The sun., 1894-10-28
THIRTY YEARS OF BURNING
sUBTERRANEAN FIRE THREE HUN.
DRED ACRES IN EXTENT.
Cssi Nt-e Fire r. Coicraso thst Tss me-
sisted All Attempts e. oueneh Is-sceres
~ Rteht 0ver ths Hurnins Territsry.

sisted All Attempts e. 0ueneh It-scerei
~ Might Ovsr the nsr-ins Territsry
Fton ne p,nver Rspub'icah
Deep in the heart Of q hill which rises gentll
above the tiny town OF Marshall, in Boulder
county, FIRE caused by spontaneous com bustior
began 10 burn thirty years ago. At first Il
emitted only SMOKE, then IL quickened to dull
red glow, and now, despite years Of effort u
drown IL out aud wall II in, Il RACES throughout
an underground area OF from 200 TO 400 acres
aud spouts fame cinders, and smoke through :
Dozen outlets each Of which would vie in ap-
pearance with the crater OF a working volcano
The smoulderinR patch detected In this hill in
the early '00s has increased to the 3O0-acre fur.
nae OF to-day because the FIRE fed upon this
walls that pent II In, for the walls OF Ignite
coal, and under the surface OF the hill ran the
richest fuel vein in Boulder county before tho
FIRE ate It away. Now property that at one time
was worth millions OF dollars Ia not alone nearly
valueless, but IL has become a menace TO the
surrounding coal fields. TO which IL threatens %
communicate the same destruction which has
Two weeks ago yesterday the miners were
driven by sulphnrous smoke from the drift Of
cano Hill" as tho scene OF the ire is known.
Since then several attempts have been made to
rescue the tools abandoned in the subterreneous
chambers Of the mine, but they failed Of sue
cess, Now all hope Of saving the tools. az well
as Of ever reopening the mine, has been given
burned & led away wa through its % entire length. Yestep
day the flames from below burst clean through
sh snSS OF the and h Rs sn Of ,a
hot rock and clay that csved in when the fire
found vent not more than 100 feet from the
opening In the slope or side OF the hill.
Atnight the flame from the latest cave;in rises
TO height OF thirty feet Into the air, and can be
s Arc 20 the S
ering patches OF red and yellow, the whole max
ing "a scene that Is q modest counterpart to some
nfn na NNsfa .iatt. af q NhaN In tha Ha
time the flame is visible only under the snrface,
but its place Is taken bya big wavy pillar OF
smoke and q score OF small smoky plumea and
clouds. Day or night Volcano HILL with its
many pulling chimneys, Its surface rent with
hssures and gaping holes and Its sooty, sui
phurous burning atmosphere, is u rare phe-
Marshall. the town which is the centre OF the
coal region, where the burning mine Is located,
is a flag station twenty-five miles northwest Of
Denver, on the Greeley branch of the Denver
500 inhabitants but since the decline Of silver
mining affecting as 1t did the demand for lig-
mite coal, which is used largely by smelters.
Marshall's population OF 500 has dwndled down
smpiOymenl in the f only three coal mines ] now now
being operated In the district.
The foundation of Marshall was laid about
1869 by Joseph NJ. Marshall Of Denver, from
whom the town took Its name; He, II; q Lang
formed the Marshall Coal Mining Company and
purchased from the Government 100 acres OF
running drift into the slope OF the hill IN the
southeast Of where the railroad station stands
was found about % sixty % feet T from the surface OK
the hill and ran from eight to ten feet In thick
ness. Mules were used to haul the coal out Of
the rooms. or spaces In the vein where the coal
is taken ont. TO the outer air. Il was hauled In
teams from there to Denver. which offered the
only available market at that time.
In those carly days labor was expensive: and u
az H., e a. r IN 1h,s
in Volcano hill. Workmen demanded SIS per
day for shovelling "Rob" or Stacked coal from
cost the superintendent Of the Marshall Mine
No. told the miners at work under him TO bank
their COB" behind them as they worked the
These rooms. or underground pockets. usually
run, when worked out, over space OF 800 feet
bosses thought that there was so much spare
room to store IL away that the rejected "gob"
mine That method OF disposng OF Stacked coal
is not followed by mining men nowadays, and
the reason for it Is found in what happened at
For about three years the "gob" gave no
trouble. II was piled away In the rooms and
tinued TO pile II up behind them. But all the
men In the mine were not unsuspicious of the
ON leaving the drift one night Jack Casseriy.
one Of the oldest miners In the shift, shifted n
smoky odor. and turning to his mates, he re-
Boys, there'll be fire in that COB some
day,"
H..
went into the drift next day they found It allied
with smoke, and after a vain attempt to reach
they ea e ny To he OF .ns
headache that are the usual premonitory symp-
toms OF death by surocation in a coal mine.
after that, but at last the timbers Of the drift
burnt out and the mouth was sealed up by fall
ing debris. Old No. l was Immediately aban-
doned, new drift was run into another part OF
the slope, and the Marshall Company continued
to take out aud ship coal from the seemingly In
la nSt la ali thutF ran nnh thR ha
opening OF railway caused new drifts to be run
into Volcano Hill. and as these were worked
: his time the burning COB had grown into big
fire, air crept into the internal furnace and
" bs surface by the hcs y"
coal around IL and the sixty feet OF slate, sand
stone, and clay above It, until the building OF the
that road was run through Marshall at a point
about 500 feet nearer to the mountains than the
made ma through the base OF volcsuo Hill and right
by the wall Of the burning No. mine. With
the coming OF this cut came the doom Of the
The workmen had but begun grading when
smoke began to creep through the wall OF the
,oal began to shoulder. Then the mine opera
tors realized the danger that the hill held i'm
ioned, and measures were Instituted TO Keep the
ire from spreading under the railroad aud TO
he Fox Company coal fields on the other side;
we're mostly worked out close to Marshall, and
hese were allowed to I'LL up with water. Closer |
20 the hill and on the hill itself the vein was |
above water level, so every effort To drown out |
he fire there was without effect.
Then new device Was tried. From the bot |
ON OF the vein To height Of ten feet wall six |
eet in thickness was built for distance OF 800
eet along the line Of the advancing fire. This |
lulwark stood the heat for a time, but soon the |
ire ate into the supposed inyulnerable masonry, |
md one day the red-hOt wall cracked in the |
middle, letting the fire through to the uncon- |
umed coal that lay between II aud the flooded |
nine workings
Trains were now running over the Greeley
ranch of the Denver and Gulf, and to ride on
hem through Marshal at that time Was an ex-
'erience not easily to be forgotten, Under the
Nd OF the road Was mass Of burning coal,
shich kept seadng daily fOrebodngs OF danger
~ between the ties aud by the side Of the rails
I was no uncommon sight the residents OF old
MARSHALL say. Ia see a train pass through the cut
~ the town over ruadbed that was smoking for
u full length, and sending up Jets OF Name
through inteTstiCes between the rails To keep
he t,Hins in operation the company was COM
,elled To continually build under the rOadbed
est the grade should sink eight or ten feet some
lay and leave the rails a4t ties hanging In the
ir. Finally the coal TO he east and north Of
he hill became converted Into ashes. Then
fter the surface OF the ground had settled about
even or eight feet, the new railroad was put In
ermanent good repair, 80 far as the danger OF
vas