Seattle daily post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, W.T. [Wash.]) 1881-1888, 1884-03-27
MORE FRIGHTENED THAN HiRr.
The Ftr~s at NewrxsiIe Not 50 Mad ~
9epOFled.


The papers at Tacoma and Victoria
of late have devoted much space IN
pubIishing accounts Of the terrible hres
at Newcastle. which, they claim. have
almost caused the shutting down of that
mine. In order to get at the inside
facts of the matter. a reporter OF this
journal called upon j. +. Jones, the So
perintendsnt o. the Newc ,stle, AZ we'll
AZ all the Oregon Improvement Com
pany's mines, and from him received
the following statement " While 1t Is
true that We have fires in the mines.
caused frorn spontaneous combustion,
those fires are not nearly 80 bad as has
beon reported. One of these fires has
been burning in the old workings since
Angus, 1891. but has in no way re-
tai ded the progress If the wok /. An
other fire caught in the outcroppings
last summer from forest fires and has
burned down sOme distance, but has
done but little harm. These fires have
been closed in, and it ~ thought will
eventually 90 ont Of their own accord.
started in the breasts of the slope,
| VII ioh, while they are annoying and a
| little expensive, will not oau-e the loss
of a gang~ay. and will either be ex-
tireuished or seaied above the gang
way and abandoned, 80 that work can
be prosecuted on either side OF it. The
mine can easily be flooded. but this
will not be resorted to, AZ the fires are
4 - ..sstft ,p1v IN. r
rant it. During the present month, up
| u the 18th, tho outpdt of marketable
| coal from the Newcastle mine has been
lees. IA tous, and the entire month
will show an output of nearly. If not
quite, 1000, tons. By this il will
be seen that the mine is far from dis
abled. We arc now driving gangways
in several directions to tap other veins
on the SU0-foot level, one of which hat
Just been completed. ana instead of the
output being diminished, 1t will be III
creased. Every fire III the mins can bt
extinguished. but this would require
expense aud delay, and ~ long "A the,
do not interfere with the workings o.
the mine. or endanQer the lives of tn,
miners, We consider II much cheaper Il
oonfine them and let them sinouide
| AWAY uutil NOV bts snOtHtFtu Jul
their own gas.
CRFosoTIN6 PnLEs.-James NJ. Co.ma,
ia starting little industry in this cit.
which bids fair in the near future (,
assume extensive proportions. He ha
leased piece of ground near the GA
works. belonging to Ms. Sarah NJ. Rem
, ton, ON which he is putting in all tia
necessary appliances AMI machinery 70
oreosoting piles, So AZ to make then
more durable and cause them to with
stand or prevent the ravages of the to
redo. He has 1t tionary boiler. Ell
CINE and steam winch. BY the side u
these he has two long iron cylinders
each one capable of receiving a pile
, which il hauled into II by means of tn
, winch. This cylinder is then closed ~
and hot steam forced in until the sap i
all dried out of the pile. This sap AM
, water il then pumped out of the cylin
der. when coal tar and another sub
stance In injscted into the tank and lief
long enough for the oreosote from til
tar to permeate the wood The tar i
, again pumped out, after which the pi'
Is again hauled into the water and l
ready for driving. This process ha
been tried in other places and found t
bs success. and il It proves successfu
here it will be- of great benefit to whaI
builders and water front owners on tn
Sound. Mr.. Colman will prepare
thousand piles Turing he present sea
, son. mostly for his own use, and Civ
, the experiment a thorough test. rhes
cylinders are each 10 feet long. built O
> boiler iron and warranted to stand
pressure Of 200 pounds Of st am to III
square inch. The apparatus, which wa
gotten up un~er Mr.. Colman's direG
: tions, has already cost several thousan
! dollars, but this will prove to be none
we'll expended II his experiment prov,
u success.