The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1905-01-13
IN A KILN.T0P
,r-n BY
ALBERT w. TOLMAN

IRVING his heavy four-horse wagon
l up on the stage beside the open kiln
top, Harry Sanders stopped his horses
and twined his reins round the whip
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 limerick, piece by piece. into
the granite-lined pit that yawned below
him, vomiting forth q ceaseless tide OF
smoke and heat.
Underneath, in the body Of the kiln,
we're 20 or 90 tons of limerick in every
stage of burning, from the thoroughly
calcined Jumps at the bottom, which
needed only shoveling out and cooling
off to prepare them for packing In the
casks, to the fragments last thrown IN
1T 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 a mingled column OF car
bonic acid gas and coal smoke, deadly
combination for the human lungs.
IF a man ever falls into one OF those
tons. he's done!" burner had once re-
marked; and no one who had seen the
smoking pits in full blast would be like
" to question the truth of the assertion.
1t was Monday morning, and the rock
in thekiln had settled considerable dis
lance. The top was something over IL
feet in diameter. From this point the
body of the furnace gradually contract
ed until Just above the arches 1t meas
ured barely eight feet across. up 10
within two or three yards Of the surface
1t was lined with friedrich, but Tor the
remainder of the distance blocks OF So
called fire granite were employed
The workmen below never Intention
ally put on fresh coal when cart was
being unloaded above; but sometimes
they could not avoid doing so, and then
the driver was subjected to very un-
pleasant smoking.
On this morning Sanders was unfo.-
tunate He had not thrown on dozen
pieces when he heard the scraping OF
shoyels, and in a few seconds, curling
I'D through every crevice in the rough
pit bottom, came the sooty vapor. Thick
er it grew, eddying and whirling round
him in choking clouds. But the team
must be unloaded, and he could not stop.
The faster he worked the sooner ne
would be through.
With dropped heads the horses stood
patiently, waiting for the signal to
start. They were used to the smoke, and,
indeed, were so far forward that they did
not get nearly so much as their driver.
He was completely hidden by it. A spec
tator short distance away could not
have told whether or not he was still On
tie top of his load.
Sanders worked rapidly, tossing the
Jumps one after another into the Kiln
ton. The wagon was perhaps quarter
unloaded when his left toe caught un-
der an especially large piece of rock, and
he stumbled forward. Then fragment
under his other foot gave way. and he
pitched over the wheel into the mouth
of the kiln. AS he fell, he caught I'M
availingly at the whip-stock. roufn
which the reins were twisted. 1t yield
ed. and the place where he had stood was
vacant. So blackly did the smoke roll
over the wagon that man ten feet on
could not have seen him fall.
Almost before the driver had time to
realize what had occurred, he found him.
self spraw{ing in a loose. helpless heap
upon the rocks he had just thrown IN.
They were not yet heated through. but
their sharp corners cut and bruised him
severely.
Instantly the deadly peril of his situa-
tion dawned upon him, and he sprang to
his feet, bent upon getting out at once.
Warm, black and sitting, the smoke
wrapped him about like shroud. lie
began to cough and choke. An ordinary
man would have succumbed Immediate
" in that fearful atmosphere. but San
ders had become so accustomed to
breathing coal smoke that he did not
weld readily to the fumes. lie was per-
fectly aware that his life could be meas
ured by very few scores OF seconds un-
less he extricated himself at once from
this fiery pit. Two quick steps brought
him to the front wall. He pushed his
hands up along the hot granite blocks.
and found that he could reach we'll over
the highest layer. A moments grasp
upon some firm projection, the quick
thrust of boot-toe !nto crack in the
lining, and Re would be out of his diem
ma il jiffy!
Even In the midst of his peril he was
inclined to congratulate himself that the
rock in the kiln was no lower, for had
the distance to fall been greater he
might have broken some bone, the heat
would have been more intense. and the
depth would have made it impossible for
him to get his hands over the top of the
granite. =
He was on the point of lifting his TOT
10 thrust it into some crevice in the
wall when beneath his feet there came
rumbling. sinking. The drivers heart
almost stood still with terror, for he
knew too we'll the meaning of the soun!.
The kiln was settling! Down slumped