The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1878-08-17
Imprisoned in a Mine.

AS the tank which IS used in bailinO'
water from the shaft of the Ward Mine.
Virginia City, New, was being hoisted
to the surface, the engineer on duty,
George n. Baker, accidentally allowed
it to be run up into the sheave. The
tank, which is of 600 gallons capacity
was full of water, and when it struck
the sheaye the clevis by means of which
it was fastened to the steel wire cable.
was broken. The tank was of wood
and ran on guides, the same as a cage.
When it parted from the cable it went
down the shaft like a leaden plummet,
a distance of |, $50 feet to the water at
the bottom.
Seven men We're somewhere at the
bottom of the shaft. News of the acct
dent spread rapidly, and Superinten-
dent Thayer was soon on the ground,
and proper efforts We're soon made to
ascertain the fate of the men below.
The hosting tank fell down the south
compartment. The next compartment
north is the one in which the cage is
used. The cage was down at the time
the tank fell. The first move was to
try to hoist this cage to the surface. A
move was made to do this, but no sooner
had the cage been started than signal
came up from below to stop. This
showed that some men below were alive.
The men then struck twenty bells. 1t
is the Cornish death signal. The men
above again tried to hoist the cage, and
sharp and unmistakable came the sig-
nal to stop. Again came up the twenty
fnl Nv 9th
signals that could not be understood.
Several times it was thought that those
below might be ready to have the cage
hoisted, and careful efforts were made
to move it up, but every time came up
the peremptory Stopn 1t was
finally concluded that some one was
wedged in between the cage and the
timbers of the compartment, and no
further effort at hosting was made
As the news of the accident spread
people came from all directions and
crowded into the works. Among these
were the wives and children of some of
the men who were in the shaft, and
the friends and relatives of others.
As the cage could not be moved, an
effort was made to communicate with
the men and learn something of the sit
uation at the bottom of the shaft. By
direction of Superintendent Ihayer, a
rope was lowered to which were at
tached two lanterns, bit of board and
a pencil, so that those uniniured below
might make their wants known. But
when it was hauled up one lantern was
gone, the other eXtinguished, and it
was clear that it had failed to reach its
destination.
What now seemed necessary to be
done was to make a descent into the
shaft In order to allow of this being
done the cable attached to the cage in
the depths had to be anchored to the
surface so securely that its entire weight
might be sustained and then detached
from the reel. This was done, and the
cage was put in place. As soon as all
was ready, and it took hours of prepa-
ration, John Oswell, foreman of the
Julia and Ward, took two companions,
tools, lanterns, etc, and started for the
depths. The guides and timbers in the
shaft had been so badly damaged by
the descent of the tank that it took for
ty minutes for this cage to reach the
bottom of the shaft.
1t had been agreed upon by Superin-
tendent Thayer and the foreman that
if any men We're dead he should, as
soon as the cage reached the bottom,
ring six bells, and then one for each
death,