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  cover of The Boy With the U. S. Miners]

  NOT DEMONS, BUT SAVIORS.

  Mine rescue crew, equipped with oxygen-breathing apparatus, exploringmine after a disaster.

  _Courtesy of U. S. Bureau of Mines._]

  U. S. SERVICE SERIES.

  THE BOY WITHTHE U. S. MINERS

  BY

  FRANCIS ROLT-WHEELER

  With Thirty-six Illustrations

  BOSTONLOTHROP, LEE & SHEPARD CO.

  Copyright, 1922,BY LOTHROP, LEE & SHEPARD CO.

  All Rights Reserved

  THE BOY WITH THE U. S. MINERS

  PRINTED IN U. S. A.

  BERWICK & SMITH CO.,NORWOOD PRESS,NORWOOD MASS.

  PREFACE

  No walk of life is more wild and adventurous than that of the questingminer, whom neither Arctic cold nor tropic heat can bar in his madrace for the buried treasures of the Earth; no profession is morehazardous than that of the working miner, whose every step undergroundis full of peril.

  Wealth is not all. The thrill of the miner's life lies not in themaking of millions. It lies in the ruggedness of his manhood, in thevigor of his partnerships, in the roaring ways of the mining camps,and the life of open spaces.

  Heroism and daring mark the miner. From the waterless deserts ofCalifornia to the shores of the Arctic Ocean, from the loftiest peaksof the snow-capped Sierras to the stifling depths of the Carson Sink,the prospector has prowled. Lonely and forgotten, his discoveries havebrought great states into being; hungry and poor, he has opened vaultsof riches thousandfold vaster than the treasuries of kings.

  To give a glimpse of the lives of such men, to reveal the amazingwealth which the Earth yields to those who are willing to dare, and toset forth what an incalculable debt of gratitude the United Statesowes to the miner, is the aim and purpose of

  THE AUTHOR

  CONTENTS

  CHAPTER I PAGEUNDERGROUND TERRORS 11

  CHAPTER IIENTOMBED ALIVE 40

  CHAPTER IIITHE DANGERS OF RESCUE 67

  CHAPTER IVEIGHT DAYS OF DARK 98

  CHAPTER VTHE LURE OF GOLD 128

  CHAPTER VINUGGETS! 146

  CHAPTER VIITHE FORTY-NINERS 174

  CHAPTER VIIITHE GREAT BONANZA 204

  CHAPTER IXWHERE TREASURE HIDES 232

  CHAPTER XTHE ROARING NORTH 256

  CHAPTER XITHE LONELY ISLAND 276

  CHAPTER XIIA SIBERIAN FILIBUSTER 298

  ILLUSTRATIONS

  Not Demons, but Saviors Frontispiece FACING PAGEHow Anton's Father was Killed 12Coal-Hewers at Work 13Where the Branch Line Forks 13Knockers 20Gathon, Goblin of the Mines 20Dwarfs in the Mine 21Miners Descending a Shaft 54Falling-in of a Mine 55Explosion of "Fire Damp" 55Into the Poison-Filled Air 82U. S. Bureau of Mines Rescue Car 83Interior View showing Life-Saving Equipment 83Where the Timber goes 90Geophone Expert Listening for Tapping of Survivors 91Building the Wall for the "Sand-Hogs" 91Divining-Rods 138The World's Oldest Picture of Gold-Seekers 139Australia's Treasure-House 158In the Richest Gold Mine of the World 159Sutter's Mill 176The Rush to the Gold Mines 177The Prospector of To-day 184Flume at the Melones Mine 185The Coming of the Forty-Niners 194David Egelston 195The Miner's Sluice 214Panning Gold on the Klondyke 215Where Deserts Yield Millions 236The Eater of Mountains 237The Top of the Chilkoot Pass 260Pass in the Sierra Nevadas 261Hydraulicking in Colorado 300America's "Gold-Ship" at Work 301

  THE BOY WITH THE U S. MINERS