The semi-weekly miner. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1882-1886, 1885-09-23
MINING ACCIDENTS.
The Misrepresentation Of the ''Inter
Mountain" Considered.

Last Saturday morning in oar account
of the funeral Of the late Dennis Nevin and
John Bryant, the two men who were killed
in the Wake-up-Jim mine last Thursday,
we said: 1.-THE MINER has heretofore
called the attention OF mine managers and
others to the fact that everything is not
being lone in some of the mines OF this
camp Tor the comfort and preservation OF
our miners, that can and should be done"
The above assertion was made after due
consideration and a full knowledge OF the
state of affairs that exist in the mines
which we had in our minds eye at the time.
The Inter Mountain. after giving it q rest
all OF Saturday and Sunday, came out last
night in q two-column editorial, in which it
attempted to prove that we had called the
managers OF every mine in the camp, a
murderer. Nothing could be more unjust
than the above i%mputation. Oar mining
reporterha has had the pleasure OF visiting
THE UNDERGROUND
o. some of the principal mines OF this camp,
and he is free to admit that the places
visited by him, as far as comfort to the
miners is concerned and the safeguards
that are provided for the lives OF the men
employed in them, cannot be beat in any
mines on the Pacific coast. We still, how
ever, stick to the assertion made last
Saturday, viz: THAT ~three-1ourths of the
men killed in the mines have met their
death through their W or the carelessness
of some other person." This assertion
needs no argument. 1t will be admitted by
every practical. common sense miner IN
Butte CITY. The MINER has always en-
deavored to get at the bottom facts in case
of the death of a miner by accident before
it made any statements or insinuations
concerning the same, that would reflect on
the management OF the mine when the
accident occurred. When, however, we get
ourinformation from men working in those
Mines, who would be discharged if it were
known that they had said anything con-
corning the loose manner in which things
are run, we are prohibited from bringing to
light many things hat are being carried on
in the mines. When the Inter Mountain
man says that we charge the mining
superintendent OF Butte OF being
AN ORGANIZED BAND OF M~uRDEREEs,
we simply smile and place that utterance
alongside OF the one Of the sa me gentlemans 8.
which was to the effect that the mines OF
Butte were poorer and the lodges smaller as
depth is attained. We have great respect
for many OF the mining superintendent OF
this district, but we still insist that some
OF them do not give that careful and per
sonal attention to many matters relating
to the workings OF their mines, or that the
requirements OF the cases demand. The
writer OF this article does not care to ente
into a discussion on any subject with a per-
son who will w~illfully misrepresen him, and
will therefore dismiss the case by asking the
Inter Mountain two questions: Ii the
shaft of a minei is divided into two compart-
ments, the bucket working in the east COM
partme mt and the bell wire working in the
west end OF the west compartment out OF
reach OF the men who are sent down the
shaft in the bucket 80 that if any mishap
occurs to the bucket in it's descent, and the
occupants are totally unable to give the
SIGNAL FOR THE BUCKET
to stop, and the men lose their lives on that
account, should it be called an accident?
Again, if a gang OF men are working in a foul
air drift, and orders have been issued that
twenty minutes after a round OF holes have
been blasted the men must 60 in that drift
and perform certain work, and in doing so
they lose their lives. is not the management
to blame in not providing better ventilation
in their mines, or allowing their employees
sufficient time for the smoke and bad air
to blow away before they resume work or
60 into those places?
The MINER is honest in the above. We
do not wish to infiict any hardship on any
a These are not trumped-up questions,
but we are not at liberty to give the names
of the men who gave us information that
led to our knowledge OF the state OF affairs
that existed in the mines referred to. The
Inter Mountain is a very convenient
journal. 1t can be 4 "bear," bull, y 'craw-
fish" or anything else it attempts. but
surely it will not dispute the fact that at
least three-fourths OF the men who are killed
in mines, lose their lives through careless
ness.