Daily Tombstone epitaph., 1885-12-22
TEMPORARY SETBACK.
Breaking of the Pump-Rod at
 the Grand Central Mine.
What Might Have Been . Dissster Proves only an Annoying Accident.

What Might Have Been . Dissstez
 Proves only an Annoying Accident. A good deal of excitement was occa-
 stoned on the streets yesterday afternoon | by the announcement that a serious
 breakdown had occurred at the Grand Central works. The news spread like
 wildhre, and was followed by the report
 that the mines would necessarily be
 closed down for period of net less than
 three months. An EPITAPH emissary
 was immediately dispatched to the scene
 of the reported disaster. Arriving on
 the hill, Superintendent Gage was found, apparently ira very calm and unruffied
 frame of mind, which gave instant reas-
 surance to the news gatherer. Upon in.
 quiry it was learned that an accident had
 occurred, but not of such serious import
 as was at first feared. Noticing an ire
 regularity in the working of the pumps,
 the engineer in charge upon inves.iga-
 tion discovered that the ponderous
 pump-rod, which is IIxII square, solid
 steel, weighing upwards of eo,ooo
 pounds, and 500 feet in length, showed signs of fracture near the top. The
 machinery was stopped at once and a
 thorough examination begun. It was discovered that in addition to the frac- fu-e mentioned there vas
 ANOTHER BREAK
 near the Ioo-foot level; while it is be- lieved ye. another will be found near the 300. foot level. While the accident is to
 be regretted and will necessitate an ex- penditure of about ST 5000, yet the com pany is to be congratulated that the flaw
 was discovered before the rod had en- tirely parted. Had this not been the case, the result would have been most disastrous. Had the ponderous weigh,
 been suddenly released while the ma
 chinery was in full motion, complete destruction of the fy-wheel, edgine, etc., | must have resulted. The steel rod was put in merely as an experiment, opinions l differing among hrst-class mining men as
 to whether it would prove superior to the tried and tested timber rods that have heretofore been in vogue. The resul,
 proves that the experiment, while cost rod
 WILL BE REPLACED
 as soon as energy and money can ac. l complish il. The new rod will be oi
 Puget Sound pine, quality that has
 stood the test of long usage, and which
 is in use in many of the mines of Europe,
 as we'll as those of this country. That a
 solid steel shaft, with apparently little direct strain upon it, should be broken seems to the superficial observer almost incredible. The cause assigned by com. petent engineers is the tremendous vibra- ton caused by the extreme length and enormous weight of the shaft.
 As before stated, when the news of the accident reached town it caused quite 2 panicky feeling among business men and others, who saw in their minds a cessa- ton of operations at the mines and con- sequent depression and stagnation of all kinds of business. However, the EPI- TAPH is in possession of facts which happily prove these
 FEARS WITHOUT FOUNDATION. Pending the putting in of the new rod, there will in reality be employed larger number of men than at present. There will be no draft of men from the work ings of either mine The accident will
 'let out" only few top men, engineers, wipers, etc, while the repairs will require a much larger number. So it will be seon that no cause for apprehension ex. ists.
 The Contention pumps will continue as usual, and it is believed they will be l enabled to keep the water down to the present level. Messrs. White and Gage are not in the least discouraged by the accident. They regard it merely as an 1 incident, and not as disaster. As has
 been previously stated by the EPrTAPH,
 the capacity of the pumps to control the water and drain the mines has been am. l ply demonstrated; and no trivial acciden,
 such as that of yesterday will prevent a
 thorough exploitation of the unexplored depths.
 L. Lineberg, President of the Hebrew