AMERICA'S UNDERGROUND WORKERS ig 



With the air in his gangway pure enough to permit of 

 his working steadily the miner proceeds rapidly. With a 

 small breast drill he drives a hole four or five feet deep into 

 the wall Ijefore him. Into this hole he inserts a dynamite 

 cartridge from a number that he carries in a metal case, tamps 

 the cartridge in firmly with fireclay and connects his fuse 

 and lights it. Then, retreating to a safe distance he awaits 

 the explosion that displaces tons of the mineral. When the 

 smoke and fumes clear away he returns to load the cars that 

 are sent to him. Thus, through the day he proceeds. Be- 

 tween six and twelve blasts may be made during the day if 

 cars are sent to him to carry away the ore as fast as he can 

 blast and load the cars, which usually hold about four tons. 



A miner's day is less than ten hours as a rule and after 

 his work is over he returns home, where his first move is to 

 take a bath and change all his clothing. Then, after his 

 thorough sciiibbing to remove the grime of the mine he has 

 supper and spends the evening smoking his pipe or conversing 

 with companions until the evening wanes and he goes to bed. 

 He generally retires early, for his work demands a strong con- 

 stitution, and that, as the miner knows, is best obtained and 

 retained by regular hours of rest. 



Inventions of recent years have expedited and lightened 

 considerably the work of the miner. Steel drills driven by 

 compressed air, well ventilated shafts, automatic dumping 

 cars and other improvements have made his work lighter 

 and in many mines the position of the underground worker 

 is far better than that of his co-worker the laborer, above 

 ground. Mines as a rule are cooler in summer and warmer 

 in winter than the upper world. 



Mining for rock salt and in salt mines has advantages 

 over all the other forms. In the Carpathian mountains, in 

 the salt mines the workers live in underground villages in 

 the great, high-ceilinged vaults in the mines, surrounded by 

 walls that glisten with light refracted by a million crystals 

 of every color in the rainbow and beneath high roofs that 

 rival the sky in beauty. Rock salt is found in varied hues of 

 red, yellow or blue, or, as in the mines of Wieliczka and west- 

 ern New York, grayish white. Its tenacious nature enables 



