The Hartford republican., 1913-09-12
BIRDS VISIT MINES
British CoIlieries Have Many
Strange Visitors -
csts. Nice. Rats ard Dogs Not us-
eommeo-Aninsl In Pit the csuss
o. Strike with Curious
Sequel.

London-After q colliery explosion
NJ Lsnbradsch one OF the rescue par.
ties made q surprising discovery.
Perche6 on q tub in the mine was q
robin. Now. most eollieries regard
the presence OF birds, particularly
those with white plumsge. about pits
as q token and the fire" which
had occurred was. therefore. attriout-
ed to the intrusion of the perky little
stranger.
Rats are not uncommon about .
pit head. and some Of them reach the
depths beneath. occasionally with ia
tai haste
One, during the process OF falling
down q shaft. acquired such a mo-
mentum BY the time il reached the
bottom that when il struck a collier
there was a loud report as OF an ex-
plosion. and the msa vas knocked
to the ground with great force.
In warm mines. too. mice are nu-
merous A few reach q new pit in
the trusses OF. hay and bags Of corn
that are taken down IL for the ponies.
and these. notwithstanding the
strangeness of their environment.
multiply so rapidly that cats have TO
be installed in the stables.
Ii might be supposed that they. at
any rate. would not take at all kindly
to the subterranean world. but they
soon become used TO their surround
ings.
In one mine q fae pit tabby used
10 knock OF with the men on Satur-
day, but, unlike them. che did not
start again on Monday morning She
was always missing till "Wednesday or
Thursday, when she returned from
the old and disused portion Of the
mine,
A strike however. plays far greater
havoc with the mouse population Of .
pit than any number Of cats. because
tee food OF the ponies and OF the men
and. bay, is no longer available for
the unfortunate little creatures.
When. BY way of example. the Dur
ham colliers joined in the great gen
e-al strike last year many Of the pits
in that county we're ove-run with
mice, but for some time after work
was resumed not one was seen
Dogs also are among the animal
trespassers in mines. By some means
a terrier entered disused pit in
S~aledale. and for eight days ii roam
ed about the workings without any
thing to eat
More remarkable was a dogs inrru-
sion into a South Wales pit which
has the reputation Of being haunted
The animal in question was seen
provling about the workings. and. as
IL seemed 20 vanish when an attempt
vas made to catch il. a number Of
coiliers a; once -do~ned tools and
went home
Some o, them then consulted . To- .
cal wise woman. telling her OF the .
vision" they had seen earlier in the .
day, whereupon she predicted a dis
aster As a result more than zoo
u1er refused 10 go down the following
and. though the manager
cd his utmost TO induce them 20 re-
sumo work, they obstinately deter
mined to remain idle
And. what 10 more. IL was not until
three days later that all the men were
y work again
There we're two curious sequels to
this ineiderL One. which took place
about week sfterward. vas the pros
seution and conviction of the fortune
teller for causing the miners TO alb
sent themselves from work
The other sequel happened much
more recently. and was the discovery
D. skeleton OF dog doubtless that
which had been seen by some Of the
IL ;he workings