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Show Terrible Snows fide In Park City. Quincy Shaft House Completely Wrecked Nine Men Buried Beneath Pile of Snow and Wreckage-Six Rescued and Three Perish. w. PARK CITY.Jan. 28. One of the most disastrous snowslides in the history of Park City swept down the mountain upon the works of the Quincy mine about noon today, killing three men. burying six mote beneath twenty feet of snow and doing serious damage to the shaft house. John Gafney, Edward J. Trotter and Charles D. Frenck were smothered to death beneath the avalanf he of snow. Mike Wynn, Peter Burt, George Burt. Con Shea. Noble Bates and Dave Coleman were caught and buried for nearly an hour, but they were rescued before death made them victims. All of them were severely injured by the slide, and Peter Burt and Shea ate in a serious condition. Every m;m on top of the ground whs caught by the'slide, and had it not been for the prompt and heroic work of Mike Wynne in digging his way out through the mountain of snow all six men would in all-probability all-probability have met death in the avalanche. J Had the slide occurred ten minutes later the entire shift of forty men working underground would have been caught and the fatalities would in all piobability have been very great. The slide came without warning down the steep declivity of the hill, sweeping everything before it. and before the men could realize the danger they were in, they were engulfed in the mountain of snow. It swept over the whole outside workings of the mine, covering the shaft house and filling the mouth of the tunnel so as to completely stop up the passage way. The shaft house itself was crushed in like an eggshell on the side facing the mountain, moun-tain, and the roof was jammed down inside. The shaft gallows and most of the machinery escaped, but the hoisting works are almost a total wreck. News of the disaster spread rapidly, and miners from adjoining mines joined with those from the inside of the Quincy. who got out through the Daiy-West and intermediate Ontario tunnel, in digging for the unfortunate miners caught under the snow. For two hours they worked unceasingly before be-fore they had recovered the last body. The dead and half suffocated miners were carried to the city as soon as they were found and pulled from the snow. The doctors of the city turned out in force and every medical attention possible pos-sible was given the injured miners. It is believed that they will aiV recover, though several of them were about gasping their last when aid reached them. The slide is the most disastrous since the terrible Daly slide of 1897. and the damage to the mine alone is estimated at over $1,000. It is not believed tnat work can be resumed for a week or ten days. The slide occurred at 11:45 this morning, just ten minutes prior to the time when the underground shift is hoisted out of the mine for lunch. The heavy storm of late had put a thick coating of snow on the steep side of the mountain just back of the hoisting works, and it was only today that some ol the men looking at the white pyramid remarked that it looked as if a snowslide might come down it at any moment. The men watched the snow all the morning, as a heavy storm was in progress and the snow was falling thick. At a moment when the nine men on top of the ground were engaged at their work, the snow, four or five feet deep, broke loose and started down the mountain side. It gathered up the snow as it went, and swept down the mountain with increasing velocity until, before it reached the bottom, a wall ol snow twenty to twenty-five feet high and reaching far up the iv.ountain, was rushing down upon the mine and the unsuspecting miners. There was no sound to warn the workers of the coming death. Like a flash the avalanche rushed upon the hoisting works, and where a few minutes before stood shan- I ties and work houses, was only a broad and deep expanse of snow. Th whole works and the nine men employed in them were entombed in a mountain moun-tain of ice and snow. The men outside had not even time to run. and ther i was no one to give aid to those under the snow. The mouth of the shaft was filled full of snow, shutting the men underground from the outside. When the avalanche came. Cotter, who is station' tender; John Gafney, acting engineer; Charles Frenck. who was tending the boiler, and Mike Wynn, the shift boss, were in the engine and boiler rooms, attending to their work. The other five men were outside of the works attending to some timbering. The only warning these men received was a crash as the snow struck th sides of the shaft house. The next instant, before they had time to turn aiound, they were all buried under the snow. Mike Wynn, of the four inside the works, was the only one to escapr being pinned down by the snow, and to this fact those who escaped owe theii lives. In the boiler room, where Wynn was, there was a shovel which he haii taken there earlier in the day. Not being able to see or find anything of Ms companions he seized the shovel, and breaking through the window in th4 wrecked shaft house, began to dig towards the surface. Sustained by what lUtie air that reached him Wynn struggled with the snow bank, almost overcome over-come at times, until finally he thrust his shovel through the crust and saw the light of day. Eagerly he scrambled out and revived by the fresh air, he ran in quest of assistance to dig for his companions. In a short time tha news of the accident had spread to the nearby mines, and the men from these, with the miners from underground in the Quincy, went to work on the banir of snow. Wynn was able to tell his companions about where the entombed men were, and the searcn was effective for this reason. The first man reached yas dead, and this made the searchers think that ail the others had shared the same fate. Very soon though, one of the timber men was found, and although partially unconscious from suffocation, he was still alive, and this gave hope to the workers. They redoubled their efforts and in the course of half an hour had the five live men out. The last man taken cut was under the snow for more than a half hour, and when taken out he was almost dead. This man was Peter Burt. When he came to he declared that had he' been under the snow five minutes longer he would have died for want 'of breath. As soon as the live men had been taken out work was begun in the search for the men in the hoisting works. Engineer Charles Frenck was at the throttle throt-tle of the engine when he was caught, and he was found dead there when the rescuers got to him. Trotter and Gafney were in the boiler room, and they were suffocated under the snow. The dead bodies were removed through the shaft into the mine and out to the city through the Daly-West and the Intermediate In-termediate Ontario tunnel. A request was sent to the city as soon after the accident as possible for medical help, and all the doctors promptly responded. The injured men were brought to town, and are being cared for.Peter Burt and Shea are in a critical condition, they having been hit by timbers in the slide. It is thought, however, that they will recover. . - Charles Whitehead, the regular engineer, overslept himself this morning, ano this probably saved his life, because Frenck, who met death, volunteered . to take his place, and was performing Whitehead's duties when the slide "j'd!" Wood, the vice president of the Daly-West company, stated last night in regard to the accident, that from all he could learn the shaft house had been crushed in on one side and the roof badly damaged. He estimated the damage to the mine at about $1,000, and stated that it would probably be ' closed down for a week or ten day?. |
