[Joe Wicked]

Ron,
We had chalk mines just north of where I grew up and we used to go into them when I was a kid. One year there was a cave in deep in one mine so the state shut down a few and posted warnings about the cave in dangers. Someone decided to remove the wood planking barrier that they used on one of the less stable mines and went in. There was a lot of speculation as to what caused the cave in that day, but all that went in were crushed. The family sued the state for no doing more to protect them, and the state responded by completely blowing up all the entrances. They completely sealed off the mines and a piece of history was lost in my opinion. I only vaguely remember the mines.

I used to dream about finding an abandoned gold mine and digging. Of course I found that where the miners gave up and turned a different direction was only inches from the largest vein ever found.