The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1898-11-19
It UNAVOIDABLE
Jury Returned . Verdict in thu
Berkely Shaft Accident.
INJURED MEMS STORIES
Little Additional Light Thrown Upon
the Matter The Collar OF the
Missed Hole Blown Away by
One Of the Blasts.

hA q laA
OF inquiry into the cause of the accl-
dent which resulted In the death of Rob
ert McFadden. a miner In the Berkely
shaft, rendered a verdict last night ex-
o~nerating all parties concerned from
any blame in the matter. The members
of the jury. for the greater part. had
had more or less experience in mining
and with blasting powder. and they de-
liberated upon the verdict with the In
telligence OF practical miners. II was
their theory that the collar OF the
missed hole had been blown away by
one of the series of blasts; that the fuse.
cap and primer had been carried away
with IT,; that the explosion Of the
primer had been counted by the miners
above among the nine shots
fired. which accounted for the
full number; that the confusion
occasioned by the accident TO one of
their number. just before going on
shift. prevented the shaft from being
thoroughly cleaned out before the day
shift went on: that when the day shift
went to work there were no Indications
of q ploded charge of powder In
h bottom, and that the accident was
one of those unavoidable occurrences
which make underground mining haz-
ardous and life uncertain.
The jury and the coroner visited MUIR
ray 4 Freund's hospital at ! o'clock
and listened to the evidence Of the three
injured men. partners of the late Rob-
ert McFadden. The first man To testify
was John Kelly. He threw nc addi-
tional light on the matter. He said that
he and McFadden were engaged IN
cleaning up h bottom of the shaft.
which work had been nearly completed
when the explosion occurred. McFad-
den was picking when the shot came.
His theory vas hat the contact Of the
pick and powder caused the explosion.
w. Il. Henderscn's statement was cor
roborative of that of the previous wit
ness. He said that there were about
two buckets of dirt in the bottom.
George Fl. Morgan. although partial
ly blinded m his head swathed in
~bandages. partially deaf from the con-
cussion and suffering considerable pain,
gave a most graphic and intelligent ac-
oun of the accident. " cry little. in
deed. do i know about the accident"
said he. There were probably three
or four buckets OF dirt to be hoisted
before we could begin TO drill. NcFad-
den was picking in the northeast cor
ner of the shaft. The ground was con-
siderably shaken up n we were try
ing to pick up all We could. Now this
may be all Imagination on my part. OF
course. but i thought i saw McFad-
denis pick strike the eye of a broken
pick. Just then there was n flash and
all was dark. I was not conscious OF
an explosion. i was dazed. My senses
seemed to be leaving me, yet ] was not
unconscious. As | recovered my mental
faculties 1 realized that l was hurt.
still / thought | was the only one In
jured. I could not realize that an ex-
plosion had occurred. Gradually ! re-
covered my senses and then I heard
the other men %groaning n distinctly
heard Kelly say: Boys, it's a missed
hole. sure I felt around for the bell
cord and when I reached IL l pulled IL
three times; then / seemed to loose my
senses again n j wondered why 1
pulled the cord. However. in a short
space of time IL all came to me. i then
jerked the bell cord nine times-the
danger signal. ! heard McFadden say
that his leg was all torn away. j know
nothing more about the Of the
accident"
Tbs Jury hen adjourned to Justice
Laurandeau's court room. where Dep
uty Mine Inspector Hunter gave his tes-
timony. He had been in the shaft and
made a diagram of the bottom of II. IL
was his belief that there were but eight
explosions and that the man a not
correctly counted the shots. He also be-
lieved that the man who drilled the
holes. Barnabo. was blamable, In that
he did not Thoroughly satisfy himself
| and others that the charge had not ex-
ploded. 1t was his important duty. he
| raid. to examine the ground, and the
Inspector believed that an examination
would have revealed the fact that the
blast a not fired. His theory was
that the full charge remained In the
hole and that McFadden's pick struck
the cap and caused the explosion.
The three injured men are resting as
| easily as possible n their wounds are
| healing rapidly. Kelly seems to be in a
more serious condition. His left eye Is
| badly swollen and his left jaw and mech
badly cut. All of their faces are cut as
IL a charge OF bird shot had been fired
| into them.