OCR Text |
Show II HUNDRED MEN TRAPPED IN MINES BLAZE IN BUTTE PROPERTY CAUSES GREATEST DISASTER IN HISTORY OF CAMP. Fire Started in 2400-foot Level and Shaft was Soon a Roaring Chimney, Chim-ney, Men Having No Chance of Escape from Flames. Butte, Mdnt At least 200 miners met death in the Speeulator and Granite Gran-ite Mountain mines of the North Butte Mining company, on June 9, as the result ef a fire in the mines. When the fire was discovered 412 men were in the mines. Of this number, num-ber, 222: were rescued from one property prop-erty and CO from the other. Hope of flnding any of the missing men alive has been abandoned. The fire started on the 2400 level n-hen a carbide lamp came in contact cvith insulation on ai electric cable. The Granite Mountain shaft caved in for a considerable distance. The city has gone into mourning. Flags are at half-mast and all public amusements have been suspended because be-cause of the disaster. Twenty-seven men, rescued alive from the 2400-foot level of the Speculator Specu-lator mine, owe their lives to the heroism and resourcefulness of Manns Duggan. a 20-year-old nipper, or tool boy. Young Duggan, displaying rare presence of mind, showed his older fellow workers how to bulkhead themselves them-selves from the dangerous gas and preserve their lives until their rescue. The Granite Mountain shaft, 3600 feet deep, was soon a roaring chimney, and with th& destruction of its supporting sup-porting timber's the ground was caving, cav-ing, compelling all work to be directed from the levels connected with ad-Joining ad-Joining mines. ' - The Speeulator, another shaft about BOO feet distant, connects with the Granite Mountain on the different levels. That shaft also was in danger, as water from the levels was running Into it' and had caved a portion. There was no fire In this shaft, however. Tons of water was poured into the Granite Mountain shaft and from points on connecting levels with adjoining ad-joining mines as near as it is possible to get to the scene of the accident. It is believed that the mine damage will exceed $1,000,000. While the morgues were being filled with bodies, a dozen or more men overcome over-come by gas and rescued from the workings were revived at the. mine itself it-self by first aid methods and a dozen more were removed to hospitals for treatment. The fire, which started on the 2400-foot 2400-foot level, communicated quickly to smoke, which poured from the shaft In great clouds, retarded rescue work. Miners from adjoining properties, ordered or-dered up from underground as a precaution, pre-caution, went to work as rescuing gangs, aiding national guardsmen, who had been called to the scene. |