Eureka daily sentinel. [volume] (Eureka, Nev.) 1871-1887, 1879-12-05
INTO THE cav
A FrishtfuI Accident at the Union
Shaft.


ihe virginia Chronicle contains the par
ticuiars OF an accident at the shaft Of the
Union Con-, on Tuesday morning, by
which SIX men were badly ~hurt-three of
'hem perhaps mortally-and a number
more or less seriously injured. b. F. Cor
MSS the engineer, had just taken the en-
gine, and had lowered the first load of men
IN the mine, and was hosting the men
coming off shift. There were eight men ON
the cage and nine more in the skip beneath
the cage. The skip is an iron tank, which
turns by Its own weight and empties itself
INTO a chute, when it reaches a point about
III feet above the floor of the hosting
works.
The engineer had received the usual
three-bell signal, indicating that men were
on the cage. The standing order is, to
raise men at a good rate Of speed, but slow
enough to enable them to signal safely at
any point III the shaft, should they deem it
necessary to stop. Corliss ran according to
orders TIL the cage neared the S00-foot sta
tion, when he let his engine go like light
ming. The cage
FLEW Up THE SHAFT
At the rate of a mile a minute, came out Of
the mouth of the shaft like a flash, and the
next instant was dashed against the tim
beFs, 40 feet overhead. The skip turned,
and the men in it were shot from it, as
IRON a mortar, out over the floor, from a
height Of 25 feet. Several were dashed
into the iron chute. All the men on the
90 70 with MN a~nan4fA, ~-eu -. ~
by the tremendous shock and hurled to the
floor, 40 feet below. For a moment the
horror-stricken workmen who saw the ac-
cident, supposed all the miners killed, but
presently many of the poor, stunned and
bleeding fellows gave signs Of life.
The cause Of the accident appears to
have been the gross and criminal careless
ness of Corliss, the engineer. He was not
drunk, and it seems that he was not a
drinking man. When asked how he-a
man who had filed the position Of engi-
neer at the Union shaft for a year, and had
long experience in his business on the Com
stock could allow such a thing to hap
pen, he said that some one was standing
between him and the indicator; and then
again that the steam coming out Of the
shaft had prevented his seeing the tags on
the cable. He also said that domestic
trouble had made him absent-minded.
Some idea Of the force with which the
cage was drawn against the timbers over
head may be conceived when it is stated
that the heavy seven-inch steel cable,
which bore a test strain OF eighty tons,
was snapped like a bit of Irvine, although
it was doubled at the point Of breaking.
The engine is l,000-horse power, and full
steam was on. The iron roof of the cage
was smashed like pasteboard. The safety
clutches worked perfectly, for when the
cable was snapped the cage remained at the
top.
Corliss, the engineer, was, of course, at
once discharged, and made all haste to
get away. The feeling was hot and bitter
against him, and not a few voices were
raised in favor of l~ynching him out of
hand.
The men in the skip were J. J. Handy,
P. Leonard, Patrick Rogers, Sam Reynolds,
J.. McCarty. NJ. Clancy, P. Conway, Muir
name and Malloy.
There were on the cage 7. c. MeCarty,
Vim. Burns, John Mable, J.. Hambley, C.
Murton, J. Bennetts, D. L. Jones and
L. Langan. Tim McCarty died this after
noon.