Gold Hill daily news. [volume] (Gold Hill, N.T. [Nev.]) 1863-1882, 1873-09-23
coRoNER.s

A. NJ. to-day at Justice virgins court
room, Gold Hill: William Phipps,
J. o. BENEFITS, J. w. Noyes, George
A. Lighthall, z. E. Woodwork, John
Baker, X. P. Kerr, w. H. Poyneer, j.
Ramsdell and W. D. Gray. The court
room was crowded with eager, listen
ing spectators, and much interest was
manifested:
Thomas Quirk, s,cora-I reside In
Crown Point Ravine, Gold Hill ; am
foreman Of the Yellow Jacket Mine /;
| was working on top Of the mine as
sisting at an air pipe, until ~ o'clock
on the morning Of the Goth inst. ; We
had all the air pipe down the shaft ex-
ceps one length, ready to connect,
when l thought | would go home and
get a little rest; before | feel asleep I
heard a rap at the door; | got up and
found C. McCarty at the door ; he told
me to hurry down as there was an ex-
plosion at the mine l dressed myself
and went down rs fast as [ could ;
when l got down to the mine
the smoke va coming up the shat ;
I was satisfied where the fire was I
knew IL was In the wlnze leading from
the HOO to the l3O0-foot level, as 1t
had been once on fire before l left for
home {; l heard one OF the men say that
wood-smoke was coming up the winze,
and the underground foreman told inc
that he went and put it out 1t was OH
fire probably half a dozen times about
10 feet above the forge ; the SCOT would
catch on fire when we would 90 and
put 1t out /; Saturday morning last, af-
ter I went down to the shaft and saw
that | could do nothing there, | went
over to the Crown Point mine aud
went down the shaft to the ll00-foot
level they said four men were miss
ing 1 went ont into the drift and
found three dead bodies and helped
carry them out ; they were laying on
the track they lay $50 to 500 feet
from where the fire occurred; we got
those three men out, when | said let's
90 back and get the other one; some
one said there were four; | started
back and led them about 20 feet, when
found another man about 80 feet far
Their In the drift ; | dragged him out
to the shaft ; did not know his name;
I started to so to the Yellow
Jacket by way Of the north Drift,
ll00.foot level there was Que Of the
Jacket men with me, Crhomas Davis y
we got n little north Of the Crown
Point switch, on the 1100-foot level.
leading to the Jacket Davis said We
can't 90 in there; l said come on Tom,
VIC a he said the gas was so strong
We would never live to get back, so he
went back to the shaft l went back
to get somebody to 60 with me, but l
couldn't see any Yellow Jacket men
| met Tom Diamond and told him l
wanted to 60 down to the l3OO.foot
level, and go through to the Yellow
Jacket; he said he would go with me.
and we got down to the 13O0.foot level
and got rs far north as the Crown
Point blacksmith shop he said he had
business back and that he would re-
turn In n moment ; while | was walt
ing tor him there was n curtain or
small piece Of canvas hanging be-
tween the shaft and blacksmith shop;
I tore this down so as to admit the air
north that we could get In there /; l
saw he was not coming back and Icon
cluded to 90 OIL alone; | went on un-
til | came within so or 60 feet OF the
Yellow Jacket switch, when L found q
man lying dead across the track; l
held the lantern no to his face to see
If he was alive /; | concluded no wal
dead ; | ascertained afterwards that 1t
was Mr. Louizelle. the blacksmith; l
then went back to the Crown Point
shaft to get assistance to fetch
him out l got a man and a boy to
assist me ; | saw that he was dead, and
that it was I.ouizelle; 1 told the men
We would let him lie there and ex.
plore the DRIFT further | went on un-
ill | got within 10 or 80 feet Of the
fire ; 1t wa burning around the old
blacksmith chop; then ran back to
the 1200.foot station OF The Yellow
Jacket shaft, and | saw there was no
body there /; everything was torn up
BIZ the explosion, cars were upset,
doors b%lowirloose. and timbers thrown
across the track; then | ran back
again to where this dead man lay In
the drift leading to the Crown Point
when I got there, | found that the 9TH
err two men had gone away and LETT
the man; as | could not carry him
alone, | went out to the l3OO-foot sta
ton Of the Crown Point again; when
[ got there | told them somebody had
better go In and carry that man out ;
nobody went then ; there were only
two or three men there | then went
up to the llOO-foot station Of the Crown
Point ; told some of the men there the
same thing. and tried to get the Hose
Co. to turn water down the Crown
Point shaft to the 1900 foot level ;
they had been pouring water for some
time down the Jacket shaft; l told
them not to do It, as there was no fire
In the shaft they asked who said so;
[ said I said 10 I went back Into the
Crown Point mine and went through
on the llOO.foot level to the Jacket
switch; saw | couldn't 60 In to the
north drift to the winze; went down
to the l300.foot level Of the Grown
Point and in to the fire; came back
again and went IN top was trying to
get hose down, but couldn't see who
was chief; we finally got hose down
to the 1900, a little north of the Crown
Point shaft; Mr.. Diamond said 1t
would do no good to take the hose
down the 1900 through to the fire; !
said it would; w agreed with Don
nelly, Diamond and others, TO 60 In
and sec the fire ; before this c onclu-
ded TO put in a bulkhead between the
Jacket shaft and tue fire /; | hal set
men at work to do It then they COLI
cluded that there was no use Of putting
in a bulkhead; I contended that there
was, rs there wa danger Of the fire
coming back through the shaft; wo
finally decided o to put It In /; we
went back and told the Crown Point
men that they conld close up their
bulkhead II they wanted to; | then
went OH top and came over to the
Jacket works somebody carried Lou-
izelle ; carried him out between the
I'd and Sd trips the cause Of the fire,
In INV opinion, was from the black
smith shop In the Yellow Jacket,
which belongs to the Belcher mine /;
have been working In the mine since
the Spring Of 81 was working In the
Crown Point at the time Of the great
H,a In the Yellow jacket, April 2,