The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1918-01-17

heading. l know where it is because cut
it several years ago"
A short walk down the road brought them
to an old room from which the rails and
ties had been taken away sometime before.
| "This is the place. Brannigan said.
"We have only about two hundred feet to
crawl, but it's a pretty steep climb with
these TOOLS
! Crawling through the hole in the ''gob,
they soon came to the air course, which was
about six feet wide. 1t ran up at pitch of
forty degrees. 1t was hard,> slippery
climb, but they finally reached the level
heading.
Lets rest awhile here said Dode.
"The water may not reach this far. 1t
won't get to the top, for it " i'll run out of
the drift mouth before it gets there
! The men were glad to rest, and, sitting
down on the rails, they discussed the stu
alton. They could near the water roaring
down in the dip, occasionally a crushing
sound told them the roof was still breaking
under the strain.
Suddenly miner spoke. 'The waters
here he said.
| The men retreated before it. Swiftly it
came-sullen, menacing, yellowish- black
food that seemed eager to engulf them. 1t
followed them to within a hundred feet of
the highest point, but no farther.
"Now,' said Dode, 1--WE know just
where we're at. The water CAM come any
farther, but we are in a bad fix at that.
supplies we have
The supplies included few matches,
a quantity of lard oil, some food and drink in
the dinner pals, and the picks and shovels.
When the inventory was finished, they
elected committee to take charge of the
limited supply of food and drink in order
to preserve it as long as possible, and, since
the air supply was limited, they blew out
most of the lights. Dode then outlined
plan he had in mind.
"You know that new air shaft struck the
|
chance we have is to cut through from the
lower entry. 1t may be twenty-five or it
may be fifty feet. We can't tell. What
do you say?''
81 say we get busy, Dode,'' said John
Donohue. 'I'm willing to follow you
| A chorus of assent from the men showed
that they looked on Dode as their natural
leader.
They lost no time in getting on the face
of the lower entry, where they found an
empty car standing on the track.
"There is a good thing for u.s." said
Brannigan. eve can load the coal on the
empty car and push it out of the way
Dode divided the men into shifts, and
sent the men in the reserve shifts up the
load where they would be out of the way.
Then Brannigan, who was the most ex-
perienced pickman in the crowd, started
cut two feet below the road. The coal cut
easily, and in half an hour he had undercut
it to depth of three feet, He came back
to the car to rest, while two men cut the
coal down and shifted it to the road, and
others loaded it on the car.
| Then another miner undefcut a strip,
which was cut down and loaded. When
the car was full. they pushed it up the road
and unloaded it on the side. Hour after
hour the work went on. The shifts were
shortened as the work progressed, for the
men could not work many minutes in that
stagnant air. Twice during the long night
they ale little food and slipped some cot
fee. The next morning when they measur-
ed their progress they found that they had
cut distance of eighteen feet.
| About seven O'Clock, John Donohue,
who was on duty as a pickman, abruptly
stopped work and exclaimed, "Listen''
Distinctly it came to their ears-two taps
given slowly, then three in rapid succession
rat at-rat, tat, tat!
Joyfully Donohue' answered the signal.
The word was carried back to the almost
exhausted men that help was at hand.
The tapping came little to the right; and
they turned their course in that direction.
The food and drink was gone by this
time. and the men were forced to drink
some of the lard oil to strengthen them for
their work. The air had become so bad
that the miners breathed with difficulty.
Dode ordered all the lights out except two
|-one that the man with the pick used and
another at the car. The rest of the men
worked in the dark.
The hours passed slowly. 1t was nearly
three O clock when Dode, who was digging,
broke through. The rush of cold air made
him so dizzy that he had to lie down and
wait for the rescuers to enlarge the opening
wide enough for him to crawl through.
One by one the men were taken out and
hoisted to the surface. Some of them were
so weak from the effects of the bad air that
they had to be assisted; but they revived
rapidly when they reached the top and
found their friends and families waiting tor
them.
The rescued men now learned that every