Eastern Utah advocate. [volume] (Price, Utah) 1895-1915, 1913-03-13
CHAPTER v.
Miners Expectations


IL silence. the long hours Of soil
tary work. nre all conditions ideal {,
the birth Of superstition. and when IN,
workmen are drawn from many ma
tionalities u Is again but natural tina
the same should be true % their super
stitions
One night when Carlson. the genera
manager. was sitting In his once Their,
was q knock nc the door. and two load
ers from the Ifnrz mountains came
into the room. talking excitedly. with
little Dick the Interpreter Their story
WINS disconnected. but Carlson gather.
ed the main facts They had been
working In the northwest corner Of the
mine. In an older part Of the work.
inEu. aud on their way out that after
noon. M they were passing an aban.
doned room. they had noticed several
lights far up at liz heading. Knowing
that the room was no longer being
worked and curious M 10 who should
h. there. they had walked up quietly
toward the lights. Here their story be.
came more confused There were two
men. they iuslsted-and they were Ger.
tain that they were dwarfs They had
noticed them carefully aud described
them as little men. with great picks.
who were digging or burylng some.
thing In the clay floor nc the foot Of
one of the props. A sudden terror had
seized them. and they had not delayed
70 make further investigation. but ON
the way out they had talked together
and had decided that these two strange
creatures had been burying some treas.
usc-"a pot o. gold" one Of them ar
gued.
Carlson was Interested Tho qucs.
tions and answers grew more definite
and more startling The two men
whom they had seen were certainly
humpbacked. They were welding
enormous picks. aud one Of the leaders
believed that he had seen them put
something Into the hole Then came
their request that they might be allow.
FL 20 20 back that night into the mine
and with their own tools 20 TO this
abandoncd room aud dig for the buried
treasure. II was against precedent a.
allow any but the night shift into the
mine. but superatitions ARE demornllk.
Ing. aud the best remedy seemed 90
be 10 allow them 20 prove themselves
mistaken. An hour later they were
lowered on the hoist and all that
night. alone In the silence Of the mine.
they dug steadily In the heading OF the
abandoned room. but no treasure was
discovered. All the next night they
dug, and n was not until seven nights
labor had turned over n foot and a
half OF the hard clay OF the entire
heading that they abandoned their
search.
II IL the custom OF the mon when
they leave the mine at tho close OF the
shit 10 hide their tools. and the lmagi.
nations Of the leaders. worked upon
BY eight hours OF solitary work had
doubtless seen In the forms OF two OF
their companions who were hiding
their shoyela the traditional gnomes OF
their own HarE mountains
In another part OF the mine another
superstition was given birth that led
90 a more unfortunate result. This
time Il happened among the Croatlans.
and. unfortunately. the story was told
throughout the boarding houses before
the bosses learned OF II. ana one morn.
ing a great section OF tho mine was
abandoned by the men. Up ia the
headings of one OF the entries. 30 the
story went, lived the ghost OF a white
mule. As the men worked with the
coal before them and the black empti.
ness OF the tunnel behind. this phan.
tom mule would materlallze silently
from the wall Of the entry and with
the most diabolcal expression upon
lis face creep quietly down behind lts
attended victim. who. all unconscious
OF its presence. would be occupied In
loading his car. II the man turned and
for even a fraction OF second his
eyes rested upon the phantom the
shape would suddenly disappear. but
II he were less fortunate and that un.
conscious feeling Of a presence behind
him dld not compel him 20 turn his
eyes the phantom mule would sink
his material teeth deep into the min
er's shoulder and death would follow
IL was fortunate. indeed. that the only
two men who had been visited by this
unpleasant apparition had turned aud
observed him.
Perhaps II had been the sudden white
glare cast from the headlight Of 10
connective far down the entry or per-
haps Il had been entirely the imagina
ton; but, az all events, man had
come from his work early one after
noon inspired with this strange vision.
and the next day another man also had
seen H. The story was nolsed around,
and two days later the men stuck firm
ly 10 their determination that they
would not enter that part OF the mine.
Fortunately for the superintendent a
crowd OF Bulgarlans had Just arrived
from East 81. Louis seeking employ
ment The Croatlans were sent into
another part OF the mine 20 work, a
\ mile from the haunted entries, where