The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1904-10-28

n TOP harry ShnderS stopped
To~ his horses and twined his
rcins round the whlp-stock standing
in its case on the right Of the seat.
Then he pulled on his leathern
grabs" and began TO pitch his load Of
lime rock, piece by'piece, into the gran
its lined pit that yawned below him,
vomiting forth a ccaseless tide Of
smoke and heat.
Underneath, in the body Of the kiln,
were twenty or thirty tons of lime
rock in every stage OF burning, from
the thoroughly calcined Jumps at the
bottom, which needed only shOvcling
out and cooling off to prepare them for
packing in the casks, To the fragments
last thrown in at the top. crusted with
coal SCOT, but not yet heated enough TO
show any signs of Crumbling. From
this mass, through which the arches
sent steady flood of streaming flame,
spun out by the forced draft. rose n
mingled column of carbonic acid gas
for the human lungs.
III man ever falls into one of those
tops, he's donew burner had once re-
marked, and no one who had seen the
smoking pits in full blast would be
likely TO question the truth OF the as
scrtion.
IL was Monday morning. and the rock
In the kiln had settled Il considerably
distance. The top was something over
twelve feet in diameter. From this
point the body of the furnace gradually
contracted, until just above the arches
II measured barely eight feet across
Up TO within two or three yards of the
surface il was lined with fire brick, but
for the remainder Of the distance
blocks of so-called fire granite were EN-
ployed.
The workmen below never intcn,
tlOnally put on fresh coal when cart
was being unloaded above, but some
times they could not avoid doing so
and then the driver was subjected to a
very unpleasant smoking
On this morning Sanders was mfor
tunate. He had not thrown Off a
dozen pieces when he heard the scrap
ing Of shovels, and I'm few seconds
curling mp through every crcvicc I'm the
rough pit bottom came the sooty vapor
Thicker and thicker il grew. cddying
and whirlinC round him i'm choking
clouds. But the team must be unload
cd, and he could not stop The faster
he worked the sooner he would bC
through
With dropped heads the horses stood
patiently, waiting for the signal e
start They were used 10 the smoke
and, indeed. were so far forward thai
they did not get nearly So much as
their driver. He was completely hid
den by il. 4 spectator short distanc,
away could not have told whether ol
not he was still on the top of his load.
Sanders worked rapidly, tossing th,
Jumps one after another into the kiln
top. The wagon was perhaps n quar-
Ter unloadcd when his left toe caugh
under an especially large piece of rocl
and he stumbled forward. Then
fragment under his other foot gavD
way and he pitched over the whcc
into the mouth of the kiln. As he Eel
be caught unavailingly at the whip
stock, round which the reins wer
twisted. II yielded and the plac
where he had stood was vacant. =
blackly did the smoke roll over IN
wagon that a man ten feet of coul
not have seen him fall
Almost before the driver had tine {
realize what had occurred he foun
himself sprawling i'm loose. helplcs
heap upon the rocks he had ju,
thrown I'm. They were not yet hcate
through. but their sharp corners CT
and bruised him severely.
Instantly the deadly peril OF his sit
alton dawncd upon him and he sprar
10 his feet. bent upon getting out
once. Warm, black and sitting. Il
smoke wrapped him about like
shroud. lie began to cough and chok
An ordinary man would have 81
cumbed Immediately i'm that fearful 9
mosphere. but Sanders had become
accustomed TO breathing coal smo
that he did not yield readily to {
fumes. lie was perfectly aware tll
his life could be measured by a We
few scores OF seconds unless be ext
Gated himself at once from this fie
pit Two quick steps trcGsdt him