Eastern Utah advocate. [volume] (Price, Utah) 1895-1915, 1913-04-17


Prevented from seeing clearly By the
bullseye Of my helmet and the Door
light Of my electric lamp. felt for
his chest. aud as my hand touched
his breast felt that II was warm and
wet Perhaps he was alive. I ran
my light along the bundle. Those
were his feet ! turned Il the other
way. Tue man was headless Instant.
~ got to my feet. and In the faint
giimmer Of McPherson's light ! saw
that he had found something 10 the
wreckage. What Il itT' I beloved 10
him through my helmet He pointed
with his ray Of light A body hung
In the mass Of wreckage. thrown into
It like putty against n screen. We
turned and continued our way up the
entry
Halfway between the shafts there
was n temporary canvas stopping. and
we knew that n we could tear this
down the air from the fan which had
been speeded up must short cNcuIt and
pass through u entry. cle6ring out
the afterdamp before H. Most of the
men. N not all. would be In this entry:
/ Of that we were confident. BY tearing
down the brattice and thus changing
the direction " the ventilation llfe
might be saved.
As have said. had entered the
mine on my first trip With short
charge ~ oxygen and In the urRenc,
had failed ~ replenish u before going
down the second time. As | turned
from the crOsscut n sudden Juggling ut
my lungs told me that my air was run.
ming low. Reside the track In pool Of
water lay blackened object that
knew 10 he man. lie was the only
one recognized. and | knew that n
must be- Damnn. one % the gas IN.
spcctOrs The body was 10 small. A
few feet beyond him lay another and
another. nll blackened aud unrecognIz.
able. The white wall Of the brattice
CLEANED suddenly before Us. aud In
second We had torn II from its fasten.
lngs. One side had already disappear
cd from the force 81 the explosion.
Why u wns not nll torn Ia ribbons 4
do not know
As ! turned ! called 60 Mcpherson
that ! WIS In. and Ms spoke sudden
blackncss engulfed me. My air was
gone. The sights ~ that awful night
and the long strain OF the months OF
dangerous work Un high strung nerves
had caught me. | came tO with nv
eyes closed and a clean. sweet taste OF
fresh air In my mouth. l thought
was above ground: but. opening my
eyes. ! saw that was looking through
tho bullseye Of my helmet at n black.
cned room, dim In the single SHAFT OF
n lamp Mcpherson wns talking 20
me lie had dragged me from where
! lay 10 where he had felt the air blow
strongest My weight. increased By
the forty.nve pounds ~ the helmet.
made u impossible for him 10 think OF
moving me uunided There was no
time to summon assistance. In tn
strong current Of air be had opened
my valves aud trusted that. revived by
the fresh air. ! could reach the hoist.
ing shaft under my own locomotlon be.
fore the nfirrdamp could overcome me.
Faint aud recllng. got TO my feet We
started down the entry. our arms about
each others neck, We were both stag.
gering. and halfway TO the stump fell.
Then we crawled aud rested aud crawl.
ed again. | think I remember splnah.
Ing In the water nj the foot OF the hoist.
Ing shaft. but nothing more. Out OF
the twenty-seyen men who had entered
the mine we had found one alive.
In the long night that followed about
twenty OF the bodies were removed
from the mine. for the fan soon cleared
the gas from the main entry. where
most OF the men had been when the
explosion occurred. AZ dawn faint
tingc OF fresh wood smoke In the air
that poured from the man hoist sug
gcsted that IRE had started up some.
where In the workings. and as this
might cause another explosion the
work OF removing the bodies was for
the time abandoned aud the shafts
were senled
Two weeks later fnal attempt wa,
made TO recover the bodies which still
remained In the mine. ana fourteen
men were engaged In the work when
sharp explosion occurred. The ina.
Jority reached the top. bringing with
them two of their companions. who
died within few hours. but they let,
behind them near the foot OF the man
hoist the bodies OF three others.
With this disaster the mine was
abandoned. the little town became soon
deserted. and for year and more the
great seals on the shafts remained un.
broken. Today the mine Is once more
In operation, for new company OBJ.
tanned the property and after months
OF almost hopeless struggle succeeded
In restoring II 60 working condition.
Sometimes | think 1 would like 10 60
back aud see once more the big black
upple that guards the shaft mouth ana
perhaps 20 down 10 u entry aud watch
the trains come In, aud then | think O,
faces ! would look for. faces thai
would not be there.
THE END.
Ito be continued
- HH