The new Northwest. [volume] (Portland, Or.) 1871-1887, 1879-12-18
The Hottest Mine in the world.

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a reporter OF the Virginia City Chron-
icIe recently paid visit to the lower
levels Of the "Julia " mine, and thus
narrates his experience
When the lSOO-foot station was
reached, the connection with the Sutro
Tunnel was explored and found to be
intensely hot The volume Of water
pumped from the mine into the tunnel
is here seen. Il is so hot that it would
cook an egg in about the same time
that would he required in the best reg
ulated kitchen range thoroughly fired
up One eau no more than dip the
points Of his fingers in il, and Withdraw
them instantly. The surrounding tenn
perature, except where the dOwncast Of
the shaft is felt is extremely oppres-
sive. The miners cannot work in il
more than few minutes at time.
An incline leads from this level to the
1000 foot level, where the greatest heat
in the mine is felt. The heat increases
as the incline is descended until the
200O-foOt station is reached, where il is
more severe than at any point above.
This level was abandoned about four
months ago, when a Burleigh drill,
boring into the face Of the wall, struck
hot water, which drove them from their
work aud came nearly scaIding one Of
them to death. Recently additional
power was secured, in the form Of boilers
and air-cOmpressors, and since then the
work Of retaining the 2200-fOot level
has been prosecuted, under the most un-
favorable circumstances imaginable. At
the station the temperature is not so
great but that one can manage to
49, -. "a l. O..
feet in the drift the heat gets so intense
that the men pant like lizards as ;hey
pass through il. Tie temperature 8
few feet from the station is 135 degrees.
About a hundred feet from the station
is a cooling house. Tie intermediate
distance grows hotter every step until
the cooling house Is reached. In pass
ing in, the men take a slow tTot aud
sioop over, so as TO avid the great heat
at the top of the drift, which far ex-
ceels q intensity that closer TO the
bottom. They pnt on heavy wooden
shirts before attempting to pass from
the station to the first cooling house, as,
II they were stripped, they would be
burned to a blister. II is like going
into a burning building, or running
through a street with high buildings
burning on each side. One is compelled
20 pull his hat down so as to protect his
face aud gather his wooden shirt up
about his neck to prevent being burned.
The hands, being exposed, felt the heat
as il brought in painful proximity to a
hot stove. The heat is fully as dry as
that radiating from a furnace. When
the cooling house is reached, the men
are painting so they eau scarcely speak.
Up TO this point the reporter thought
he had experienced as much OF she uu-
calOrie as any msn could
stand. aud was surprised when told that
the worst place was yet to be euc0uu-
tered The party at this time were
about a hundred aud fifty feet from the
station. The face of the drift was over
three hundred feet still further on, and
the heat grew more intense as each foot
was advanced The Superintendent and
the foreman took the lead, the reporter
following close upon their heels, hold
ing piece Of ice to his nose to cool the
air that he breathed. Two miners, used
to the drift, were detailed TO follow, so
that If any Of the party gave out, relief
would be at hand. Thus organized, the
run was made to the end Of the air r-pipe,
about 200 feet further in the drift. This
was the most trying experience of the
whole undertaking. About midway
between the cooling station and the end
Of the air pipe is the hottest place in the
mine, and the hottest place in the world,
perhaps, in which men work. The heat
is all that the strongest man can bear,
and more than most of them can endure,
even for the brief period of passing
through il from one cooling station to
another. After the miners run through
from the second cooling station to the
end OF the air pipe, they are so exhaust
ed that they cannot do more than five
minutes work before they are compelled
to run the gauntlet again to the place
of refuge. The work of cleaning out
the drift has progressed to within about
sixty feet of its face. At this point there
is an old cooling room, which is now
being repaired. When this work is
completed, there will be a new line es-
tablished toward the face Of the drift,
which will greatly facilitate operations.
No one can imagine the difficulties en-
eountered in opening up this drift who
has not experienced them himself. The
Julia mine undoubtedly carries of the
palm for being the hottest underground
working in the world