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"Entering a low building, close to the pit mouth, I found it to be a pony stable, with
two stalls, and beyond a fireplace. A rumble at the opening of the main level of the
pit indicated that coal was coming to the surfcae and a minute afterwards two horses,
each with two tubs of caol, emerged from the pit mouth. I galdly accepted the offer
to go into the pit, and donning an old torn jacket, and with an old sack to sit on,
I mounted an empty tub, and off we started on our half mile ride into the bowels of
the earth. Armd with two inches of candle stuck in a bit if clay, and preceded by
the driver on the first tub, off we started. In a minute it was stone dark, except
for the faint glimmer of our two candles, and a moment afterwards I lost mine over
the edge of the tub. The low roof came down so dangerously that I had to duck my head,
and the working was so narrow that I more than once struck the sides with my elbows.
A rather unusual rattle and a bang, and our driver pulled up stating that we ere off
the road. Squeezing myself against the rocky side of the track, I stood clear of the
tub, and it was lifted onto the rails again, and off we started. Once I brushed the
roof with my head, and another time struck my elbow with a projecting rock. On we
plodded in the darkness, and presently a faint light ahead and the murmur of voices
showed that we had reached the miners."
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