Gold Hill daily news. [volume] (Gold Hill, N.T. [Nev.]) 1863-1882, 1868-07-13
THE EVENING NEWS.
Monday Eveuins,..----..Jaly Is, 1858.
HorribIe NIiuIpx Accident,


Horrible Mining Accident.
About half-past eight o'clock this
morning, three men were killed in the
south shaft of the Yellow Jacket mine.
IL seems n cage had passed down loaded
with timters, one Of which had caught
in the shaft and was left behind by the
cage 1t ended over across the shalt,
so that Eve minutes later, when MT.
Campbell and two young men by the
names of Griffin and Curran, were COM
ing up on the same cage, 1t came IN
contact With the timber and the cable
parted, letting them drop with fearful
velocity about go feet to the bottom of
the shaft, Of course killing them in
s~tantly. The following is the full testi-
mony Of the Coroner's inquest, held by
Coroner Gartrell at moo to-day:
Daniel Sheehan, sworn-I reside in
Gold Hill l am a brakeman at the
Yellow Jacket mine; l was present this
morning when the accident occurred;
about 50 o'clock this morning, as the
cage was being hoisted, the cable broke,
and | put down my brake the cage with
q portion Of the cable fell down the
shaft | went down the shaft afterward
in order to find out who the men were
who were on the cage | learned their
names at the fifth station l think they
fell go or go feet ; the new rope in use
at the shaft has been On about seven
weeks it is n %seyen-inch rope, | think /;
there is another man who looks after
such things, who can tell you more
about it than | can ; | noticed nothing
unusual at this time abou: the rope,
otherwise | would not have worked with
it; did not know what stopped the
age, but learned afterward that it was
n stick Of timber or u post it had been
probably five or six minutes since the
cage had passed the same place before,
with nothing but timber on it l vas
informed that some of the timber lodged
in the shaft from that cage in passing
down think there were but these three
men OH the cage at the time Of the acct
dent; | only go by the signals /; | have
often brought up more weight than nine
men would amount to | stopped hoist
ing the moment | perceived there was q
catch, and Immediately the rope broke.
James O'Donnel, sworn-I reside in
Gold Hill | work in the Yellow Jacket
mine; | was present in the mine this
morning at the time OF the accident l
was in the north drift ut the 730-foot
level ! asked the station man if there
was anybody on board the cage then
came up to the top Of the shaft to see
how things were up there | went down
then to the s30.foot level aud told the
men there must be somebody fallen with
the age we then overhauled the rope
and found the three bodies beneath, on
q platform A; | think what caused the
rope to break, was n timber twelve
inches square by eight feet long which
had got across the shaft this timber
had worked off the cage in passing
down and the cage with the men on it
must have caught against the timber
and crowded it against the timbers Of
the shaft, causing the rope to break; |
have known Mr.. Campbell, deceased, for
about two years; he was foreman in the
mine he was about 20 or so years Of
age, | should judge; the other two men
knew, but not particularly, by name ;
one was named James Griffin aud the
other Curran /; | do not know where
they were from !; Currau has worked in
the Kentuck mine for about a year ; the
rope broke probably about 300 feet from
the bottom Of the shaft /; | do not know
exactly where that timber lodged in the
shaft in going down | think the lower
end of the timber must have, caught
against the side of the shaft and
the cage left it there, after which
il probably ended over across
have known Of such accidents before
it is usual to put ropes about the top OF
the cage to secure the timbers ; it was
done in this case ; it is the business Of
the carmen and timbermen 10 place the
timbers on the cage, and there are other
men below in the mine to take them off
do not know whether any Ut the car
penters came up this time after the tim
bers. We keep one man purposely TO
attend to the ropes and see that they are
all right.
Jackson White, sworn-I reside in
Gold Hill and work in the kentuck
mine /; | know the three men deceased
by sight, but only know Campbell by
name; | was standing in the carpenter
shop door at the time Of the accident
this morning | could see the rope from
where | was, but only noticed it Mt the
time it broke; | heard the report 1t
made in breaking and saw it drop down
the shaft; | then went down on u cage
TO the fourth station, where there was a
platform ; the rope had been in use SIX
or seven weeks, l think; myself and
Mr.. Shehan helped put the timbers on
the e we fastened them on and con-
sidered them properly secured the
timbers were twelve inches square and
eight feet long; there were three OF
these eight-feet pieces, and seven pieces
of tagging seven feet long; the station
keeper below, in the mine, received the
timber.
Wm. 0. Broadhead, sworn-l am an
engineer aud machinist; was ut the
works at the time the accident happened;
all the personal knowledge | have OF the
accident is that the rope broke, with n
sudden strain aud surge know nothing
of tue cause except that the cage must
have met with some obstruction, caus-
ing more Of n strain on the rope than 1t
was capable Of bearing; | was not ac-
quainted with the parties deceased, ex-
cept a little with Mr.. Campbell ; the
rope in use was u Manila rope, about
"a or q inches in diameter, l should
Judge if in good condition the break
ing strain of that rope is about ls tons ;
there are about sixty yarns to the strand;
the breaking strain Of the rope, worn
as il was at the time of the accident,
was TO- 900 pounds at least; consider
it at this time equal to n strain OF hye
unexpectedly safe for that it will
take a stronger surge to break a long
rope than it would n short one, by rea'
SON Of the rope giving.
Wm. Armstrong, sworn-l reside II
Gold Hill | am q miner in the yellow
Jacket mine, and was working in thu
new station below, with others, ut tn
time of the accident We heard a nois'
in tha, shaft, and stepped out OF tn
way something came down we dit
not know what about two seconds at
forwards a piece Of timber came down
we found the cage hnd fallen aud
piece Of timber was laying across 1t