The Washington times., 1936-08-21
J. ID. KERKHOFF
PINCH-HITS FOR
LOUIS SOBOL
By JOHNSTON d. KERKHOFF
(Pinch-hitting during Louis SObOl's
VacatiOn.)

By JOHNSTON d. KERKHOFF
(Pinch-hitting during Louis SobOl's
VacatiOn)
The telephone rang, and a voice
that was almost OXonian said:
This is Campbell. Higgins
said to look you up"
Higgins! An instantaneous
flaShback to blue, cold wind, moon
light, campfireS, ghoStly noddint
pines, and the dark mouth Of 4
mine shaft. And Higgins, college
graduate who could not endure
the confinement of an office il
Toronto, coming up from thu
bowels of the earth to whisper:
They've reached them. Both
Of them are alive. Why don't
you send a flash"
He knew what q flash meant
in the newspaper world. He'd
spent q week in and out Of that
mine at Moose River, N. S.,
where three men were entOmbed
and one died and two came out,
thanks to the draegermen.
Draegermen are miners who are
trained in mine-reScue work;
they study it and work at it and
do their share underground be-
sides. Higgins is a draegerman,
and / shall never forget that
night when he and the others
came up from the earth'S dark
ness with Robertson and Scan
Ion, who had suffered and lived;
and, later, with Magill, who had
not lived.
Higgins said" explained the
phone voice, chat any time any
Of US got to New York, you
wanted to take us around"
And that is how Mr.. Campbell
Milford Campbell, of Nova Scotia
who hasn't seen a paved street in
five years-came to the Big Town
Campbell'S people came from
Scotland; he pronounced the
name of the town, but for the
life of him, he couldn't spell it.
He is AZ; his teeth are white
and firm, although he chews
tobacco; his face is tanned by
a thousand suns, tOughened by
the bite Of Nova ScOtian winters.
His nails are had; his English
is well-nigh perfect. He, too, is
a draegerman, and was at Moose
River. We didn't meet-"but
Higgins told me about yOu," he
said. "He said you'd bought
some high boots and they hurt
like hell" Dear heaven, did
they hurt! A city "SOftie" playing
Call of the Wild. Buying boots,
wooden socks, windbreaker, nit
tens in Halifax, and being
thankful at that mud-puddle
mine, except for the boots
which put every corn and caIIuS
on the rack.
'Where to?" I asked, after I
had picked up Campbell at his
boarding house. No hotel for him.
To expensive" he said, land too
dangerous. Fire traps" A coal
miner speaking! You're the
guide" he said; but I wasn't. I
suggested some of the hotter spots,
out Campbell said maybe, later.
Right now, for start, would I get
him to the Empire State Building?
/ have Scoffed at the Empire
State Building; / have felt so
superior to the tourists who
can't wait to reach its ObServa-
tiOn tower. 1 take it back; 1
apologize. The sun was setting
when we got there. Everywhere
you turned, Manhattan was
agleam; the Hudson was golden
lava; cool winds that never
whisper at street level brought
relief to body and soul; and
there stirred within me long
dormant pride, almost a boast
full pride, of THE CITY. Not
pride exactly, but something
tingling, that was yet peaceful
and warming.
Campbell felt it, too. He spat
boldly, shifted his chew to the
eft and said:
did you ever see the pine for
eStS catch fire from the setting
sun? Did you ever talk to
yourself in a blizzard because it
was beautifully"
His eyes we're hungry; he was,
doubtless, homesick right then.
Eyes hungry for beauty and de-
curing all he could see, yet he
must spend most of his day under
But do not pity him.
II paint and sketch a lot" he
said. "The mines, the miners.
Beauty there. forIOrn SOTne.