History of the big bonanza

by Dan De Quille

After the great column of smoke had rolled upward from the mouth of the shaft for twenty minutes or more, and when a great crowd was collected about the spot, there came a flash, as of lightning, there was a dull, heavy report, which was heard at the distance of a mile, and a sheet of flame shot upward to the height of nearly five hundred feet.

Instantly, the dark column of smoke was gone—was consumed in the tall pillar of fire. The flame then gradually fell back to a height of about sixty feet, and to this height it continued to rush for over an hour, with a roar that could be heard at the distance of half a mile. Pieces of flaming wood and live coals larger than a man’s hand, were shot sixty feet into the air, and fell in such showers that they covered the ground on all sides and rolled by bushels from the roofs of buildings in the neighborhood. At a distance the burning shaft bore a striking resemblance to an active volcano. The draught through it was the same that would be seen on the surface, in a burning chimney a thousand feet in height.

At this critical juncture it was decided to go below and close all of the drifts leading from the burning shaft. The main hoisting shaft and works stood at a distance of one hundred yards from the air-shaft, and in the buildings at this point were collected the miners who had just escaped from the lower levels. Showers of live coals were falling upon the roofs of all the buildings about and over the main working shaft, and a score of men engaged in pouring water over them could hardly prevent them from taking fire. In the hoisting works the engineers stood at their posts awaiting orders. A rope had been stretched about the mouth of the main shaft to keep back the crowd, and within the circle of this rope stood thirty or forty miners, also awaiting orders. The cage was below with two or three officers of the mine, who had gone down to ascertain the situation in the neighborhood of the bottom of the burning shaft. All were anxiously awaiting some news from these men, as since the escape of the miners from the lower levels, they were the first who had ventured back into the underground regions.

Presently a cage—a three-decker—came up and stopped at the mouth of the shaft. On its lower deck stood an underground foreman. As the cage stopped, this official said: “I want eighteen men to go down to the 1000-foot level with me.” The men knew that on the level mentioned was the bottom of the perpendicular portion of the burning air-shaft, but they did not know the situation at that point, nor did they know what they would be asked to do on arriving at their destination. Yet no sooner had the call for volunteers been made than there was a rush of men to the cage.

The lower compartment was instantly filled. The engineer, who stood with his hand on the lever of his engine, dropped the cage till the second compartment stood level with the floor, and this had no sooner been done than it was filled with men. The same was the case when the last compartment came down; indeed there was a quiet struggle among the men for a place on the cage, though few words were spoken. As the six men were taking their places on the last section of the cage, a young man pulled one of them off, and took his place, saying: “No, John, you’ve got a family.”

The men were all brave, determined-looking fellows. The faces of all were calm and firm—not a cheek was pale. While the men were filling the cage, as it hung in the mouth of the shaft,[shaft,] I said to a friend, “Those are all fine, brave men. See! with what nerve they step upon that cage to go down into the burning mine! It may be that some of those men will never reach the surface alive, yet not one shows a sign of fear.”

“Very true,” said my friend, “but I don’t think there is any real danger down there. The fire is confined to the air-shaft, all around it is safe enough.”

“Men never go into a mine at any time,” said I, “but they are in danger, and when there is anything wrong in a mine the danger is vastly increased—particularly when there is a fire in any of the lower levels.”

“Well, but what can happen to these men?” asked the gentleman.

“These men,” said I, “will probably come out all right, if no cave shall occur in the burning shaft while they are below; but it will now soon be time for the caving to begin. The timbers must soon begin to weaken.”