DEATH IN COLOURS

Press, Volume LXVIII, Issue 14339, 26 April 1912, Page 5

DEATH IN COLOURS

SOME OF THE PERILS OF COAL

MIXING

Br Joseph Ke.itiso, in {he "Daily Mail." No man £oes more willingly to his death than tho miner. You would think that tho eternal darkness of the nit would make men miserable and morose. Instead, the men whose lives arc spent in perpetual gloom are bright, li-ht-heartul, and eminently content with their lot. In winter time they see, the of heaven only on Sundays, for during six days it is dark when thr-y co their work a<:d dark when they ivtuni—that is, if thoy return, for from the moiin nt they ste» into the cage that is to take them down into the dark mine they put themselves within reach of death in a million forms.

"DEATH HATH SO MANY DOORS.'' What particular dark hole Death'may spring from, of course, r.o one know*. The may break lot tl'o civa sail a thousand u-ot do.vn, ; ,,,d smash sixteen human l»einir> into pulp. Or, uiiilo fc ti!l nr.-relv at"tho beyimsing ci the days work, go ivrouii with the centre-guides -these t.:in;-rs happen rather oft-en; then thu upe-omime ca"e catciit.- the d.)-.vn-i.-oin s one, and the im-n and boys arc cut un into small sec-tion-As a nian walks slowly aivnz t!:e tunnel to his work, a slight fid"ct ; ne;& on tl:o part of nature loosens the stones ia the root. The stone that drops may only :nst touch the- man's cap. I>"* the touch is enough. His comrades carry him home on a rough stretcher of

od w \th some tar-canvas over him. T!ie P° or n , - 0^ 10, " an 4 llcr children •L'P s n< * t ' lo^r own vos aro LVIi'SS with thc memory of ft - Tho dangers in the "face" —that is, t thc actual work of cutting the coal — R T o so many that it would be quite impibl<? o%? to mention ail. but thc notorious danger is the Rod Death. •\!1 the scientists have boon at work trvrng to discover a?id thwart this ,of wholesale slaughter. They know that two tiling, and two tilings alone, arc responsible: a largo accumulation of pas and a small artificial light. As the work of -jetting the coal itself prc-'uees gns. that evil is inevitable; and as artificial light is necessary to do v\-ork- "why, that evil is. also inevitable. Taken separately, these things do no harm. Hut the moment they come together it is the signal that a few hundred simple souls are sent for by God. •<JIOW THE RKD DEATH COMES. ,, Rod Death tills the blade roads. It gars raging, blaring round thy long galleries, stoking whom it may devour It comes out of the darkness with a roar. Its fury shakes the earth. The roof trembk'-s, breaks, and down come tho mountains in myriads of pieces. Tho dust mingles with the great flames; the volume of fire becomes too vast for the narrow tunnel. The s : do walls crumble, burst out. and give the blaze more, room. Tho ground rocks under the men's feet; they totter and tail; and the appalling fire-torrent rushes over them.

Every man and boy in "the pit cries out. with terror. They know that tho rolling thunder they hear is the roar of death. Even tho horses —there may bo threw or four hundred of them —understand why the roads and sides aro trembling Then men, boys, and horses rush out. The only way of escape is where iho light of day comes down the shaft. That is far away from where they are. and they scream with the horror that is upon them.

Just as they turn the corner of their litrle roadways to get to the main artery they see tho iiro. It fills tho whole road. It is a great river of red. blue, and green. The gases and dust of tho roads give it many colours. THE RACE FOR LIFE. The men, boys, and horses rush out before it. It will overtake them. But -they rush on, with the poor hope that they can outrun Death.

Tho long, narrow tunnel becomes a jumble of human beings and animals. The rne-n shout, the boys scream, the horses neigh and snort with terror nnd trample on tho weaker things. Tho dust rises in black clouds. By and by that dust will help to make the names more- fierce and strong. Then it will gain on the living mass rushing before it. and men, boys, and horses will lie down, quiet, and tho fire-dragon will devour them all.

A man may escape the fire. In his fright lie falls flab upon the ground. Tho fire in its fury rushes over him without being ablo to harm him. But tho moment ho aises ho fools about his face something that is at torture heat. It blisters and tears the skin from his cheeks—peels it off—as if lie had suddenly thrust his head in a cauldron of molten lead. The agony makes him fall writhing upon the. ground again. That second fall to tho ground may prolong his life for a moment. It :s tho freak of the molten blast to rush along the roof and leave tho air at tho bottom of the road cool ami pure. Ho discovers this. Hp breathes joyously. Tho air is pure! But it remains so only for tho flash of a minute.

DEADLIEST ENEMY OF ALL. Along comes the worst enemy of all —tho poisonous "after damp." It steals, invisible, through the roadways, at the tail of the blast. It can neither be seen nor heard nor felt. It is mysterious. But it is terrible. It brings ,iiso tto.w { air fits.- invisible -dilution of death." Far ahead of him in tho darkness tho man sees a faint red ti'nye along ,the roof. That is the blast. Its strongth is demoniacal. It sweeps before it horses, trams, men, and boys, and crushes them all into one great heap of wreckage. It rushes out with the driving force of a hundred express trains.

Ahead the man hears the carnagemaking roar. He rushes back. Tin thinks he will get at the main road by another way. All over the pit hundreds—out of the track of tho blast —aro doing the same. They are running along the tunnels, looking for a way of escape They have escaped the fire. All* that remains is to reach the cyo of the pit, and go up to the light of day. The next light they Fee is the light of heaven. Tho hundreds running along in tho darkness begin to fool sleepy and tired. Quito silently, without any of the uproarious behaviour of its creator, tV.o after-<lamp has raught them. Out of each hundnxl about ninety-five will dio peacefully. They will have no burns, no bruises. Tho'ir feature?, will bo placid, tlvir cheeks rosy under the black dust. Tho after-damp kills silently. Ami when tho searchers come they will find th<> groups of bodies lying on the ground in natural position*—just as if th*y wen- merely sleeping. But they are all dead—all dead! A few moments before they no down, the men .sec the little- , boys fall upon their tenets and mumble th:it they aro sleepy. Fathers take, their sons xip in their arms to carry thorn homo to their mothers. But fathers nnd eons lie down together in tho dust. The mysterious, invisible aftnr-tlnmp has crept into their lungs, and they •ire slrenirg peacefully with the little boys in* their arms. Only God can wake them!