The new enterprise., 1905-05-11

| the landing, ana said as quietly as 1
could, "Be ready to jump.H
1 saw them pale. Evidently they,
too, in the few seconds that bad
elapsed, had formed the same conclu-
| sion l had reached.
was standing a-straddle 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 | 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 a short jump, but taken
from a swaying foothold, they knew as
well as l that it was a most uncertain
one
what are you going to do?" Evan
asked.
Nothing, Look out for yourselves"
answered.
"What will become of youy
"God only knows" l responded, al
though l had made up my mind that
death awaited me.
Here, take my place" he cried,
eXcitedly. You are a married man,
and /"
He had no time to finish. The rate
at which the bucket had been ascend
ing had lesscned the distance to the
top Of the shaft with frlghtful rapid
ity, and before could answer NO."
we were out in the sunlight.
For moment l saw the earth, the
river, the mountains. Never had they
looked more beautiful l saw John
and Evan iump-and fall back into the
black pit heard cry Of horror from
the men who stood helpless at the
mouth of the shaft. Then the bucket
struck the cross-timbers, careened, and
threw me forward. My hands caught
something, As l grlpped it knew
that l was hanging on the lower circle
Of the sheayc-Whcel,
Then as heard the dull crash Of the
bucket on the rocks 1900 feet below
me I sickened, and everything swan
dlzzlly before my eyes, How did
manage to hold my grip until help
reached me? | do not know.
Some things can explain. learned
afterward the, cause of the accident
that took the lives Of my comrades, and
| found that it was by another accident
that my life was preserved.
At that time-twenty years ago-we
had only single engine, geared to
The hosting drum by pinion wheels,
1t was not a reversible engine. 1t had
large hywheel to carry the crank
over the centre, and was, in general
like most Of the old-fashioned hosting
machinery used in shaft sinking.
They told me that hardly had the
engineer started the engine on This oc.
casion when he discovered that he
could not control it, The disk in the
throttlc-valve had loosened in some
way. The engine gained speed with
each revolution, and could neither be
stopped nor checked,
Rushing ont of the engine room, he
gathered the men at the top of the
shaft. They saw the bucket shoot up,
saw John and Evan fall back, and saw
me catch the sheave-wheel ana hang
suspended over the centre of the shaft,
GraspIng a rope, the head man hm-
ried up the ladder to the cross-tmbers
Of the head-hOusc. Making moose in
the rope, he lowered 1t under my feet
and drew it up round my body. Not
moment too soon, for as the moose
drew taut tainted dead away.
Most wonderful Of all was the part
the sheave-wheel played IN securing
my safety. The wheel hung closely be-
tween the two cross-tmbers that sup.
ported IT, ana was revolving rapidly.
But when the bucket struck, the rope
was thrown off the wheel, and falling
between it and the cross-tlmbers,
gagged and stopped It,
Had the wheel continued to revolve,
it would have torn Off my hands in an
in slant and flung me down to death
with my companions, Lives are risked
as well as lost every day in the anthra'
cite regions, but l have never heard Of
a narrower escape than mlne.-Youtl's
COmDnnlOu