The Grit-advocate., 1905-06-02

0o> other mining towns; stand
there at the Woodward
shaft, formerly and for years the deep
est Shaft in the anthracite region.
Ten by tiftythree feet in size, it gives
room for four hoisting carriages.
pump carriage and an air shaft. But
take away that timbering at the sur
face and picture the shaft as it was
when the rockmen completed the work
of sinking it, Imagine that a single
bucket swings in that black, yawning
cavity. TO be flung from that bucket
is to fall 1900 feet.
Fancy if you can the horror of that
sheer descent through the echoing
darkness. Then hear the story of Mark
Moore, pitman, who was saved in n
second, as by hairs breadth, from
the fate of his two companions.
The shaft itself. was Just finished.
and John Griffith. Evan Hughes and l
had been cleaning up the bottom to
put in the oak platform for the carr
ages to land on. The shaft was net
yet timbered. There We're just the four
walls, the rope and the hoisting bucket.
We finished our work early that day,
and were never in better spirits than
when we stepped on the bucket and
Evan called out to the head man to
hoist us. But somehow it happened
that the first words he. said, as we
started upward, We're, "Funny to think
of, eh. that cur lives depend >on the
strength of that rope:'
l looked up at the rope that seemed
mere thread at the top of the shaft.
Griffith, who was watching me, laughed
at the troubled expression on my face.
''Listen! See how far from the bot
tom we are already" lie said, reck-
lessly.
He sprang into the bucket, picked
up Il bit of rock, and let it fall
held my breath. There was moment
of dreary silence; then the rock, strik-
ingfi far below, made dismal, echo
ing sound.
"a sorry distance to fall" said John.
'No worse than if it were fifty feet"
/ answered, thinking to give the talk a
pleasanter turn: "and, anyway. there's
life for us above, on solid earth"
"And the engineers jerking us up out
Of here as if he was in a hurry to get
lis Oh that same solid earth,' Evan
said.
noticed as he spoke that we were in
deed ascending rapidly. TOO fast for
safety" I said, holding out my lient so
that could see the side of the shaft
nearest me. Look, how fast"
We did not need to look. The rapid
motion of the bucket could have been
detected by blind man. We were
being hoisted faster than we had ever
been before. Already the skeleton
framework of the head-house could be
seen clearly outlined against the blue
sky.
II shall report that fellow" Evan
said angrily. He has no right to
endanger our lives by such reckless
ness"
AS it flew upward the bucket swayed
strength to keep our hold. At any mo-
ment we might be shaken off and
hurled to the bottom of the shaft.
l cannot explain how l knew-im-
pressions are mysterious things-but
was as sure then as | am now that
something had gone wrong with the
hoisting machinery. That meant that
no human power could save us. The
bucket would be drawn up to the cross
timbers supporting the sheave-wheel,
the rope would break, and we would be
dashed to the rocks 1900 feet below.
Yet, as it seemed, John and Evan had
one chance, a narrow one, to save them
selves. We were within 200 feet of
the landing, and I said as quietly as
could, "Be ready to jump"
saw them pale. Evidently they,
too, in the few seconds that had
elapsed, had formed the same conclu-
sion had reached.
was standing a-straddlc of the
large bail Of the bucket Evan was on
one side, John on the other. There was
no room for me to jump, but when l
saw them turn their backs to the centre
of the shaft l knew they were going
to take their only chance. They might
reach and be able to cling to the tim
bers that framed the edges of the
shaft. 1t was 4 short jump, but taken