280 COAL MJMNtt. 



judge of its solidity, for if it gives forth a dull or hollow sound, there ii* 

 reason to believe that a strong prop is necessary. 



They diverge from the entry in different directions, and take out tlie 

 coal from spaces twenty or thirty feet square : these they call rooms. 

 Pillars or masses of coal, about forty feet in diameter, are left between 

 the rooms to sustain the superincumbent rock. Their implements are 

 few and stmple. A light pick, sharp at both ends, with a handle three 

 feet long, tliree or four iron wedges, a sledge-hammer, and tools for 

 blasting, are all they require. The riiiner when going to work' is denu- 

 ded of everything but pantaloons and cap, and is so blackened by the 

 coal, and so effectually disguised as to be recognized with some diffi- 

 culty. Thus appareled and armed with his pick-axe, he presents a wild 

 and grotesque appearance as he moves stooping through the mine, his 

 candle fastened to the front of his cap by a ball of plastic clay, and his 

 hoide of fierce dogs surounding him. He selects a spot and commences 

 a vertical excavation from the roof to the floor about a foot in width, 

 digging in as far as his arm and tlie handle of the pick will allow. He 

 then lies down upon his side and digs in a similar manner along the 

 floor for a length of six or seven feet, and as far into the coal as he can. 

 He now drives a wedge into the face of the coal about six feet from the 

 vertical digging, and about midway between the roof and floor, when 

 the wliole mass detaches itself, and falls to the floor with a deafening 

 sound. It breaks into large cubes which he reduces with his sledge in- 

 to pieces suitable for domestic purposes. He then fills his little wagon 

 containing ten bushels, and harnessing his dogs, assists them in drawing 

 it to the mouth of the mine. He adjusts a strap across his breast, and 

 side by side they tug until they reach the entrance. J41 the principal 

 mines the use of mules and ponies is fast doing away with this, the 

 most laborious feature in the miners' life. 



A stranger, coming suddenly upon half a dozen of these grim look- 

 ing men at work in a room, is half inclined to fly, as their wild and al- 

 most fearful appearance is very striking, and well calculated to terrify 

 the inexperienced. The strokes of their picks resounding through the 

 vaulted mine can always be heard at the entrance, however distant the 

 Avorkmen may be, and the falling of the mass of coal sounds like deep 

 and distant thunder. 



Our miners are generally Welchmen, enjoy robust health in the 

 mines, which are of equal temperature summer and winter, and they 

 make good and peaceable citizens. 



Pdisburg, Pa. 



