History of the big bonanza

by Dan De Quille

The walls of the drifts were so heated that it was very frequently found necessary to fall back, even after the burning timbers had been extinguished, and play a stream on the rock in order to cool it down. In places boiling hot water stood, to the depth of two or three inches, on the floors of the drifts. Steam, fumes of sulphur, and gases from the heated ore and minerals rendered the air so bad that it became necessary to lead in an air-pipe from the main blower above, to enable the men to continue work. When caves occurred, flames and poisonous gases were driven forward upon the men, singeing and partially suffocating them. Their position was one of great peril. Their only means of reaching the surface was through the shaft, and at any moment an accident might happen that would cut them off from this; or the draught might change and overwhelm them with stifling gases before they could ascend to the surface.

The situation below, when the fire broke out, was fearful. The smoke and gases came upon the men so suddenly that, although they ran at once for the shaft, many were suffocated and sank down by the way. At the Crown Point the men so crowded upon the cage at first (a cage holds from twelve to sixteen men.) that it was detained nearly five minutes; the station-tender being afraid to give the signal to hoist while so many men were in danger of being torn to pieces. A young man who came up on that cage told me, that as they were finally about to start, a man crawled upon the cage, and thrusting his head in between his (the young man’s) legs, begged to be allowed to remain there and go up. He was permitted to keep the place, and his life was saved.

THE BURNING MINE.

As this cage started up, hope left the hearts of those remaining behind. They were heard to throw themselves into the shaft and to fall back on the floors of the mine. Another young man told me that in rushing toward the shaft, it occurred to him that he might fall into it—all being dark below—when he got down on his hands and knees and crawled, feeling his way until he knew that he was at the shaft. While lying there, three or four men came running along from behind, and pitched headlong into it, to their instant death. At one lowering of the cage, a man who went down from the surface, finding that there were more persons below than could be brought up that trip, generously got off into a drift and put on board a young man who was so far suffocated that he was unable to stand. The man who did this was afterwards brought up unharmed.

The firemen not only went into the burning underground regions cheerfully, but there was strife among them to be allowed to go. To see them in their big hats, ascending and descending the shafts, as they relieved each other, was a novel sight. It was a new way of going to a fire. Although a stream was kept playing at the 800-foot level of the Yellow-Jacket all day, at 9 o’clock at night it was found that the fire was rising, and a second stream was put on at the 700.

At 2 o’clock, on the morning of the 8th, thirteen bodies had been recovered. Some of these were found in the sump (place in which to collect water at the bottom of a shaft) at the 1,100-foot level where they had fallen from stations above, others were found at the 1000-foot level, lying in all kinds of despairing[despairing] positions, just as they had sunk down and died when overtaken by the poisonous gases.

At 1 o’clock, on the afternoon of the 8th, twenty-three bodies had been recovered. When the fire first broke out, an explosion of gases occurred near the Crown Point shaft, which is supposed to have killed several men in that direction. Wherever the stifling gas swept in upon the men it left them dead. One dead miner was found clasping a ladder with death grip, his head hanging backwards. It was necessary to lower the body with a rope a distance of fifty feet to the bottom of the level. On the 900-foot level of the Crown Point mine, about thirty feet from the shaft, nine men were found in one heap. They had unjointed an air-pipe in the hope of being able to get enough fresh air to keep them alive.

On the morning of the 10th it was evident that the fire had increased to such an extent that no more bodies could be recovered,—that none in that pit of fire could be alive—and at, 11 A. M., the mouths of all the shafts were covered with planks,[planks,] wet blankets, and earth. At noon, steam from the boilers was turned into the Yellow-Jacket shaft through the air-pipe leading from the blower (a fan revolving in a drum, used in forcing air into the mines) down to the 800 and 900-foot levels, whence it would go wherever it could find egress.

On the 12th, a few more bodies were found, and there was so much fire that the mines were again closed and steam forced into them. Some of the bodies last taken out of the mines were so decomposed, owing to the great heat below, that in order to handle them it was necessary to roll them up in canvas coated with tar. Several bodies were in such a condition that the wives and relatives of the deceased were not allowed to see their faces. They were told to remember them as they had last seen them in life. One woman begged hard to see the face of her husband; then to see his hair. Being shown his hair, she laid her hand on it, and said: “Good-bye, my husband.” As she turned away, a little girl she was leading said: “Can’t I see my papa?” when the mother fainted.