The Oklahoma City times. [volume] (Oklahoma City, Okla.) 1908-1984, 1917-09-26
B Depths OF Earth
i 3iye Glimpse of Wealth
d Which Nature Is Yielding

I & 40 1 LCLWLIIk
began to rise and almost instantly was
shut from view in the dagkness And
with the empty receptacle on his car
the miner hastened back TO the scene OF
his digging He was a shoveler and
was paid by the piece"
Where Bruno Men Work.
We Travelled on--along a winding
passage 10 its end. Occasionally our
feet slipped from a path beaten dry by
hurrying men and were dampened In
shallow depths of water. However. the
Blue Goose drifts were remarkably dry
and the air cool and balmy, although In
the open world the sun beat down
fiercely and created intense heat.
We faced a solid wall OF earth. Away
off. II seemed and high up. lights
twinkled like golden stars and occa-
sionslly spectral shadows, gigantic IN
proportions, cast themselves against the
wall There were bruno men loosening
the ore so that the sweating shoveler
could handle II Quicklv. Echoing
crashes reverberated throughout the
drift as great boulders and smaller
fragments tumbled in response to the
loosening powers Of air drills in the
hands OF the laborers.
Ore Into Huge Buckets.
At the foot Of an incline. apparently
needless OF falling ore, the shoveier op-
Grated methodically, unhesitatingly,
with gseat rapidity. II seemed but 4
moments work for him TO throw Into
the big iron bucket 900 pounds Of heavy,
rich ore. Then again began the hasty
trip along the tiny railroad to the foot
Of the shan and his return to renew his
labors.
Holding our lamps in convenient, po-
sition, we proceeded along these gal
leries that tended this way and that.
Sumptuous decorations surrounded US.
The silken, Furnished surfaces OF vast
lead faces reflected our lamp rays.
Jack" in illirnitable quantities sparkled
and glittcred. Nature seemed 10 have
cndeavored to secrete her mineral spoils
within the packed walls.
w. climbed down a ladder itno q pit
300 'cet underground. Another drift
had been worked out from this black
hole Almost solid ore had been en-
countered underfoot at the 27-foot
level. therefore il was lowered, making
fifty or sixty-foot vein accessible.
Superintendent Dooley stated that the
floor we had just hampled higher up
would be cut down about twenty feet,
inasmuch as many weeks Of profitable
mining would be afforded.
Flashed Like Gold Sands.
The same scenes greeted the eye at
the terminus Of the deeper drift La
borcrs prodded at the supporting walls
and dome, Shovelers pitched chunks
Of solid lead and apparently solid jack
into the waiting conveyance. Jack Is
zinc ore, II flashed like gold sands i'm
bcdded in rock.
So many offshoot drifts penetrate
these depths that the unacquainted &c,
lost and wander about aimiesslv until
a shaft opening is reached. Several
shafts 90 down into the Blue Goose
mine, which has been worked many
years, whose treasures still seem mex
haustiblc, and whose work Is mapped
out much as an architect plans the con-
structiQn Of residence.
No ldlensss Here
There is no idleness in this ,ubter-
rancan workshop. Men deliver the goods
there. Shovelers earn as high as $ll to
$l4 day. Their muscles are like
steel. They are tireless, They fill and
send to the mill scores of buckets OF
valuable ore every day, They talk it'll,
and idle none. They have no time &c
\ waste, for each bucket OF ore sent &c
the top means just so much money fol
them. A strict and honest accounting
is kept, and never is there conflict ovel
remuneration.
Accidents Few.
Accidents are few. SometimeS o
! course. a boulder slips and strikes ;
l worker, but that is seldom. Great car
is exercised by everyone employed IL
this mine. And the same conditions ar
E present in all other mines of this dis
d trict
We saw thousands OF tons, priceless
A in their richness, awaiting the drill an
e shovel OF the workman. 1t was appar
{ ent that many years more must elaps
n before the circumscribed acreage @
!, this mining lease would fail to pro
E duce in fabulous amount II is no,
I paying its owners thousands Of dollar
h every week of the year, and there
e no indication whatsoever Of its es