The daily Alaskan., 1913-04-04
TESTED HIS NERVE
A Blind Struggle For Life h the
 Depths of the Earth.
LOST IN THE DARK IN A MINE.

AN NN lNal IIl NAE WVNAh Nt NA kAl plains ls fearful experience, but there the victim has tho heavens above him and can at least see hls way about The terrors of similar adventure In the utter blackness of a gas dlled coal mine are thus described by a core spondent Of the Youths Companion:
 was working Oloue ln a room" on the second south entry of the mIno. lt was a o'clock. the time for drlng the u1teruoon blasts The man who was driving" the entry lighted hls fuse aud came back through the entry call. Ing out "Flrer One after another the other miners set or thelr blasts and came along Che entry until they reach. ed my room lighted my fuse, watch. cd It sputter for a moment and went ont Into Che entry to wait for the blast
 Several seconds passed, and there was no explosion My fellow miners n0ssed out of the entry and left me alone went back Into the room and 'ouud that the blast opening was clog. ccd SO that the Gre could not reach the powder had to remove the tamplng and rechorCe the drlll hole. By this time the mIue was dlled with dense. gas laden powder smoke from the other blasts,
 In the stlflng smoke | rocharged the hole. tampcd lt, Inserted tho fuse, lighted lt from my head lamp and hur- rIcd to the mouth Of the room. The work was hastily done When the powder exploded the rush Of afr eItIn. guIshed my lamp
 The darkness was absolute, and therC Is no dorkncss SO dense as that Of a mine TO my conslcrnouon found Che matches In my jockey box" SO damp that they would not Ignite Then | became really alarmed was two miles under ground without a light In an atmosphere so heavy with gag that lt would not sustain life for any length of time
 dashed Into the entry. ran against pillar and was knocked nearly sense less.
 ! staggered to my feet and groped down the tunnel In a coal mine great oaken valves or doors close the en- frances to the various tunnels, The afr enters through the main entry and Is sucked out Of the mine by great fans at the opposite end Of the mine after it has been distributed through the workings by means Of these valves and crosscuts situated near them.
 ! reached a door, pulled it open and passed through, Beyond it two tun- ueIs came together Ut a right angle. One led toward the open afr. the other Into the depths Of the mine. My sense ot direction was entirely gone. and could not ten which to take, It wns an chance. went ahead and aft. CT tlme reached another valve.
 If 1 only bad a light! One glimpse of the number painted on the door would tell mc where [ was tried to feel the number with my fingers, but ln vain. l pushed through the door and entered another tunnel, down which walked for hours, as it seem- ed. My head was bursting with pain from the gas,
 Then heard the sound of running water. knelt down. dipped in my hand and found that was going up stream and consequently deeper and deeper Into the mine So turned buck, reached the valve and felt along the pillar until found the other tun- mel opening. The gas had by this time begun Co aIect my brain, and I reeled and staggered as walked. ] left the truck and walked in the "sump' water up to my knees, keeping one hand on the wall to steady myself.
 passed through valve after valve aud tried to keep count, but my brain refused to perform that simple task. At last pushed through a valve and felt a blast of fresh cold afr. With that breath of oxygen my reason re- turned With renewed courage push ed forward Many times in following that life giving current of air plunged through narrow cross cutB, stumbled over masses of slate, fell into water holes and bruised myself by striking against the sharp corners of the coal vein. but | was steadily creeping near. CT to the surface.
 Suddenly stumbled against a loaded coal car That meant that I was in the main entry. but how far from the en. trance | could not tell. ! worked my way along the string of loaded cars and began Co ascend an incline The fresh air swept down the tunnel in a gale. kept peerlng ahead, iu the hope of seeing daylight, but none appeared ! wondered why. I broke Into run, and ln another minute hOd emerged from the mine and stood gazing at the stars. It wus almost midnight and I bad left my room shortly after 6 o'clock.