The diamond drill. (Crystal Falls, Iron County, Mich.) 1887-1996, 1892-01-09


Ludington and Chaplin, and No. l shalt
Of the Hamilton was sunk 70 strike. In
ita vertical course, the ore lenses OF the
Chaplin and Ludington, in their dip 10
the north md general westerly pitch. In
due time the shaft reached depth lof
400 feet and, in conjunction with a
series oil cross-cuts, drifts, wines, etc.
proved the existence oi a large and valu-
able deposit OF ore. In the meantime.
the Ludington people were continuing
the sinking OF their shaft "A" which X
situated about 200 feet west Of the Ham
ilton No. l, and had attained depth 81
about APO feet. opening up and mum
boring consecutively different levels, the
lowest being known as the fifteenth
From these levels more or less orc has
been mined lay each company. with as
we have reason to believe, m under
standing that a twcnty-foot piIlarshonld
be left next the line by ench company.
Some years ngo by mutual agreement, n
connecting drift was made between one
shalt 10 the other TO facilitate escape
should IL become necessary. This drift
was put IN about / 900 feet from surface
or at the eleventh level OF the Ludington.
As 10 the primary causes ~ the present
troubles, the general public IN not 10
much interested rs i'm results. Some
days ago trouble began i'm an untitled
portion 81 the thirteenth level at tho
Ludington "a" and the room closed In.
the disturbance extending up To the
twelfth and from there To the eleventh
level closing both and effectunlly sever
ing any connection between the two
| shafts. During this time the Hamilton
shalt, none too stable at its best, began
to show signs of ultimate collapse for
M fh.tt4 l..t .N( A. !,
spending with the crushed levels Mt the
Ludington. The timbers are smashed
and splintered like matches and the
whole shalt looks M though il were going
TO drop over towards the Ludngton
OF course this makes the using OF the
skips IN the shaft "A hnphnzard expert
ment Sometimes they 60 down and
sometimes they hang mp, and the runners
ana broken wallplates must he trimmed
down. Up to Wednesday evening no
ground had broken into the shaft but
this result seems inevitable. While the
pumps OF the Hamilton can bo worked
there will bc element TO increase the dan
ger to the Ludington, but AZ soon M
they cease, and the water begins TO rise,
IL will pcrcolato the crushed ore between
the two shafts and tho result in view OF
thu fact that the Ludington shaft is none
l. Il
IL written Thursday morning, should
there DO any material change in the stu
alton between now and Saturday morn
ing, the informa ton will bc found on an
other page of this paper.
IL will be remembered, that, for some
weeks there has been about 800 feet of
water in No. shaft OF the Hamilton
which came in very rapidly from a drill
hole which was being made in the bot
tom, and Tint at the time of the inflow,
the amount of water from tho assure in
"a shaft OF the L,ldington, several hum
drcd feet distant, was greatly lesscncd
Now comes the strange part OF the mat
ter: Thursday the water began 10 lower
i'm the Hamilton shaft anil rise in Ludng-
ton "a" and Mt this writing, tcight
o'clock Saturday morningl ii has risen
in the latter shnft to the eleventh level,
or fully 400 feet. The rate of lowering
Ia the Hamilton was twenty-ono feet in
twentyfour hours aud thirty.onc icet
during the next twelve hours Nothing |
can he said at this time OF tho ultimate |
result. but the condition IL n serious one |
Nothing new presents itssit ut Hamilton
No. /. At this writing. the pumps are
still at work but the shaft IN rapidly |
growing worse aud tho late nuoding OF
the Ludington will doubtless soon eIfeo I |
this shaft.
The daily output ~ tile Ludington ut |
this time exceeds 500 tons, but no special |
effort is being made to mine ore, the pro-
posed preparatory work taking much 81
tho attention Of tho present working
force. Shaft "C'' in which sinking WIS l
recently resumed will soou have renchtd |
the fifteenth level. The connections boz
tween this shaft and shaft "a" ut the
fourteenth level lacks about eighty 'ect |
OF being rnado. The two skipways ia
shalt "B' will be ready for service soon
and then tho largo cage, which will also
work In the Same shaft. will be put in.
The material for tho new cable transfer
IL ON the ground and will soon he placed
fof service. The tube through which IT.
is proposed TO send filling into the mine,
will soon be put in. Some trouble, the
exact extent 81 which cannot now tie cs.
timated, has occurred ut the east end of
the mine adjoining the Hamilton, nm ne
count OF which will be found in another
plh~e.
The sew machinery for No shaft ut
tho HAMILTON IL not yet la place and IL
looks as though IL would take some
weeks YET to complete the work II has
taken much longer than was anticipated
to do many Things I'D the aggregate will
tend 10 put oii "'.S. ~ iee Nye
10 near tie en- Va. ~. ,NN1
new fiat ropes 2SN ,No
length and wv g.
on The srou 8 N ~
G..,,.. 49,. ~