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Show Fifteen Cents Volume Three 1 vmm Kjje Responded In r; I K r Irx 7 ' . '. ' - I 1 re 't" I' . ? 'in 1 , t . Is' 4 - r 'I Hi !: . V . ' .. . J : -.li -5 h fi3.nl! , '- lo I .'! I j fV" " ' i x remen By David Neu A potential disaster was averted Tuesday afternoon when a fire in a Main Street restaurant was brought under control by local firefighters. At 4:03 p.m. Tuesday, the main fire dispatch center at Coalville was alerted aler-ted that black smoke was billowing out the front door of the recently closed Caboose restaurant, 440 Main Street. Three minutes later, members Marks End Of Era By Doc Murdock The Ontario Mine closed Wednesday, Wed-nesday, marking the first time in over 100 years that Park City will be without a working mine. Park City Ventures Co., the mine's operators, announced last month that they would cease operations because of geological conditions that prohibit further development. Those problems may mean more than the end of modern mining efforts here, they may signal the end of an era. During the 100 years of rnining, this town saw some $400 million in silver and other minerals come out of the mines, yielding profits that were said to have created 23 millionaires. The mining era began somewhat suprisingly through the efforts of the U.S. Army when, in the 1860s, they encouraged en-couraged prospecting in the Utah' territory in hopes of attracting new residents to counterbalance the Mormon Mor-mon influence. The Army considered the Mormons to be unresponsive to federal laws and resistant to statehood for the territory. Soldiers Explore Soldiers stationed at Fort Douglas were allowed time off to explore the George t reals the basket bail team... ...Page 7 3 Minutes of Park City's volunteer fire department depar-tment were on the scene, and by 5:30 p.m., they had brought the fire under control. Had the fire spread it could have produced a major disaster similar to the 1973 conflagration which burned five Main Street buildings to the ground. Brian Gier, a Mt. Air Market delivery boy, first noticed the smoke while servicing the Car 19 Restaurant next door. He alerted Don Millecam, Avert Disaster ario Mine canyons above the Salt Lake valley and in 1868 three of them found ore-bearing ore-bearing rock near the area then called Parley's Park. Two years later the soldier-miners were still working their unregistered claim when James M. Kennedy approached ap-proached and offered them $5,000 on the spot. They agreed and Kennedy filed the first legal claim to a Park City mine. The mine was reorganized as the Marsac Silver Mine and before long had shipped out over $100,000 in high grade ore. When news of the Marsac Mine leaked out, the rush was on. Soon, the canyon was filled with tents and brushwood shanties as prospectors scurried over the hills looking for the big strike. It came in 1872 when a group of prospectors from the California gold fields discovered silver in Ontario Canyon, just above what is now the town of Park City. In very little time they had a mine operating that was extracting $200-a-ton silver from the canyon. Hearst Arrives About that time, George Hearst, father of William Randolph Hearst, came and heard about the new mining INSIDE Roxanne wins again.. ; ...Page 9 Wednesday, February 15, 1978 owner of the Car 19 and the Caboose. Millecam immediately groped i hf,Sv way through the thick smoke toward the Caboose kitchen, grabbed a fire extinquisher off the wall and emptied it toward a steam table and radar range. After nearly putting out the blaze, Millecam exited with second degree burns on his right hand, suffered suf-fered from the extremely hot fire extinguisher. ex-tinguisher. Continued On Page 15 Close operation. The story is that he rode up into the canyon, picked up a few ore samples from the ground. Within a few weeks he had purchased the mine for $27,000, an acquisition that was to provide the base for the Hearst family empire. With this beginning, the Ontario Mine became the first permanent producing mine and eventually produced $50 million worth of ore. During the next few years, dozens of other mines began operating, eventually even-tually opening up 1,000 miles of subterranean sub-terranean tunnels and employing hundreds of miners. From all over the world, experienced experien-ced miners came, bringing with them their customs and superstititions. They believed it was bad luck to see a candle go out or to drop a tool. Women in the mines were considered bad luck as was whistling while beneath the surface. Horses Used Strange drilling or tapping sounds coming from inside the walls of the tunnels made the mines famous for the little "Tommy Knocker" ghosts who were said to cause the noises. The men worked ten hour shifts in the cold shafts, working by the light of Continued On Page 3 KAC goes to Nepal. ...Page 5 MMUaHHa . mm The proposed Holiday Village shopping shop-ping center would push Park Avenue traffic beyond capacity unless the road is expanded, a traffic analyst told the Park City Planning Commission Com-mission Wednesday night. However, a study prepared and presented by Wayne VanWagoner also showed that a new four-lane highway, as proposed by the Utah Department of Transportation, Transpor-tation, would handle traffic "very nicely." Timing appears to be the critical factor for the developers of the shopping shop-ping center. Holiday Village was planned for completion within two years but City Planner Dave Preece said work on the new state highway would not begin for at least three years. VanWagoner called the three-year prediction "optimistic." Traffic Study During certain peak periods