Gold Hill daily news. [volume] (Gold Hill, N.T. [Nev.]) 1863-1882, 1865-03-09
THE EVENING NEWS.

Central smart, USED oy the Ophr cotnPan!
Robert Emerson, brother of the de-
ceased. upon being duly sworn, testified
that he was in the employ Of the U phr
Company. and had been for some tune.
and further swore to the general results OF
the accident; he had heard frequent COM
plants OF the unftneSs of the boiler TO do
the required work. and had at one time
run the engine, which he then considered
unsafe, but had given way to give his
brother a chance to work; he considered
the deceased a careful and competent en-
gineer, and had been informed by him that
he (the deceased) had frequently informed
the officers in charge OF the mine that the
boiler was unsafe, being leaky, and burned
to blister in places had advised my
brother TO procure another situation the
fuel used was pine wood.
Thomas Z. Howard, being sworn, cor
roborated the general testimony as to facts
OF the preceding witness; he did not
know anything about boilers, but had
heard the engineer tell the superin,end-
ent and fireman that the boiler was not
safe; knew OF its being patched at the
bottom; thought the head of the boiler
was driven out on account Of the weak
ness of the iron, and had burned ap-
pearance; had recently examined the
boiler. and had pronounced it unsafe, and
so reported to the officers of the mine /;
about twenty minutes before the explosion
had noticed that sixty-eight pounds of
steam was shown by the Indicator, and
from sixty to seventy pounds were usual
~ carried he swore that one of the par
ties who had recently repaired the boiler
pronounced it unsafe.
f. b. Wilder, Superintendent OF the
mine, being sworn. testified at length rela-
tive to the explosion: Up to two weeks
ago, he had considered the boiler safe; at
that time his attention was called by the
Engineer to "bliSters" on the boiler, from
which the water was breaking; ne order
ed the boiler to be put out of use. and
procured Riordan Il Taylor, boiler makers,
TO repair it-they having put on Two
patches he testified that Cameron, the
deceased. had twice told him the boiler
was dangerous. on account OF ieakages
over the furnaces; he then ordered the
head Engineer to discontinue the use Of
the same and " tire-up" the boiler Of the
Central company, which was done but it
was impossible to obtain a sufficient sup
plv OF steam TO run it, and the deceased
had told him, the night before the explo-
sion, that he was going to put manure
and bran into the old boiler and start it
10 again witness told him to do so ; had
been acquainted with the working of en-
gines for twenty eight years; did propose
10 get steam from the boilers at the Next
can shaft, because l considered the one
which exploded as unsafe, and it would
be more economical as the same leaked so
badly that large amount Of fuel was re-
uuired TO get up steam; the boiler had
been in use about four years, and ought
TO have lasted seven at least; was inform
ed that Cameron turned on water when the
boiler was hot. which caused the explosions;
his impression was that the deceased was
miSlead by the "toaming" OF the steam
rs 10 the real amount of water in the
boiler; did not think there was sufficient
water in the boiler at the time Of explo-
sion, and the cold water being let in
caused a vacuum which made the explo-
sion; ne considered Mr.. Cameron well
qualified for the position of second engi-
neer: had examined the boiler since the
explosion, and found no flaw, and be-
lieved no one was in fault except the de-
ceased. as the head engineer had stated to
him, that had he been there he could have
prevented the explosion.
Frank Kinney, the Foreman OF the
mine, upon oath corroborated the testi-
mony of Mr.. Wilder.
Peter Scott, the carpenter Of the Com
panv, swore that the boiler was leaky, and
that he had heard it pronounced unsafe
BY the head engineer and his assistants,
and since the same had been patched )"
those complaints had been continued, and
that the engineers had told him (witneSs)
that they had entered complaints to the
officers of the mine of the unsafeness OF
the boiler.
Recess until IL 4. NJ. to-day.
THURSDAY. IL o'clock A. N.-Inquest
resumed. J. T. RIDDEN, boiler-maker,
being sworn, testified that he had repaired
the boiler about a week since, and found
it damaged in three places-had patched
it with new iron. and thought the boiler
was fully competent to carry at least
seventy-fve pounds of steam; wouldn't
have been afraid to run the engine with
that amount of steam; think the explo-
sion was caused by the introduction OF
cold water into the heated boiler; found
the boiler very dirty and not in condition;
the boiler was made of common iron, not
frst-class. but sufficient to hold seventy
FIVE pounds of steam !; thought the driving
of plugs in the tubes an improper way OF
repairing them the iron used by me in
making those repairs was the best kind of
American iron; don't know the age OF the
boiler or the kind iron used in the con-
struction thereof.
c. W. Lightner, sworn, testified as to
general results of explosion: have been
engaged in the boiler making business
since 1912; the boiler has been in use four
wears, think-waS made Of a fair quality
of iron; have seen the boiler frequentlNin
the last few months; previous to repairs
bv RIDDEN & Co. it was in q leaky con-
dition, the iron had burned, bagged down
and cracked; the repairs were OF benefit
as far as leakage only was concerned, but
was safe for eighty pounds Of steam iii the
was right before the repairs were made;
saw the boiler two days before the eSplo-
sion, and found it leaking again. but on
account of smoke was unable to tell the
place; heard the Engineer complain OF
leaking and the use of large amounts OF
fuel only am attending to some old affairs
of the Ophir company; have examined
the boiler since the explosion; judge the
boiler must have burst directly under the
steam dome; have seen two explosions OF
boilers myself, and been conversant of
over one hundred. In answer to ques-
ton of Juror, witness stated that he never
doubted the strength of the boiler, or its
capacity TO carry the requisite amount Of
steam thought the tubes showed the ap-
nearance of having been burned; don't
Know whether the boiler had ever been
olo.rad of scales by burning. although II