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[[start page]] 1863 July. to Prof. [[Malile?]] this morning to learn how to [[cast]]. The Southerners have succeeded in Crossing the Blue Ridge. After trying several of the Gaps they forced that of Chester & are now in their old field of action. I suppose we shall have another panic in Washington before long The venerable Mr Crittenden is dead. Nov. 14th Monday Nell & myself came home last Monday from the country after an absence of almost three months. We chose the beautiful valley of Wyoming for our summer residence. It is about three miles in width & lies between two ranges of high hills the Susquehanna flowing through its centre. The views in every direction are exceedingly beautiful & the historical associations connected with the controversies of the early settlers & the Indian atrocities are exceedingly interesting. A monument is erected on the spot where perished most of the brave men who [[strikeout]] perished [[strikeout]] ^fell in the terrible massacre immortalized in Campbell's poem. -- The first few day Father was with us & we ^that is Cary & myself had the pleasure of going with him through one of the coal mines of the district. We stepped upon a wooden platform & slowly descended a shaft 190 ft. in depth [[?]] from the square opening at the top until ^[[b?]] on the ground we found over ourselves in black darkness faintly illuminated by the lamps held [[end page]] [[start page]] by our guards we waited a few moments to get our eyes to use a mining phrase & then proceeded along a low arched way the sides & top of coal as we could see ^only when we approached our lamps close enough to its [[jetty/jelly?]] surface ^following the course of a narrow rail road. Suddenly from out the distant darkness a faint star appeared growing brighter & brighter until the blackened face of miner peered through the darkness the lamp in his hat shedding a faint ray of light We saw more of these moving stars from time to time until we came upon quite a collection of them, the ^dirty forms of the miners faintly visible as they stood [[around?]] a large grate full of burning coal placed at the mouth of one of the air shafts for the ventilation of the mine the hot air rising producing an ^upward current which carries off the impurity from below. We proceeded a little further to where the men were preparing to blast & then not unwillingly retraced our steps to an inclined plane up which we climbed over heaps of fine coal until we came into a part of the mine now no longer worked. Here Mr Minor one of the gentlemen who accompanied us fired a blue light & then for the first time we had some idea of a coal mine Before us behind us, in every direction stretched away the ^dusky arches of coal supported by massive square columns of the same [[strikeout]] dusky [[strikeout]] material seamed at regular intervals with slate while the blazing light gave a strange unearthly look to the scene suddenly [[end page]]
