Morris tribune. [volume] (Morris, Minn.) 1880-2000, 1893-10-04
AWFUL CALAMITY.
MICHIGAMMIE RIVER FLOODS
THE MANSFIELD MINE.

Twenty-eight Men Instantly Killed
by the Rushing Water-River Cham
mel Must Be Changed Before the
Bodies Can Be Recovered and
Work Resumed.
CRYSTAL FALLS, Mich, Sept. 3O.-
With a roar and rush the waters of
the Michigamme river broke through
the Mansfield mine drowning 28 of the
miners at work directly under the
stream. The 18 men who escaped were
employed in the lower levels. None of
the bodies have been recovered and it is
believed it will be necessary to divert
the channel of the river before they
can be secured.
The Mansfield mine is situated on
the banks of the Michigamme river,
about six miles east cf Crystal Falls,
the county seat of Iron county.
It has been working between three
and four years and has shipped
about $4,000 tons of Bessemer ore.
There has been much trouble with
water and predictions have not been
wanting that the river would some day
break through the roof of the mine.
The night shift had gone down, and
though some one noticed that more
water than usual was coming into the
mine, no special alarm was felt as the
pumps seemed to be able to keep the
drifts free. Habituated to danger, the
miners went to their work as usual, in
tent only upon the accomplishment of
the daily task that brought food and
shelter for themselves and families.
So the work went on in its usual
course until after . o'clock. Then
there wGs
A Roar and a Rush OF Water.
So fast came the food that it is doubt
full if the men in the upper levels were
able to reach the shaft all. The scenes
of horror and death in the upper levels
can only be imagined, for no one es-
capped to tell the tale. Had the men
been able to reach the shaft death
would still be certain, for the No.
shaft, the only direct means of reach
ing the upper levels, collapsed and
caved in, cutting off all escape that
way. Had there been time the men
might have descended by some means
to the lower levels and crossed over to
No. 2 shaft, but the in-rushing food
came too fast. There was heartrending
scenes about the mine and a wild cry
Of alarm through the little hamlet
about the mine. Men, women and
gathered with horror-drawn
faces to see IS men come forth from
the hideous depths and to behold the
river plunging with a
sullen roar into the chasm in its bed.
The men who escaped were almost all |
from the two lowest levels. Warned |
by the roar Of the waters they fled |
wildly toward the shaft and managed
10 escape from the pit of danger. There
was no lack of volunteers to descend
the only available shaft, but the self |
sacrificing courage of the hardy miners
was all in vain.
The Dark Angry Waters
rapidly rushed into the shaft and
proved even to the courage Of despair |
that human aid was without avail |
there. The 20 men in the pit were |
corpses now. Not until after |
daylight did the river complete it's |
work and resume its normal course. |
The mine workings had been filled to |
5he river level and the fatal stream be-
gan to crawl down its dry bed once
more. The death of % men marked |
the end of the Mansfield mine, for un-
less the river can be forced to seek an |
other channel this rich deposit of iron |
ore can never be worked again. Eight |
If the victims leave families OF children |
and about half of the re-
20 were the support of par
snts. The news was slow in reach
ing the outside world. The near
est telegraph Office is at Crystal |
Falls, six miles away, and though a
railroad track runs into the mine it |
was only used to haul out ore and haul |
IN supplies. In the number of lives
ost this is believed to have been the
worst disaster that ever occurred in |
the Lake Superior iron region. What |
measures, if any, can be taken to res
cue the bodies of the dead are yet unde- |
termined. A careful survey of the |
ground by competent engineers will
have to be made, for the first step |
towards getting into the flooded work
ings must be to divert temporarily or
the course of the Michi-
CANINE river and pump out the mines. |