Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1913-03-11

ter of the mine had been recovered
from the gas-a section where mel
might work without the use OF bel
NETS, restoring the burned and blowl
down timbcring. doors and brattices.
Rob Carr. assistant mine manager
was tall young Scotchman. who hat
been but u year or two In America
He had been brought up from earl!
boyhood In the coal mines and hat
won the confidence Of all who knew
him on account Of his knowledge o.
the difficulties which beset the mine
/ and his ability In overcoming them
He was a tall man. about six feet two
| In height. with slightly STOPPING shotll
ders. caused perhaps oy the attitude
| which days and nights of work unde
the low roofs OF the mine tunnels made
necessary. l never henrd him swear
and the men who knew him maintain
ed that he never drank or smoked. ant
/ vet III that rude community. Where
virtues were often more criticised thai
faults, there was no man more respect
ed and perhaps loved than he.
He Joined me every afternoon In tht
! scale house at about &. and for fon!
hours we followed the long west ell
tries out to their headings. testing fol
gus and confirming the safety of thu
men who worked at the bottom ant
trusted their lives In our hands. Eacl
day he Joined me, and for the las
hours Of my shift we remained togeth
or. examining and marking everywhere
the progress of the air and the eve'
widening boundaries Of the air zone
At II our shift left the mine. and tht
night shift. under Carr. went down
and II was I'm order that he might b,
fully Informed as to the conditions un
dercround before he entered the mine
with his men that he spent these add
tional hours in the evening with the
men of the shift which preceded him.
One day for the first time Carr told III,
of his wife and the two small children
whom he had left in Scotland. to whom
he would some day return. And In
going to quit mining then" he told me
"I'm going to build Il cottage dowl
somewhere along cove that | kno"
of, where you can hear the surf on th'
beach aud where you can keep sail
boat" He had nude good. he felt
There was money In the bank that
with the additions Of n year or tive
more. would give him all that he de
sired and then he was going home
It was about 10 O'clock. In IN hou'
more I would be out: the long. hare
day would be over. and then Carr. will
his night shift. would return into the
mine and take up the work where We
had left 1t.
There were lights and voices In II
entry ut the mine bottom und now and
then a bit Of laughter. and there was a
cheerful noise Of sledges and the rum
| BILE of the wheels Of the fiat cars as the
men pushed them laden with the bro
ken stone from the falls. down the
track to the hoisting shaft. A little
IL tut OluCio NCtC "'A
the men laid down their tools and pick,
ed up their safety lamps to leave. Two
decks on the great hoisting cage eur.
riei us all. and minute later we
stepped out into the fresh cold air t<
the winter night.
CHAPTER xI.
Tho Tragedy of the Mine.
@T was about half an hour late
i'll when reached my room, for
had stopped OH the way to cha
with the gate:nan. was sit
ting on the edge Of tie bed. loosenint
| the heel of one Of my rubber boots
with the toe Of the other. when sud
denly, through the stiffness Of tht
sleeping town. from the power house
half a mile away came low and ris
ing note, the great siren whistle IN tin
power house. Almost fascinated. l lis
tened az the great note rose highel
and more shrill and died away again
| One blast meant fire In the town
two blasts fire In the buildings ut thu
mine and three blasts. the most ter
rible Of all. a disaster or trouble In thu
mine. Once more. after un intermina
BILE pause. the sound came again ant
once more rose and died away. | dc
not move, but there was u suddcr
| coldness that came over me as enc'
more. for third time, the deep not'
broke out on the quiet air. Almost IN
simultaneously the loud Jingle OF m!
telephone brought me to my feet
took down the receiver. 1.-THE mine!
blown up" said a woman's voice.
1t was half a mile between my room
and the gate to the mine yards. and a:
my feet beat noisily on the long
straight road doors opened, yellow
against the blackness Of the night, ant
voices called out-women's voices
mostly.
The gateman knew little. "She's le
Co." was all that he could say.
There were two men at the fan house
the fan engineer and his assistant. ant
In a second l learned from them tha
there had come a sudden pun up th'
air shaft that had spun the fan back
ward q dozen revolutions on the bel
before II picked up again. The explo
sion doors, built for such an emergenc!
on the new dome above the air shaft
had banged open noisily and shut agail
of their own weight. That was all.
There were half dozen men at th'
ton of the hoisting shaft. The hoistint
engineer sat. white faced. on his sea
by the shaft mouth, one arm laid limp
" on the window SILL his hand clinch
ed on the lever. II tried to telephone
EN-" he said. "but they didn't answer
The cage was down. She came ou
with a pun like you blow out OF you
pipe; that's all." He stopped and awk
wardly wiped his face. "Then lef
the hoist down five minutes ant
brought her up" he continued. "bu
there was no one I'm 1t. Then I sent
down again. It's down there now."
How long has 1t been downT
asked.
"ren minutes" he hazarded.
gave him the order to hoist. and TIL
silence was suddenly broken BY th'
grind Of the drums as he pulled tn
lever buck and the cable began .
wind slowly upward. A minute late
the black top Of the hoist pushed VI
from the hole. and the decks. one b.
one. apleared-all empty.
| There was no one at the mine excep