Oxford Democrat., 1913-02-18

Then ! felt the speed Of the hoist
diminish. A pressure came in my ears
and / swallowed hard. and a second
later q soft yet abrupt pause In 0ul
descent brought me down on my heels
The black wall Of the shaft before me
suddenly gave way. and we came to
| stop OH the bottom Of the mine.
1t was cool. and after the heat OF a
July morning the damp freshness OF
| the air chilled me- With dinner pals
banging against our knees we pushed
| out of the hoist. and as the men crowd
| ed past me. stood with my back
against u great timber and looked
around me. Behind. the hoist had al
! ready sunk into the "Sump. or PIT
at the bottom Of the shaft. In order
| that tie men on the second compart-
ment might pass out into the mine. ana
a second later they swarmed by me
! and still stood. half dazed by the roar
| of unknown sounds. my eyes blankete!
by the absence of light. and my whole
| mind smOthered and crushed. was
standing Just Off the main entry or
lunuel of the mine. which began ON my
left hand ont OF blackness and Iasse'i
again. on my right into seeming wall
| of darkness. The low. black roof, close
ly beamed with great thnberS. WAS
held by long lines Of great whltewNSh-
ed tree trunks. 4 few electric llShtS
shone dimly through their dust coated
.slolaS. and the yellow flames from the
mems pit lamps. which had tiared so
bright i'm the compartment of the ii"iS''
ing cage. seemed now hut thin tongues
of flame that marked rather than DIS
closed the men.
Ont of the blackneSs OH the left tw"
tracks passed over great ph anu
stretched on into the hlackneSs Oh the
right AS though into the wall or the
coal itself. Then. faroff. red sigma!
light winkrd out and made distance
visible, and beyond Ii came the sonliu
of grinding wheels: there was the
rleam of headlight on tile steel rails.
The ray grew larger and two yellow
sparks above IL famed out int" pit
lights. A train waS coming out oi the
entry. and waited until ii should
pass. With grind of brakes II sud
denly loomed ont ~ the hla"kneSS ana
into the dull haze nf light ~ the Shiil
bottom With II roar II passed ny.
The locomotive. great iron box. was
built like Il battering ram. the head
light set In its armor plated bow ana
behind. on two low seats. as III rae
Ing automobile. sat the motornan anu
the "trip rider" or helper. the motor
man with enc hand on the great iron
brake wheel. the other on his control
ler and the trip rider swinging on his
low seat. half on the motor and hall
over the coupling Of the rocking ear
behind, clinging to the pole of the troll
lev. Their faces were black with the
coal dust-black as the motor ana their
clothing-and from their pit lamps the
flames bent back In the wind ana
streamed out straight along their cap
tons. Low above the head OF the trip
rider the wheel on the trolley streaked
out sudden bursts Of greenish white
sparks along the wire. and rs the train
passed by the roar Of the locomotive
gave place to the Gathering OF the
couplings Of the long string Of stocky
ears, each heaped high with its black
load of coal. Some one seized me by
the elbow.
whats yer number?' he asked.
"419."
"Loader? New man?"
I nodded.
"Come along with me-"
He was tall. thin man. who walked
with his head thrown forward and his
Thin against his chest as though in
constant fear Of striking the low beams
overhead. ] followed him. stumbling
| rather clumsily over the broken coal
beside the track. The train had come
to q stop over the pit between the rails.
| anu men with Iron bars were DeatihS
| looss the frogs and releasing the hop
per bottoms of the cars. Heavy clouds
| of fine coal dust poured up from the
| cars uS the coal roared down into the
bins, ami the clanking OF metal. the
crash uf tai ng cOnl and the unintelli-
pible shull ing of the foreigners filled
the entry with dull tumult OF sounds.
Dodginy the low trolley wire which
hung about five feet above the rails.
we crlwled across the coupling be-
tween two Of the cars to the other side
Of the entry and walked to the left.
past the locomotive. where the motor
man was still sitting in his low seat
waiting to pull out his train Of empty
cars into the sudden darkness Of the
tunnel beyond. Then for the first time
| | learned that mines are eckoless
and that sound, like light. is absorbed
| by the blotter-like walls Of the tun-
nels
| We walked down the entry between
the rails and after hundred yards
turned with the switch In the track
sharply to the right. and again on
Sense of direction or angles was lost
and, like the faces in a foreign race OF
people. where one can see little or nc
individuality, 80 here. each cornel
seemed the same. and in hundred
wards ! was utterly lost Above wa.
the smooth. black roof. below the tie!
aud the rails. and on either side behin(
the two long rows Of props the face o.
the coal seam, which glittered ant
Iparkled in the light from our pit lamp
like a dull diamond. We talked lit
tie. My companion asked me where
had worked before. how much knew
Of mines and few other questions
And still we walked on. dOdging tn
low wire that comes level with one
ear and stumbling over the layer o
broken coal that lay strewn here ant
there between the rails.
The silence was like the darkness
total absence of sound rather thai
stiffness. as my first impression Of tn
{ mine had been that Of an absence o
I light rather than Of darkness. Th
smoking lights in our caps seemed t
press out through the blackness twen
, IL feet around us, where the light dis
, appeared and was gone, and Away
I'm front of us. out Of the black dari
{ ness. the two long lines Of props o
4 either side VI the track stanned one b