Sierra County advocate. [volume] (Kingston, N.M.) 1884-1960, 1892-09-09
MINING ADVENTURES.
Dan DeQuille in Denver Mining Industry
A PERILOUS POSITION.

| iEhiLOCO fONlIION.
In the summer of 1874, in Aus
ust, | think, | experienced pro
tracted spell of uneasiness in tn
main shaft of the Savage min
which | shall not forget unit
daisies bloom above my toes. L
company with Samuel L. Jones
brother of U. S. Senator J. p. Jones
superintendent of the Crown Poin
mine, Geo. Williams, station tender
OF the Savage, and Mr. Chase, un.
derground foreman, | was ascend
ing the shaft, when occurred a bi
of fun not on the bills.
We got on the cage at the 1900
foot level-the bottom of the main
perpendicular shaft We had with
us some samples of ore, which we
laid upon the floor of the cage, and
lanterns, which We carried in our
hands. Placing ourselves upon
the cage two on each side of tine
cross bar the station n-tender grasp
ed the bell-rope and struck three
bells, which being interpreted
means, Hoist, with men"
Obedient to the signal struck on
his bell, 1899 feet above, the engln-
eer began to hoist the cage. All
went well until we had assembled
about 400 feet, when the cage sud
denly jumped out of the guides and
was loose In the shaft. 1t was
dashed from side to side with such
violence that the lanterns were
knocked out of our hands and our
specimens of ore bounced out of
the bottom of the cage almost
instantly. Every man of rs must
have been jolted off the cage had
we not all firmly grasped the cross
bar the moment we felt the first
shock.
Up we went banging from side
to side in the com mpartment, Mr..
Chase trying all the time to get
hold of the bell-rope and strike
the signal for stopping the cage =
a thing not easily done III the
black darkness. The bell-rope was
in a corner of the compartment of
the shaft, and Mr. Chase did oc-
casionally succeed in getting hold
of it, but he was unable to make
the signal, owing to the rapid and
irregular manner in which the
cage was ascending, the rope be-
ing pulled out of his hand by
lurches to the opposite side of
the shaft.
In this style we were dragged
up the shaft for distance of over
300 feet. We every moment ex-
pected that the top of the cage
would catch under a wall-plate, or
some other projection IN the shaft,
the cable being broken and all
hands of us precipitated to the
bottom, which would have been
instant death. All knew this dan
ger and feared it, but we "held no
in regard to it,
Finding we could not signal the
urface by means of the bell-cord,
t was suggested that all in unison
hould yell-"Stop the cagel' So
ve roared until we almost split our
the cage!" Sam
ones afterward acknowledged that {
e "yelled like horse-thief." All
{ our yelling, however, was of no {
vail, as not whisper was heard
n the surface. [
The banging about of the cage |
aused the heavy steel wire cable to {
e swayed violently-even to the
leaves in the gallows-frame up in I
le hoisting works-and this CON- I
lotion was at last observed by the i
arman at the surface, who called /
lie attention of the engineer to it. b
hen he stopped his engine, i. /,
eing apparent that something was S
rong. a
BY means of ladders In one of v
OF the shaft a man r
ON the surface climbed down to
,certain what was wrong. His @
oice calling to US as he came C
amberino along down on his N