The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1898-11-17
WILL NEVER Be KNOWN
KILLED IN THE BERKeLY
Witnesses Do Not Know What Cause
b Missed Hole TO Expiods-One
OF the Blasts May Have Torn
Away the Collar.

The inquiry into the cause of the
death of Robert McFadden by the cor
oner's jury has progressed far enough
to warrant the assertion that the direct
cause of the accident in the Berkely
shaft Tuesday morning viii Re
known. There were but foul men IN
the bottom of the shaft when the ex-
plosion occurred and one OF them is
dead M the others are badly crippled.
but will in all probability recover. They
do not know what caused the missed
hole" to explode and 1t is reasonable
to presume that the men who were
working in the shaft house and in diff
ferent parts of the mine know no more
about 1t. The most popular theory Of
the is that expressed by Super
intendent Kane. He thinks that one
or more of the several blasts tore away
the collar" or ground just above the
charge of powder. carrying with II the
fuse, a and primer. 1t is customary
with miners to insert the capped fuse
into a primer, which is a piece of giant
powder. The end of the stick of powder
Is u~nwrapped. the cap and fuse insert
ed into the powder; the wrapper Is then
bound around the fuse with a string.
This Is done to prevent the fuse from
becoming detached from the powder In
the tamping down of the charge. in
the Berkely shaft two, two and q half.
n sometimes three sticks are used.
II is the theory that when the collar of
the hole was torn way the fuse and
primer were taken with 1t, thus leaving
a couple of sticks of giant in the ground
intact. The primer exploded in turn
with the other blasts, which accounted
for the full number OF shots counted.
How the exploded charge ignited Is the
question. The injured men say that Nc
Fadden was picking when the
explosion occurred. The pick
was found near him after
the shot with a point broken off.
1t is not improbable that he struck the
pick against a fiinty rock. causing a
spark to ignite the powder. Giant pow
der does not always explode when COM
ing in contact with a flame, but the
spark and concussion in this instance
may have caused the explosion of the
undisturbed giant. The men on the
night shift are positive that they count
ed IL shots. the number fired.
The jury is composed of James War
field, Samuel Dryden, T.. J. Carroll,
Anthony Toy. Ben Degenhart and
Charles Ray, and testimony was taken
before Acting Coroner Laurandeau. as
follows. after which the inquest vas
CoUllnueu until 4 -. m. to-day.
Edward J. Finnegan helped to take
the injured men to the surface. He
heard the danger signal. The men when
they blast go to the 400 foot sta
tion, and at hat distance reports can
plainly be heard. Usually each shift
clears away its debris. The men work
single handed. If Stromberg had not
been injured early in the morning. he
was of the opinion the night shift
would In va hAan thn -.
but they had all but five buckets clear
ed out when they went OFF. but the ac-
cident to Stromberg delayed the work
of clearing. Witness was of the opin-
ion that n of the shots cut the fuse
of the missed hole. The fatal shot
broke about II buckets of rock, he be-
.ieved.
William f. Kane. superintendent of
the mine. knew nothing aside from
what he had heard the men say. His
opinion was that the other blasts had
torn away the ground, cutting off the
fuse and primer. and hat later the
charge was ignited. Some charges
break more ground h others. and
1t is impossible to say just what a
charge will do.
DR.. Murray of the Murray & Freund
hospital attended the man before he
died. The mans body was lacerated
badly n he was internally injured.
1t will be some time before any of the
other injured men can attend an in
quest, but they may be able to talk in
diligently about the accident inside OF
a few days. in case their dispositions
should be required.
Joseph Vogler, top man at the
Berkely. said that the shaft men went
down as usual in the morning. After
two buckets a been hoisted he heard
a report. and as the men were sending
up dirt, he did not think the blast was
In the shaft. Then he heard the sig
nal bell ring Unfortunately. Later
nine distinct bells were rung That
was the danger signal. and men at once
went below and sent the injured men
to the surface. ms at a time. and they
were taken to the hospital. He did not
know how the accident occurred
Eleven buckets OF dirt was hoisted
after the accident.
william Talbot. carman at the mine
did not hear the report of the blast
as lie was 200 feet away from the shaft
on the 40-foot level. running a car. H,
knew nothing about the accident mol
had any theory as to the cause of IL
He was among the first to go to ths
bottom of the shaft. There they saw
Morgan standing by the bell rope. H
was the man who rams the signals
McFadden was sitting In the northeas
corner of the shaft. Henderson sitting
near him and Kelly opposite.
John c. Ross, timberman at the mine
heard the report Of the blast. He wal
on the surface at work. He did no
understand the noise. knowing that tn
men were sending up dirt and no
blasting. He told the same story al
related by other witnesses.