Eastern Utah advocate. [volume] (Price, Utah) 1895-1915, 1913-04-17
o. "A YEAR <
* IN A COAL MINE
W. S$. OSEPH
Mr AlanbcM oodb
Company II AND

ing limit. Ano all UNCONSCIOUS OF ulis
frightened the valve. aud. with the
oxygen kissing In the check valves. we
left the bright light OF the room and
felt our way down the steps into the
darkness OF the yard. where a great
arc light above the hosting SHAFT
made objects visible 10 It's lavender
light. A crowd had already gathered
dark. silent crowd. that stood like
| Hock ~ frightened sheep around the
mouth ~ the man hoist With n man
| on either side ~ NJ 90 direct rs. we
walked 10 the hoist. our electric hand
lanterns throwing long white beams
81 light before ms There was no
sound-no shrieking Of women. no
struggling OF frenzied mothers or sis
tiers 10 fght their way into the mine.
But there was n more awful silence.
aud M we passed pile Of ties heard
whlmpcrlng noise. like a puppy, and
In the light OF my lamp saw the dou.
bled form OF a woman. who crouched
alone on the ground. n shawl drawn
over her head, sobbing.
We stepped on the hoist, and for an
instant there came the picture OF a
solid line OF people who hung on tho
edge Of the light. Of white faces. Of
the lavender glare Of the arc lamp.
contrasting with the orange light from
the little square window In the house
OF the hoisting engineer. Are you
rcadyf" he called 10 rs. "I.ct her gor'
We said, aud the picture was gone ms
the hoist sank into the blackncss OF
the shaft We said nothing az we were
lowered. for We know where the men
would be II We could reach them. aud
there was nothing else 60 talk about.
The grind Of the shoes OF the hoist as
they scrnped tho rails made n sound
that drowned out my feeble whlstllng
Of the MERRY Widow" waltz inside OF
my helmet
We felt the motion OF our descent
Elacken. and then came sudden roar.
Ing splash ns the lower deck OF the
hoist hit the water which nlled the
stump. slowly we sank down until the
water which flooded that part OF the
mine rose. cold and dead. 20 our knees.
and the hoist came 10 n stop Splash.
ing clumHily over tho uneven iioor. we
climbed the two steps which led TO the
higher level % n entry aud Tor mlu,
cite turned the white - ms OF our
lights In every direction There was
nothing 10 be seen aud NO trace OF any
explosion except thin white layer Of
dead mist or smoke which hung life.
less, like cigar smoke In n quiet room.
about four feet from the ground. but
there was a silence that was terrible.
Tor In Il We listened IN vain Tor the
voices Of men. At nrut we assured
ourselves that there was no one around
the bottom OF the shaft. for we had
expected that some one, injured by the
explosion. might have been able 60
crawl toward the man hoist. but there
was no trace OF any human being.
Walking slowly aud peerlng before
us through the bullseyes OF our bel.
NETS TO right aud left. We advanced
down the entry. our lights cutting the
blacknez. like the white fingers OF
twin searchllghts Suddenly. faror In
the darkness. there came n sound. IL
was laughter We stopped aud listen.
ell High. shrlll ana mad the notes
caught our ears. Again we advanced.
and the laughter broke into high.
shrlll song. To right aud left we
swung the bars 81 our searchllghts.
feeling for the voice. Suddenly the
white light brought out OF the dark.
ness tangled mass Of blackened tim
bers which seemed 20 ON the entry.
and into the light from the pile OF
wreckage staggered the figure OF a
man, his clothes hanging In sooty rib.
bons aud his face aud body hlackened
beyond recognition. Only the whites
OF his eyes seemed 10 mark him from
the wreckage which surrounded him.
In a high pitched voice he called 90
us. and we knew that he was mad.
Come. COME" be cried. Lets get
out OF here. Come ON. boys! Let's 20
somewherer' And then. ms his arms
instlnctiyely caught our necks aud we
felt for his waist. he began talking TO
Jesus With our swaylng burden we
turned and retraeed our steps down
the entry. and hfteen minutes after our
descent into the mine we handed out
OF the hoist the drst man rescued TO
his friends.
Once more came the vision OF the
great black wall OF people IN the lights
at the mine mouth. and again we
plunged down into the blackness aud
silence OF the mine. Reaching bottom.
we walked as rapidly as we were able
beyond the point where we had found
the madman. 90 where the great struc
ture OF the scale house had once filled
cross cut between u entry aud the
air course behind a. Where once had
been solid tlmbers aud the steel struc
ture OF the scales now remained moth
Ing but the bare walls OF the crosscut,
swept clean by n giant force. and In
'he entry the crumbled ana twisted
wreckage marked where the force OF
the explosion had dropped Il IN, its
course. With swing OF my light
swept the door OF the crosseut Half
way down Il on the door lay what
seemed 10 be a long bundle OF rags.
knew II was a man. There was no
movement MS ! walked toward Il, aud