The Wallace miner. [volume] (Wallace, Idaho) 1907-current, 1924-02-07

to hook up the receiving set for ac-
ton Mr.. Bunnel threw a piece Of
bell wire 20 feet long over one Of the
mine collar timbers and attached the
other end TO the ground post Of the
set and then
Mules and Music.
Ii it were possible to stage the
scene when the first Of the tests were
made a Belasco, a Shubert or any
other master of stage craft would in
deed be in his element. The scene
chosen for the test was in the stable
and supply room, where feed is kept
for the mine mules. Seated on bags
of feed and on harness blocks sat the
audience, now also comprising the
barn boss, intently listening for
scientifically they knew not what
Alongside Of the supply room 90
mules in their stalls stood munching
at their nightly meal, their sole re-
ward OF life and labor fed them so
that they might labor more.
A look at the bit of wire thrown
loosely along the runway of the big
area given over to the sleeping quar-
ters Of the mules, a glance at the
threatening overhanging roof
surely these men must be mad to even
think of receiving a radio message so
far down in the bowels of the earth.
But right on the dot that the test was
scheduled for as the mules munched
and the miners threw down their tools
to gather about there came the invis-
ible, the intangible but the an-pene-
trating something that reached out
from the studio Of the Scranton Times
and Goated out of the loud speaker
in the form of station WQAN, the
voice Of the anthrcite, Scranton
Times studio, opening a special test
program" bray and a hee-haw
from perhaps a laughing mule then
punctured the underground atmo-
sphere. And then as the music came
from the loud speaker and penetrated
the passageways of the mine, lights
were seen stealing forth from the
darkened areas, the men on the night
shift coming to join the little audi
ence perched on bags of feed.
Other Stations Picked Up.
Other stations were then brought in
-WGY from Schenectady and KDI[A
from East Pittsburgh, music lour and
clear from the loud speaker and more
visitors from the depths joined the
throng in the underground barn.
1t requires only a slight stretch of
the imagination to visualize the look
of mingled curiosity and amazement
that lighted up the blackened faces Of
the anthracite miners. Now they
would look at the set and the horn
perched on a vein of coal and now
they would search the faces of the
visitors as they sat on the bags of
feed. Even Prince, the mine dog
and Tom. the mine cat, who between
them divide honors of keeping
horde of rats at bay, perked up and
stared both at the perpleXed veterans
of the mine and the radio outfit that
was delivering the music.
THANK God, I've lived to see the
day when music came into the mines
declared one grizzled old knight of
the torch can and the shovel and
pick.
Coal Mining Dangers.
But on other faces thoughts of a
different nature were evident. Ne
need of reminding the men who toll
in the coal veins of the earth of the
daily hazards they undergo. No need
of searching the faces of the party
who brought radio into the mines
The whole atmosphere is one of con-
slant danger-cave- ins, mine eXplo-
sions, poisoning by gas. Only week
or so ago in the Grassy vein of the
Mount Jessup Coal company the fore
man, Even Jones, had opportunity be-
fore cave-in to warn three miners
whose lives were imperilled. He and
another man hurried to the scene to
convey to them the imminency of
danger. But they too, were trapped
i'm the slide. and the lives of all five
men were snuffed out. The occupa-
ton isone of constant worry, and in
the morning when the miner lights
the torch on his hat and sallies forth
into the deep recesses of the earth 10
extract therefrom coal for the uses of
mankind he never knows, and, in fact.
even suspects that he may never
again be seen alive
Radio Possibilities Underground.
Mr.. Bunnell himself is a former
Scranton boy, with a long experience
in the depths of the anthracite mines.
or all men associated with radio he
knows something of the life. the haz-
ards. the opportunity for radio to play
an important role. It was with the
latter viewpoint in mind that he in
augurated these underground
These tests were of a similar ma
ture to those recently carried on in
the Mammoth cave in Kentucky and