The Chesterfield advertiser. [volume] (Chesterfield C.H., S.C.) 1884-1978, 1922-02-23

high-priced cigars and staggering a
DIT, as lDe always did I'm walking.
This Is your .thirt rty-thousand-do dollar
day, Broughton," he tossed at me as
soon as he stepped over the threshold
Oh the shaft house door; but fancied
could notice that. some way, he
didn't seem quite So clipper and care.
less as he had the day before.
See here" / ripped out; whats
the use? You can't buy this mine at
any price! It's not In the market and
1t isn't going to he. Not i'm a thousand
years! -
But see here; what's the use of
putting your head against stone wall?
You're stuck, world without end, and
you know 1t. This flooded hole in the
ground is Of no more use to you than
pair of speGacles to u blind man. ~
perhaps not ''tis poor thing, but
mine own Il guess I can keep it as
SOUVENIR II feel like 1t. can't II"
"oh, h-l!" he gritted. and turning
on his heel went away.
Ar ter he had gone patted myself
on the back Il bit for not losing nv
temper and then, just to have an en-
cuse for staying away from the cabin
and the Bullerton vicinity. 1 made fires
under the boilers and got up steam. In
the former pumping spasm Daddy and
Il had operated only the, two big cen.
-trifugals, ignoring the de&p-weH pumps
designed to lift the water from the
lower levels of the mine.
Inst IN tr, .
tried before, got steam on the depp
wellers. and soon found that the
machinery, which we hadn't take,
down In the general overhaulinp
needed tinkering before II would he
safe to run it. Banking the boile,
nres, went at the job slngle-handed
and managed to wear out the livelonr
day at 1t.
1t took me all the afternoon and
u en- some to get the machinery cleaned
and tinkered up and reassembled. In
paving over the supplies in the mine
storeroom-stuff left by the former op.
erators-we had found an acetylene
tare torch and a can of carbide and 7
rugged the torch so that could 20 on
working after dark.
1t was nlong about nine o'clock when
L got the deep-wells ready to run and
freShened up the fires and turned the
steam on. In curious contrast TO tbe
care which had been taken to provide
discharge outlet for the centrifupoIs
the Cornish pumps had merely an iron
trough which ran tn a ditch lending
buildings. After few minutes of the
clanking and banging. the water bernu
TO come 1t was horribly smelling
stun, thick ard discolored: evidences
Suihcient that II was coming from tbr
bottom Of the mine. The two p,urus
together were lifting about an eight
inch stream, and it occurred to me at
once that If could set the centrifu-
gals going ut the same time, the mass
attack might accomplish what the
piece-meal assault couldn't.
Throwing in the clutch that drove
the Dig rotaries, ran up against what
Daddy would have called u "circum.
stance" There wasn't power enn,,"h
to drive both sets of pumps coupIrd
steam pressure the boilers were car
rying. Thinking to get more power by
pushing the fires bit harder, I went
to the detached boiler room to stoke
up, leaving the deep wells Changing
away in the shafthouse. had fired
two OF the furnaces and was at work
on the third when series of grind
Ing crashes in the machinery sent me
hying to find out what was going
wrong.
What was happening-what had al.
ready happened-was a plenty. AS |
have said, the great Cornish water
Hfters were driven through train
of gearing. When reached the scene.
the steam engine was still running
smoothly, but the pumps had stopped.
The reason didn't have to be looked
for with microscope. The gear-train
was wreck, with one of the wheels
smashed into bits. and half of the
cogs stripped from It's mesh mate, If
that's what you'd call 1t.
Mechanically stopped the engine
and went to view the remains. The
deep-wells were done f0r-there was
no question about that; they'd never
run again until a new set of gears
should be installed. That much deter
mined, began to look for the cause
OF, the calamity. Naturally, supposed
that cracked cog in one of the
wheels mad given way, and with this
for starter. ,the general smash would
follow as matter of course. But
a carafci and even nainful scrutiny of
the wr.ckage failed to reveal the cog
with the ancient fracture. Each break
Continued on last page)
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