The Underground World: A mirror of life below the surface

by Thomas Wallace Knox

One of the mining regions of Siberia is in the valley of the Yenesei River, and along some of its upper tributaries. The Birusa River is one of these tributaries, and many an exile has been sent there in times past, to work out the sentence allotted him. Most of the mines are known as surface washings, like the gulch mines of California, but some of the more extensive are conducted on the tunnelling principle. Tunnels are driven into the hill-sides where it is thought gold can be found, and the earth is then brought out and washed in the river. In one of these mines some years ago, there was a daring and successful attempt to escape, which was described as below by one of the participants.

“Occasionally the earth in the tunnels used to fall, in consequence of not being properly secured; but the quantity was rarely very large, and the result was not serious except in two or three instances. We were driving a tunnel in one of the small hills on the banks of the Birusa, and, as the soil was of a loose character, the falls of earth were quite frequent. The men worked in gangs of ten or twelve, under the charge of an armed overseer; and as each man was in chains, and the mouth of the tunnel was carefully guarded, there was no expectation of an attempt at revolt. There were some criminals among us, but the most of the laborers were unfortunate Poles, who had been sent to Siberia because they wanted their own country to be free, and had endeavored to secure her freedom. I was among the latter, and had been more than a year in the mines when the incident I am about to relate occurred. Not a day had passed, during my imprisonment, when I was not meditating some plan of escape.

DARING PLAN FOR ESCAPE.

“At last I hit upon something which I considered feasible, and mentioned it to one of my companions. He agreed to it, and we gradually broached it to the rest of the men in our gang. Some of them hesitated at first, but they soon entered into it, and we made our arrangements.

“The hill was small, and I had discovered a sort of ravine or valley running along and into one side. I understood surveying pretty well, and calculated that the tunnel at one point was not more than twenty feet from this ravine. The prison where we were kept when not working was some distance from the hill, and the guards were so placed, that if we could get from the tunnel into this ravine, we could escape. My plan was to have a fall of earth in the tunnel near the entrance, and to dig a passage into the ravine while the dirt was being removed from the place where it had fallen. I took a lesson from ground squirrels and other burrowing animals, and intended to fill the tunnel with the dirt we removed, so as to keep our pursuers, or rather our rescuers, busy as long as possible. We managed to secrete an extra lot of candles, and also to conceal two days’ supply of provisions. We then communicated our plans to the gang that relieved us at sunset, and they agreed to join us.

“On the evening fixed for our attempt, the relief gang was marched into the tunnel, and we were ordered to quit work. At a given signal we seized and disarmed our guards, and then bound them securely, putting gags in their mouths to prevent their giving any alarm. I then went to the place I had selected for the fall of earth, and pulled away the wooden supports. Down came the earth in such quantity as to block up the entrance, and cut us off completely from the outer world. There we were enclosed in the tunnel, with many tons of gravel to be taken away before we could get out.

“We knew that we should soon be missed; in fact, it was more than probable that the guards at the mouth of the tunnel would hear the noise of the fall, and give the alarm at once. Of course it would be believed that the occurrence was purely accidental, and that we would set at work at our end of the heap to make our way out. I had carefully noted the spot where I intended to begin my tunnel, which should lead us to the open air, and to freedom.

“Part of the men began digging at the place I indicated; others carried the dirt, which was taken out, to the heap which formed our barricade. Two or three men were kept at the barricade making a great noise with pounding on the fallen timbers and pretending to shovel away the dirt. Our object in doing this was twofold; first, to drown the noise of our work on our new tunnel, and, secondly, to make it appear that we were as anxious to get out, and were as diligent in our efforts, as were those outside to help us. My calculations were, that we could get outside in about eight hours, as the earth was not very hard, and we were only making a narrow tunnel through which we could just pass by stooping.

CONFINED IN A HOT ATMOSPHERE.

“The men worked with a will, for life and liberty were at stake. We relieved each other every half hour, and never did men do more active service. The perspiration rolled from us in streams, for the air was hot and close, and I had not calculated in how short a time the confined atmosphere of our cavern would become foul with our breath, and with the heat of the candles. We extinguished all our lights except those where the men were employed, and those who could do nothing towards our enterprise sat in the gloom and were silent for the most part. We talked in low tones, through fear of being overheard by those who had been our guards, of our movements after we should escape from our confinement. Gradually the men ceased to speak, and some of them dropped their heads forward in sleep. As I had planned the escape, I was looked upon as the leader. I had too much responsibility upon me to allow me to sleep. I felt drowsy, however, and seemed to be falling into a sort of stupor, like my comrades. I knew that my feelings and theirs were caused by the heavy atmosphere, and longed most anxiously to reach the open air.