neighboring hamlet
and rouses q party OF miners to go
to the old North Mountain mine, to
search for the missing one.
"Oh, hasten! hasten" she cries, as
she fees over the ground at the head
of the rescue party. Love seemed
to give her new strength, and speed.
The mine was soon reached, and the
very pillar beneath which John Fayne
had been buried was found. They saw
that he had been at work here and
they also saw that an extensive cave
i'm had occurred. These men were
experienced miners, and they shook
their heads gravely when the almost
frantic wife asked them if there was
any hope.
mo, there is no hope for poor John
Fayne! 1t would take days to remove
that mass of coal and rock, and he
would then be dead, as he no doubt |
now is, for | think he must have been
instantly crushed" said an aged miner
to companion.
The work of removing the fall
was commenced, and after a time the |
bereaved wife was induced to return