The Indianapolis leader. (Indianapolis, Ind.) 1879-1890, 1881-11-19
FIVE MEMS WONDERFUL ESCAPE.

Blown 12O Feet and Not a Bone Broken.
deer Lodge (MontaDa, New Northwest, Nov. Al
The principal grading of Cark's Fork Dr.
vision of the Northern Pacific Railroad is
being done in He'll Gate Canon, between
New Chicago and Bear Mouth. About nine
miles below New Chicago is what is known
or fifteen feet above the He'll Gate River,
| and the rocky bluff out of which 1t is being
blasted is twenty or twenty-five feet higher
On Tuesday morning of this week
sand or ''crevice" blast was set in this
bluff. The main blast consisted OF
seven kegs of black powder sunk to-
a depth of fifteen or twenty feet, with
two smaller auxiliary blasts set with shorter
| fuse to open the cFevice. 1t being but
short distance below the company store,
Nelson Bennett, contractor, end +. III. An
derson. book keeper, walked down to see
the shot The fuses were fired, the men
sought shelter. and two explosions followed
in quick succession. Bennett said: "The
Shots have all gone off; let's go down." and
started down. Some said, mo! the big
shot is not eff yet!' but he kept on. Ar
derson, r bert Dunn, Mike Mccarthy, and
Oh .rles Reichenberg following. Some one
oack called out again, THE big shot
this time had reached the portion
of the bluff which was mined and saw the
rock undlSturbed, is reported to have re
piled, mo; but she's going now, and so are
we" And sure enough they did. The
seven-keg charge exploded with terrific
force, throwing what Engineer Morgan es-
Inmates at 800 cubic yards of rock out
toward and into the river and carrying with
il the men named Some of them were
thrown 120 feet out into the river, being
projected even further than the bulk of the
rock which filled up the river bed and
turned it out on the southern bank. Those
witnessing the sight were filled with horror,
and il Was not supposed one of the unfOr-
tunate men would be found alive. Con
sternation prevailed for the moment, and
the wOrkmen hucked from all directions
Their establishment was great when one by
one the exploded men began clambering GU.
for the shore, and was complete when every
one was taken from the debris::and river to
the shore alive. All were more or less cut |
up about the head, and some had cuts and |
bruises on their bodies.
Their faces covered with dirt and blood, |
clothes mired and tatered and reeking with |
water. they presented horrid spectacle, |
and thinking only skillful surgery could |
save them, a messenger sped to the tele- |
graph office at New Chicago and requested |
immediate attendance of Doctor Mitchell, |
from Deer Lodge. When the Doctor ar
rived he found the men had all been taken |
TO camp. their wounds ba,hed, plaster APP
piled Ia the cuts. and not bone was broken |
in any of the five men who had performed |
that marvellous vault through 120 feet of
space 800 yards of rock. propelled by |
vllanous saltpetre. Mrs. Bennett Mrs
McLain and Mrs. Wells were fortunately in
the camp, and next 10 surgical attention,
which was scarcely necessary, their minis
tratIons had been skillful and successful.
Mr.. Bennett has some ugly face and scalp
wounds, and Rechenberg also had
a severe scalp wound. Ander-
son was somewhat bruised up
When Doctor Mitchell left Wednesday
all but one of the men were up
and moving about comfortably, and it is not
Thought that any of them are al all danger
ously hurt. Even before the doctor arrived
they were joking about the adventure, Ben
nett claiming he made the best jump and
the others asserting he started "Oyer base
1t is certainly the most remarkable acct
dent, considering the circumstances and
escape, We have ever heard of. The dis
placement of rock was enormous, the bulk
moved being as large as the McBurney
House. We have made careful inquiry as
to- the facts and to the distance stated as |
that which the men were thrown, as also the
height of the clH above the river and the
above is the least estimate made. Had the |
eruption been of earth, or had the men
fallen clear in the water, or if there had
been but one man and he had escaped, it
would not have been so marvellous, but that
five men should be hurled 100 feet In air
among 900 tons of granite. fall with it and
in it and among it, and escape with only
few trivial cuts and bruises is beyond conf
prehension.