Mexico Missouri message. (Mexico, Audrain County, Mo.) 1899-1918, 1906-08-23
GHOSTSHN l
DEEP Mines

which develop among the men who
toll in the dampness Of the mine, de.
clares the Butte MONTY correspond.
emit of the Philadelphia Record. And
of all superstltions 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 a. m.--and It is then
that the "tommy-knockers are most
often heard. Nearly all Of the big
mines Of the west are in operation
constantly during the "a hours Of
every day and the seven days Of
every week A great mining plant
does not shut down on the Fourth
of July or even Christmas. The men
are driving the drills, the 'shots" are
being fired, the broken ore shoveled
into cars and carried out through
the shaft or tunnel, and the big
mills are grinding, pounding and roar
ing for 1856 days in the year. The
miner who works steadily has no
variation in his life. He. is as far
away from the world as the sailor at
sea, and the conditions are far more
propitious for the birth and growth
of superstitions.
Suddenly, in the never-ceasing drip,
drip Of the water, he hears some
. sound-the regular ring Of 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. It 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. He is alone, 500
feet below ground, except for this UNI
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 new sound. Some one is walk
ing rapidly through the tunnel with
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 a
strong man is filled with fear. He
begins to tremble and grow cold and
then, in a 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 ard a narrow escape from death.
He was working in mine in Montana
In charge of the pumps, which we're
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 were
in operation.
The ore was lifted from this mine
on an inclined shaft. The cars, which
run on wheels up such shaft, are
called ''skips," and it was the break
ing of "slzip" 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
a peculiar feeling of fear and voice
directly over his shoulder said to him:
Don't you go down that shaft to.
nightv' ~
The miner stopped. He seemed al
most to feel the breath of the voice
against his cheek. Then he told him.
self he was foolish to heed any imag.
nings, and he went down TO the
pump. When he reached the 500-foot
vel he began at once his inspection
Of the machinery. Back in the tunnel
which extended away in the darkness,
the water stood pearly filling the pas
sage, over mans head in depth.
A hundred feet above an ore car
filled with tons of rock was emptied
into skip" which was started up
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A moment later the man working at
the pump heard crashing. a terrific
rattllng sound. He realized at once
that the skip had broken. and that
the tons OF rock were tumbllng
toward him down the shaft. Instinc,
lively he fiattened himself against the
wall, and the rock came like an ava
Ianche.. Most Of It he escaped, hui
heavy pieces struck his shoulders
causing painful bruises But that was
lot the worst.
Soon the air was filled with hissl
ing steam. The load of ore in It's fall
had broken steam pipe above, aud
the inspector knew that in few min
utes more he would be smothered
The steam was binding. 1t was hol
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