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Show QHt-WSOME MIGHTS IN A MINE. Tlio Trip Down "irI57ep Kliaft Iult of Thrill In tho Tf tiilcrfoot. (lolnr; down Into the mlno Is Indeed a thrllllnjr experience and ono rntlicr ovcrwlicltnltiff to tho "tenderfoot," rnyn a writer In Cnsslcr's MafrriKlno Knvoloped In suits of waterproof, with lints, of oilskin nnd provided with can-illei, can-illei, f party ready for the dcuccnt presents pre-sents n Rrowsomo spectacle, reminding one forulbly of certain conceptions of Dofe. Tlio cajfo, which KorvcH for both pasMjnijcre nnd freif;lit, rises to n lovol with tho floor of tho slmfthousc, nnd Is tfmply n platform of wotxl with tip-HuliMuiul tip-HuliMuiul franilnff of Iron. This fits closely In the shaft, boln;r lowered and rntoud by means of machinery puzzling enough to Ibo interested stronger, with Its dram, nheurcs, cnblo and various vari-ous safety appliances. To tako n poM tion on thnt little square of wood, feel-iii(; feel-iii(; thnt on this machinery, "which .tloen sometimes break, you know," hangs nil one's hope", requlren rome courage. Much comfort Is derived from tho assurance of tho foreman thnt tliU camo cage lias safely cnrrlcd down nnd up all tho dulrcra below with never nn accident yet. With tho warning, "elbows In," the cngo drops. With a fjasp ono reaches wildly about to find nothltirr to hold to In that damp darkness, dark-ness, growing so dense, n't that square "liolo of daylight" dimlnlshcn ro rapidly, rapid-ly, nnd down wo glldo througli trick-line; trick-line; waters without jnr nnd In utter silence till, with a thud, thu cage stops, two thousand llvo hundred feet under ground. Tho dim candle light casts weird shadow.) as wo follow tho superintendent superin-tendent along n narrow gallery cut In tho Igneous rock to connect tlio vein with tho shaft At thu Intersection another louff unllory extends to the right and left, but its parallel walls nro smooth, often highly polished, at times four feet apart; agulu more, but always with an inclination to the vcrtlcn 1. Thcso nro tlio faces of the fissured roclt between which, overhead over-head anil below, Is tho vein matter. Through tho gloomy darkness wo pick our way cautiously along tho narrow plauic, resting- on ties laid over tho frullorway. llolow us tho water rushes down lo thu- shaft, emptying Into tho "sump," a continuation of tho shaft below tho lowcfit level, serving nn n well out of which tho water in lifted by tho i;rent pumps, whoso continual lieat, up and down, up and down, with monotonous regularity, breaks tho sl-loneo sl-loneo like tho throb of bomo great hidden hid-den heart. ClImLlng a ladder, or, rnthe r, llvo ladders for thcro Is n platform plat-form at overy t wcatit-t-y InJJgynElaa. dnrkiioiilliinr-t3TTOatcr(1SppYii 'trWrPJHwrroTniil nnd trlcltllnf; ulouf; one's nrm nnd a smull torrent from, tho tarpaulin hat down olio's back, Is apt to dampen, If not to eradicate for, over, nny lingering fancy for a miner's life. |