Park Avenue is handling more than its maximum traffic capacity, VanWagoner Van-Wagoner said. Cars exiting the resort on weekends by way of Empire Avenue merge with Park Avenue as if there were a "freeway lane," he observed. ob-served. "People don't stop at the Empire Park Avenue intersection," VanWagoner Van-Wagoner commented. "They coast through the stop sign. Although it's a violation, if they didn't do it there would be far more congestion." The traffic expert said any study of the .Holiday Village, traffic impact Biggest In Years orm Buries Last week Park City experienced its biggest snowstorm in many years. It injected energy and excitement ex-citement back into the local atmosphere at-mosphere and was reminiscent of those talked about snowstorms of years gone by. By Friday morning two to three feet of snow had quietly buried anything that didnt't move. The greetings changed from "Hello" to "Can you believe this!" as roofs sagged and plows struggled to keep up, pushing mounting walls of snow to the side, in an effort to expose the road somewhere below. The only powder hounds out enjoying en-joying the fluff, however, were the local canines, because the resort closed Thursday and Friday due to high winds that brought heavy drifting drif-ting and avalanche danger. The magnetic draw of untracked powder caused tempers to flare as the 9 a.m. resort opening passed for the second day in a row Friday. Some skiers had been waiting in line as long as an hour and a half. "Anybody who stood in line at 7:30 after a storm like this hasn't been around much snow," said Craig Badami, marketing director for the resort. Badami related reports from ski patrolmen coming off the mountain (some of whom began work at 4 a.m. ). There were 8-ft. drifts blocking gondola gon-dola cars at the angle station; 15-ft. drifts on top of Payday left only the roofline of the ski patrol hut visible; the cat track from Payday to the angle station had filled in, leaving a solid embankment; the Prospector lifts were inoperable until crews could dig the chairs free and clear a loading ramp; the wind was blowing at a steady 40 m.p.h. and gusting to 65 m.p.h. But down at the base of the mountain moun-tain the crowds were oblivious to the high speed winds and near zero visibility, becoming more impatient and less understanding of what they considered unnecessary delays. "The people were unbelievably rude," said resort employe Ann Swank, who, like everyone else, was looking forward to an unforgettable day of skiing. When the gondola was officially closed due to high winds, the grumbling line shuffled over to the Ski Team chair to wait, three abreast. The chair had previously been dug free and was running intermittently, but with no riders. When ski instructors instruc-tors recruited to help free a stuck must include the adjacent Holiday Inn currently under construction because "they interact so closely." The study predicted that an average of 3,000 cars would enter and exit the Holiday InnHoliday Villge complex daily. Traffic generated by the 12-room 12-room hotel and the 81,000-sq.-ft. retail center "would push traffic volume past the limits on Park Avenue but not . on Highway 248," VanWagoner said. Conversion to a four-lane highway would accommodate all traffic "very nicely" he added. "I strongly suggest that a position of critical need be constantly filtered into the Department of Transportation," Transpor-tation," VanWagoner commented "It's the squeeky wheel that gets tht oil." "Or the asphalt," Commissioner Greg Lawson quipped. Ijrf'h Chance of some snow Friday J : iWf 'A ;2s3 then generally dry through the . :1 I: ijJ g vjdyif1 weekend. High temperatures '; Iy pr around 30 with lows between 0 ;j Alpine fir (left) and ski patrolman Dave Bod-ner Bod-ner survey the damage from last week's big dump. snowcat and dig out Prospector tried to get on the Ski Team chair "a near riot broke out," Ms. Swank exclaimed. ex-claimed. She said many skiers thought the instructors were jumping the line to go skiing and began pelleting them with snowballs and verbal abuse. "Throwing snowballs is pretty viscious, I think," Ms. Swank said. After the outbreak, word came that all chairlifts except First Time and Three Kings would be closed for the day. The crowds dissolved, most . into the Rusty Nail to cry in their beers. Number Twenty-Two Holiday Village developer Bill Mc-Comb Mc-Comb said he had received indications in-dications that work on the new state highway (which is planned to travel up Park Avenue to the Empire intersection, inter-section, turn east to the hillside and then head south to Main Street) would begin within two years. Both Preece and VanWagoner were doubtful work would begin that soon. Memo McComb also said he wanted an opportunity op-portunity to respond to a memorandum memoran-dum circulated by Commissioner Lawson but told the commission he was not prepared to do so at Wednesday's Wed-nesday's work session. In a document dated February 6, Lawson questioned whether Holiday Village would be compatible with "Park City goals and objectives" Continued On Page 3 Saturday morning the skiers were back in line, including mid-week season pass holders, who had been invited in-vited by the resort to ski that day because of the two day closure. "It was probably the biggest powder day we've had, and we didn't want some people moping around because they couldn't use their passes," Badami said. "This is a onetime one-time only thing; a gift we thought would be greatly appreciated by the locals." ' A gift from the resort and a gift from Ullr the snow god they were greatly appreciated. Park City ...a. .- . -i a-t u -.lt .&.'.' |