Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1906-08-18
GHOSTS IN
HXHWNHAN an HHW
DEEP MINES

clareS the butte MOnt.l NpfieSp0hN
ent Of the Philadelphia Record. And
of all superstitions there are none
more weird than those OF the grave
yard" shift. The graveyard shift Is
the dead OF INTELLECTUALLY between
II d. m. and s a. m-and it is then
that the tommy knockers" are most
often heard Nearly all of the big
mines Of the west are Ia operation
constantly during the - hours OF
every day and the seven days or
every week a great mining plant
does not shut dem on the Fourth
of July or even Christmas. The men
are driving the drills, the shots are
being fred the broken ore shoveled
into cars and carried out through
the shaft or taanel. and the big
mills are grinding. pounding and roar
Ing for 365 days in the year. Inc
miner who works steadily has no
variation in his life lie is as far
away from the world as the sailor at
sea, and the conditions are far more
propitious for che birth and growth
of superstitions
Suddenly in the never-ceasing drip,
drip of the water, he hears some
sound-the regular ring of a hammer
not far from him. He is puzzled, for
he knows that he is alone in that
part of the mine Never doubling the
accuracy of his understanding, he
takes his candle from the rock and
tramps through the tunnel toward the
sound of the drilling. He stops TO
listen. Ii seems above and he climbs
up into raise" where ore has been
taken down from above the tunnel
The drilling ceases The miner
stops in surprise. lie is alone, 500
feet below ground. except for this I'M
known companion. There is mo-
ment Of silence, intensified, it seems,
by the drip drip, drip of the water and
the utter darkness
Not far ahead the miner suddenly
hears a new sound. Some one is walk.
ing rapidly through the tunnel with
a regular tread, splashing in the mud
and water. The miner, his candle at
his side, quickly follows. He almost
runs in his haste to find his compan-
| ion. But the tramp and splash of the
| unknown feet are always Just ahead
| of him. He stops and shouts;
Hey! Who are you, there?"
| No answer comes, and he calls
again and again Still he hears in
The darkness the tread and splash of
the phantom feet. All at once
strong man is filled with fear. He
| begins to tremble and grow cold and
| then, in panic of dread, he turns and
fees, stumbling and plunging through
the tunnel to the shaft.
And the mine has mysterious voices,
| too A veteran miner tells of a
| strange warning which came to him
once and a narrow escape from death.
| He was working in mine in Montana
in charge of the pumps, which were
kept constantly going to keep the
| mine from filling with water. When
| each crew or shift" of men finished
| work he would regularly make an in
| spection of the FIVE pumps which We're
! in operation.
The ore was lifted from this mine
on an inclined shaft. The cars, which
| run on wheels up such a shaft, are
| called "skips," and 1t was the break
| ing of skip" which came near be-
ing fatal that night The pump in
| spector had visited four Of the pumps
| and was about to start down the shaft
to the fifth, which was 500 feet below
| ground, when, as he tells me, he felt
| peculiar feeling of fear and voice
| directly over his shoulder said to him
| Don't you go down that shaft 10
night
| The miner stopped. He seemed al
| most to feel the breath of the voice
against his cheek Then be told him
self he was foolish to heed any imag-
inings, and he went down to the
pump. When he reached the 500-foot
level he began at once his inspection
| of the machinery. Back in the tunnel,
\ which extended away in the darkness.
| the water stood nearly filing the pas
sage, over mans head in depth
A hundred feet above an ore car
! filed with tons of rock was emptied
| into a skip" which was started up
the inclined shaft toward the surface.
A moment later the man working at
the pump heard a crashing. terrific
rafting sound. He realized at once
that the skip had broken, and that
the tons Of rock were tumbling
toward him down the shaft Instinc
lively he fattened himself against the
wall. and the rock came like an ava
lancne. Most of 1t he escaped, but
heavy pieces struck his shoulders
causing painful bruises But that was
not the worst
Soon the air was filed with hise
ing steam. The load OF ore in its fail
had broken steam pipe above. and
the inspector knew that in few min
utes more he would be smothered
The steam was binding II was hot
and sitting in his nostrils and his
lungs. But he had little time TO
think Only one course was open
He plunged into the icy Water of the
tunnel and swan off into the dark
ness.
Then the break in the steam pipe