Gold Hill daily news. [volume] (Gold Hill, N.T. [Nev.]) 1863-1882, 1879-12-04

Coroner Brodsk commenced IN In.
quest last evening % to the cause OF the
death OF T. @. McCarty. one Of the per.
sons injured ct the Union shaft BY the
recent accident. The interest In the In.
quest was so great and the attendance
90 large that the District Courtroom
was thrown open and occupied BY the
Coroner and his jury.
DR.. Grant was first called and testified
to attending deceased. the nature Of bis
injuries (Which has been published in
these columnsl. his death, eto. In the
opinion Of the witness death was the
result Of the injuries received at the
shaft.
A. v. Comstook. foreman Of the Union
shaft, was then called. Hs was standing
within q few feet Of the shaft ct the dms
Of the accident, saw the cage pass very
rapidly and knew It must 60 into the
sheave.
Further along In his testimony and In
response to counsel for the Union Com.
pany Mr.. Comstock swors that the
orders are to hoist men not over ono.
half - rapidly 10 ore and other mate.
rails are hoisted, but that the cage was
shot out Of the mouth OF the shaft at
q rate Of speed not only greater than
when material 10 .hoistsd. bat greater
than should ever be allowed In any shaft
under any circumstances. he was
clearly OF the opinion that the accident
| occurred through the carelessness or ab.
observation-disclosures OF the engineer.
Mr.. Corllss, the engineer, then took
the witness and subjected him to Q pro.
longed cross.examinatlon - to the 10.
dicator which was not In use, tho tags
on the rope. the obsourity OF the early
morning, etc., and tried to elicit from
| him an opinion that Il was the duty Of
the company to hang up the cages when
the indicator gave out, but failed.
The examination Of Nj. Comstock
vas continued, and be testified that for
years Il had been customary to run on.
ginss on the Comstook BY tags similar
to those on the cable at the time Of the
accident, and It had been considered
comparatively safe.
Thomas Brophy. IN engineer en-.
ploysd at the shaft. was called and
testified that he Ia employed at the
Union shaft; was not on duty ut the
shait the morning OF the accident; his
watch was the 8 o'clock watch; wa
hosting on the north side by the indica.
tor and on the south side BY tags; have
been at work there Q little less than .
year and . half; sometimes volumes Of
steam were much greater than at other
times; never saw Il 30 bad that could
not see the tags on the rope; have q
clear view from engineers station
through to the shaft when hosting from
the north compartment; there 10 moth.
ing to prevent seelng the rope and the
tags coming out Of the shaft; had been
working with Mr.. Corliss nearly all the
time had been ct the Union shaft;
always considered Mr.. Corliss o arst.
GLASS engineer and Q very safe one, too.
On cross.sxamination BY the jury and
others, Mr.. Brophy said he could tell
| nearly where the cage was BY the
amount Of rope on the reel without see.
ing the tags. It never was 20 dark
there, nor was there ever 20 much steam
that he could not see the reel. Engi.
neers considered Il perfectly safe TO DO
guided BY tags on the ropes.
Mr.. Brophy also testified that to break
the cable a. It wal broken ct the time Of
the accident, the engine must have been
moving much more rapidly than 10
allowed when men are being hoisted. II
instructions received from Mr.. Town.
Chief Engineer, and Mr.. Rooney, 80.
psrintsudent, were carried ont. II would
be next TO impossible to have an acct.
dent. Both Superintendent and Chief
Engineer had always instructed witness
never to hoist or lower men 30 fast that
they could not ring the bell any time
and at any place In the shaft, under
the penalty OF losing his situation.
Alex. @. Mckenzie testified a. fol.
lows |: I am superintendent Of the Sierra
Nevada mine; was Superintendent Of
the Ophir In 1873 ; Mr.. Corliss wal at
that time engineer at the ophir ; / DO.
llsve, II ! remember correctly. hs was
suspended by the Chief Engineer OF the
Ophir mine; he did not quit Voluntarily;
I believe Mr.. Foote was then Chief En-
ginesr ; Mr.. Corliss was suspended for
some slight errors In hosting the giraffe
In the incline ; It was Q question In my
mind Of that time whether the errors
were the fault Of Mr.. Corllss or the men
In charge OF the bell rope who gave the
signals to the engineer; Mr.. Corliss was
With me at the 0pbir Ave or six months;
I considered him q compstsnt engineer |;
I had no hesitation In trusting my LIE to
bis care.
Question by Mr.. stons-Is Il not frs.
qusn,ly the case on the Comstook that
an engineer 10 suspended on account Of
an accident, whether hs 10 In fault or
not2 Al have always made It . prao.
toe at mines where ! have had any CON.
troll to suspend an engineer for q time.
a. the men lose confidence In him, and
have found that they can b safely rein.
stated
Q.-Is Il not through abundant eau.
ton ON the part OF the company that the
suspension takes placer A.-Iti 10.
Question by Understanding to
what you say, Mr.. Corliss would DO sm:
ployed again ct the Union. You would
employ him assinf Al would, sir.
Col. Stons-In answer TO the question
by the Juror did you understand him to
ask II you would employ Mr.. Corliss
since the accident at the Union shaft or
since his suspension at the ophirl A.
Since bis suspension at the ophir was
what I meant.
Juror-Do We understand you TO say
that you would employ Mr.. corlis. since
this last aocidentf Al don't think
would sincs this accident.
Adjourned till I o'clock this evening.
County T~rsssursr's Report.
Following IL the County Trsasursr's
report for November. 1879: