Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1888-12-14
CURRENT AFFAIRS.
UNFIT AND HECLA.
The Terrible Rire which IL now Ringing
in this Noted Mine.

The Terrible Fire which IL now Ringing
in this Noted Mine.
THE FIRE UNDOUBTEDLY SET BY AN INCEN-
DtARY-PREvIOUs FIRES IN THE MINE,
AND THE METHODS USED TO ExTINGUIsH
THEM.
A terrible fire has been raging in the eel
ebrated Calumet and Hecla copper mine on
Lake Superior since the night Of Thanks
giving day. This fire was undoubtedly of
incendiary origin and the owners of the
mine offer a reward of $4,000 for the ar
rest of the incendiary The fire is among
the supports Of the mines, which consist Of
numberless trunks Of trees placed there TO
bear the weight of the earth above. A
despatch from Calumet, Mich, gives this
interesting account
The picturesque mining villages of Calu-
met and Red Jack are tucked away near
the end of Keweenaw Point, the peninsula
that juts forth so abruptly from the south
ern shore Of Lake Superior. The country
round about is fiat and uninteresting, being
| partly cleared and partly covered with sec
ond-growth pine and hard wood Under
this prosaic stretch of country there lies
discovered, the Calumet and Hecla, Tama-
rack, Osceola and other valuable mines be
| ing in or near the two villages
The Calumet and Hecla mine, now on
| fire, is one Of the largest and most proita
! BILE mines in the world. During October
its shares sold as high as 1919 making the
value of the mine S3l 800, 900. The mag
nitude of the big mine can be appreciated
only when it is seen standing at the top
of one of the red painted shaft houses
in the village of Calumet There are many
| hundred miles of levels and shafts and in
this mine are vast forests of tree trunks
| placed there as supports Only the roots
and branches have been Topped off, and the
trunks alone, denuded Of bark, stand there
TO bear the weight of the soil and rock
above. The Calumet and Hecla is a dry
mine. and the timbering becomes as thor
oughly seasoned and as inflammable as
though dried in kiln in the course of a
few years. A fire in the timber means
destruction to the mine unless it is put out
before running its course.
There have been three previous fires.
One in October, 1884, one of mysterious
origin, and burned for a month. The sec
ond, in August, 1887, was supposed to have
been caused by the carelessness Of a boy
who was watching the donkey pumps. This
second fire was fought on scientific princi-
pies. The IL shafts i'll the main mine were
closed with timbers, over which dirt was
carefully packed to exclude fresh air and
kill the fire by Withholding oxygen To
hasten the extnguishment Of the flames a
gas making plant was hastily erected. and
carbonic acid gas, which is fatal to fire, as
It contains no oxygen in free state, a.
sent down into the burning shaft through
900 feet OF 3-inch pipe at the rate Of 100,
OOO cubic feet every ~ hours This meth
cd Of fighting the flames was triumphant,
and in October the shaft was found free
from fire
On the evening Of Saturday Nov. 20,
1881, the mine was found to be on fire
again. This time it was evident that the
fire was Of iucendiary origin, and so well
had the rascal planned his work that the
flames were spread through several levels
before the alarm was given The mine
was closed down as before. and gas forced
into it. The fire burned for three months
and As the last resort the mine was allow ed
TO hill with water. The fire was declared
out last May, and the work of pumping
the water was then begun and completed
only in October.
The present fire is being fought in diff
ferent way from any previous one All u
the openings except the mouth of the burn
ing shaft and the shaft nearest it have beer
closed. As the fire in No. shaft is on anC
above the sixth level. a current of air il
forced down the adjoining shaft through
the eighth level, which connects the tw,
shafts, then up the burning chimney. i
is hoped that by fighting the fire in th
way the flames will be kept from gonl
deeper in the mine and the fuel will b,
] l,- Il. &c a. 4
was allowed to take its own way The re
suit remains to be seen, and the manage
ment is certainly taking great risks o
spreading the fire through large part o
the mine.
The Calumet and Hecla company employ
from 1900 to 20OO men. Five hundred o
these are now idle and apparently are t,
have no work for the winter. This will
cause much suffering among the poor fam
HES. With the mines taken away, Calu
met and Red Jacket would he blotted from
existence
If the fire continues to spread serou
cavings in of the ground near several o
the shafts may be looked for, aud severa
slides have already taken place, This oc
Cured several times last winter, and tn,
officials of the mine were compelled to keel
, men constantly on the lookout for thes,
SIPS. Inc weight resting ON the tlmberlng
is all that it can hold under normal condi
tions, and with even a slight weakening
such as fire must cause if it gets into thu
drifts and slopes, the most serious result
might follow.
1t is certain that the fire was not an ac
cidental one The vastness of the proper
ty at stake makes the crime u terrible one
yet worse than this, hundreds of miner
are thrown out of work, and at least siy
miners lost their lives IN the flames Tn
investigations so far made render it almos
certain that the crime was committed b,
some employe who had free access to al
parts of the mine, but suspicion attache
TO no particular person or parties
The temperature at the mouth of tn
shaft is taken every hour At presen
there is little else TO do for those who ar
directing the work of extinguishing tn
fire. If the fire is put out within 10 dayi
it will not do very great damage to tn
mine, but if it burns longer than that i
will be the most disastrous fire the min
has ever known.