, 1889-11-28
FIERY DEPTHS.
A Graphic Report Of the
Butte Disaster.
FOUR MEN WHO DIED AS HEROES
Fears That Others Perished in
Those Awful Depths.
A LITERAL HE'LL OF FIRE AND SMOKE
The Hidden Flames May Rage
for Weeks and Months
POI Pathos and Agony.

Butte, Mont, Nov. 24.-The Miner
this morning gives the following par
ticulars of the disastrous fire now raging
in the st. Lawrence and Anaconda
mines
Deep down in the gloomy depths Of
the st. Lawrence mine, 1000 feot from
the surface, buried in the sump, lie the
bodies of two, if not four, brave men,
who risked and lost their lives in an at
tempt to suppress fire on the 5OO'foot
level early yesterday morning. The
names of these men are Patrick Murphy,
Henry Page, Jerry sullivan and Tim
Kelleher. The latter performed heroic
acts and died hero's death. The de-
tails connected with the origin of the
fire and the subsequent death OF the
four men named are yelled in uncer-
tainty, and will probably never be ac-
curately learned, not that the company
refused to give information, but because
of the peculiar conditions that pre-
vailed and the great excitement attend
ant upon the discovery of fire in the
mine. A Miner reporter spent the en-
tire afternoon in active pursuance of in
formation, and though many obstacles
were encountered they were all sur
mounted and reasonable degree of
accuracy established to support the
narrative given below.
The fire was first discovered by Neil
McCaig, miner employed on the 500
foot level. McCaig, while at work about
s 80 A. NJ. had his attention drawn to a
crosscut by the odor of burning wood.
Hurrying over the opening, he discov-
cred "a portion of the timbers on fire. Ii
had passed the incipient stage and was
rapidly gaining headway. McCaig, who
was fully aware of the great danger and
the immense loss impending, quickly
pulled oil his coat and made a desperate
attempt 10 subtiue the flames by beating
them out. 1t required but Il moment to
satisfy him that his task was hopeless,
and almost suiiocated with smoke and
gas he retreated toward the shalt, and,
securing assistance, seized the hose ana
attaching 1t to one of the great stand
pipes began throwing water upon the
burning mass OF timbers. The volume
of water was insufficient to have any
perceptibe effect other than to create
sitting smoke which drove the mon
backward, forced them to return to the
shaft and thence to the surface. They
had fought the flames for an hour with
Oul SutNtSS, ull'i " " tIOth ttIS hO"ioO
whistles sounded "a general alarm.
The fire occurred at a most opportune
time. Had ii started two hours earlier
or and equal length of time later the
loss of life would have been appalling, AS
in either event several hundred men
would have been at work IN the 700, 800
and 9O0-foct levels, and wholly cut oil
from escape, the fire having started in
the 500 foot level above. Fortunately
the night shit, save five or six men had
ceased work and gone home, while the
time for the day shift to report had not
yet arrived. There were, therefore, only
a few men in the mine, and these men
at work on the 5O0-foot level discovered
their danger In time to escape.
The Anaconda and st. Lawrence mines
ad dioin each other, are operated by the
same company, and are connected at
each level from the 200 to the SO0-foot,
of the ST. Lawrence. The intense heat
created a powerful draft down the shaft
of the st. Lawrence which forced tine
smoke through the levels of the Ana
conda, from whence it issued upward
through the great shaft to the surface.
An AWFUL FATE.
A large quantity of powder stored in
the 5O0.foot level excited alarm, and
fearing an explosion would ensue and
wreck the entire mine, If not shattcr the
very foundations of the top buildings,
the superintendent called for volunteers
to assist in removing it. Tim Kelleher,
Jerry Sullivan, John Lyons, Henry Page
and Matt sullivan, all miners, volun-
teered to remove the powder and, getting
on the cage, they were soon going down
the shaft, battling bravely against heat
and smoke. Reaching the 5OO-ioot level,
they secured n quantity OF the powder
and placed 1t on the cage. The shaft is
equipped with double cage, and while
Kelleher and Sullivan ascended TO dis.
charge their load Lyons, Jerry Sullivan,
Page and Murphy remained below to
load the other cage The former two
waited at the top for several minutes,
waiting from a signal below to hoist.
The unusual delay, coupled with
the dangerous situation the men
below were placed in, excited alarm,
and kcllehor proposed to descend and
ascertain the reason their companions
were detained. Sullivan agreed to &C
company him, and together they went to
what proved to be kelleheps death,
while sullivan narrowly escaped simi-
lar fute. Upon reaching the 5OO.foot
level the two men found Lyons, Page,
Sullivan and Murphy lying PROSTATE at
the edge of the shaft, almost suttocatcd
with smoke and gas. With them was
miner named Shea, who had been work
ing on the level in question and who had
been unable TO escape. Fortunately the
fire was burning away from the shaft
and toward the Anaconda, and the res
cuers were not compelled to endure the
fierce heat that would have otherwise
made this position uncomfortable. With
"A heroism born oi.nobe motive, kellehcr
and Sullivan lifted Shea and Lyons onto
the cage and signalled to hoist, and then
being unable, owing to the heat and
smoke, to rescue the others, who were
then probably dead.
Hall way up Lyons succumbed and
sank down on the floor OF the cage and
became unconscious, while kelleher
who had made superiunan efforts to
encourage and assist bis companion
finally yielded to the effects of the gas
and tottered toward the edge OF the cage
Sullivan, who is a powerful man, though
himself suffering intense agony, called
to kelleher, "For God sake hold to the
cage; we are near the top" Al that in
slant, when daylight from above pierced
the gloom below, kcllenor staggered to
the edge of the cage amt fell. His head
was caught ana crushed between the
cage and the protuding timbers, and an
instant afterward ms body disappeared
down the shaft and fell thousand feet
into the sump at the bottom. Blood and
brains were found spattered over the
cage floor when stopped ut the surface,
and clearly indicated the fate that had
overtaken the heroic kelleher.
When the cage stopped Sullivan fell
helplessly into the arms of those stand
,,,,, urn,,nI tha ahuftl Shau and Won