The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1882-01-01


ing. 1T has reached a depth OF $50
feet, and sinking is going Steadily
forward. The miners have for
come timebeen working on the 700
foot level, where some OF Che richest
ore has been found, and where the
body is largest, being at the
present tine on the west, the full
width of the tunnel, or something
ever six feet of ore, that will aver
age, according to assays, 5000 per
ton, while selections Will reach $500
Or even a higher value. They are
driving for the vein on the SOO-foot
eyel. and expect to cut 1T IN the
near future, when it is believed the
correctness of the theory viii be
more conclusiYely established that
the Ontario ore body stands on It's
broadcast edge and that the richest
ere is at the bottom.
It would grow tedious and tire
some were the details of the under
ground workings to be described.
Suffice it to say there is a honey
sombing of the hill, in whose tun-
nels, galleries, passages and slopes,
a stranger would be in imminent
Danger of losing himself. The
greatest care for the safety and
comfort of the miners is taken, and
at every point one sees evidence of
thoughtfulness and caution against
accident and danger. Here and there
at regular intervals are passages for
ventilation, and metal pipes are
conveyed to every part Of the mine
through which fresh air is pumped
80 that in the deepest workings,
more than 500 feet from the surface,
the atmosphere is not oppressive,
nor is there difficulty in filing the
lungs. Only at one point did the
candles burn dimly, showing the
presence of foul all, and at that place
provision was being made to over
come the trouble. In passing it
will not be improper TO remark that
this underground iptricacy, this LADY
ninth of tunnels, shafts, slopes and
other things meaning holes III the
ground is as familiar TO Mr.. 2.
Kervin as are the rooms, chambers
and corridors Of the old home to him
who was born and reared therein.
Mr.. KerVin has been the under
ground foreman of the Ontario since
Ghere were underground workings,
and be fits hither and yOn at ease,
and even in the dark, telling glibly
what kind of ore came from this
point, how wide was the vein at
that, how many feet we are beneath
she surface, and so on, answering
readllT doubtless, SmiI-
lngly-the many perhaps foolish
.s1eStiOns asked by the verdant Wis
tor. We step upon cage, he pulls
a cord connecting with bell at the
engine above, and down we go, at
cace-horse speed, while the internal
of the human structure
seems to have hoated loose and is |
5rying to crowd itself Through the
throat. Eight hundred foot level"
says Kervin, and the man who
weighs $50 pounds on the surface |
steps off the elevator, into not upon,
feeling rs if he weighed |
not so many ounces. He feels
'fight" all over, and it does not
tend to increase his avoirdupoiS to
De told that we were seconds, not
in dropping further than
The length of one Of our city blocks, |
and the width Of a street. Mr.. Ker-
WINS knowledge of geology is of the
right kind to be reliable and service |
able. He is pick-and-gad professor,
and can tell what is in a mountain
a good deal quicker than If he had
passed a course at Frieburg and
wore concave glasses, with gold |
bows across the bridge Of his nose. |
Another gentleman whose master
hand is seen hereaboutS is Mr..
James Brown, the mactSniSt. His
duties take him below as well
as above ground, all the ma
chinery in and out of the mine be-
ing under his special charge. What
he doesn't know about engines, boil
ers, pumps and other machinery ne
cessary to the working Of a mine
like the Ontario, he is probably
willing to learn from anyone capa-
Die OF teaching him. Another old
we find here in the person
of Mr.. Martin Correll, who, in the
coming October, will have passed a
decade of his life at the Ontario.
Correll is. the surface foreman, the
duties of which responsible position
embrace the charge and direction
Of all work above ground.
THE WATER.
But nothing has been said of the
water in this famous mine. Boats
might be utilized to advantage I'M
der ground, but gum boots and rub
Der coats are an absolute necessity,
for from the time one enters until
he again reaches the surface, he is
wading, or water is pouring upon
him from above, or torrents are
rushing past him in the deep chan
nels cut on either side of The car
tracks. Here will be a Jet the size
of a mans arm squirting from a
creVice in the solid rock, and there
the whole face of tunnel will
be shooting streams of lesser dimen-
sions. At places double bulk-heads
have been erected to dam the Mag
ara while the miners, arraYed in
waterproof suits, burrow through
more solid formation to get
around the torrent. The Ontario hiIl
seems to be a lake. with the rock
and ore thrown in to keep the water
from OYnrfiOWiOo and do1I1rinos +bo