The Elbert County tribune., 1899-03-16
MINERS ENTOMBED.
COLLAPSE OF A LEADvrLLE
SHAFT.
Charles Hruss and D<rt Frey Inprsso,s Cd
In the Bon A;r-usrotc Efforts 1feissx
Made 10 Rescus Them.

In the Bon A;r-usroir Enorts Isei..x
Made to Rcscus Them.
Denver, March 10.-A special dis
patch from LendvilIe to the Republican
says:
Charles Reuss and Bert Frey, miners,
are entombed Mt depth OF 400 feet In
the Bon Air mine. The men are alive
and unlnjnred, but II is doubtful II they
can be reached In time to save their
lives
No effort or expense h. being spared
In the attempt to reach the imprisoned
miners. but II is thought that II will
take at least four days. and probably
longer before the men can he released
The accident has caused great excite
ment here. for the reason that both men
are well known In Leadville.
Some 400 tons Of dirt caved in this
morning. about forty feet from the sur
face In the Bon Air shaft on the prop
erty of that name. being one OF the COM
bInatioD now being drained by the
Leadvilie Pumping Association.
The Bon Air mine was started up
with the other properties last October
and the big pumps were handling a
thousand gallons of water per minute.
Only few men were necessary to op-
crate the pumps. and when the mid
night shift went on last night only three
men were sent down 10 the lower sta
tion. where they were at work at a
depth OF 400 feet. These men were
Charles Reuss. Bert +. Frey and ii. NJ.
Shepherd. During the entire night
there were occasional punches OF dirt
and rock falling down the shaft, but not
much was thought OF II until about 3
o'clock this morning, shortly before the
men We're relieved from their shift.
when 1t seemed to grow in quantity and
fell more often. Word was signaled
down to the men to come up at once,
but even by that time the dirt and rock
were falling faster.
Mr.. shepherd. who was the head
pumpman in charge, crawled into the
bucket, and told the two other men to
follow. II was 100 feet from this sta
lion to the top. and Reuss and Frey de-
| clared that they would rather take their
chances nj the bottom than to go up the
shaft and he struck by falling rock.
Shepherd pulled the bell, and the next
instant he was going up the shaft. and
despite the fact that death stared him
in the fact. he stuck bravely to the
bucket until he reached the top. As he
shot up the shaft. falling dirt and rock
hailed about him. but he reached the
top comparatively safe. lie had been
struck nboui the head and shoulders,
but he was only slightly injured.
Barely had Shepard touched the
ground on top. when. with an awful
crash. the cnve-n occurred below him.
and from 400 to 800 tons of dirt plunged
into the shaft.
As quickly as possible sleds bearing
bales of hay aud straw were In opera-
finn Tho mi mud N -ltfp faa1
stores. The hay was put into the cavi-
ties from which the dirt had fallen In
order TO prevent further caving II pos
slble. The immensely OF the cnve-ln
can he Judged from the fact that 1t took
$50 large bales to fill up the holes.
The cavern occurred about forty feet
from the top of the shaft. and shows a
cavity on each side OF the shaft from
six TO eight feet wide. How much dirt
fell to the bottom of the shaft is not
known. but 1t IL believed that not more
than twenty-five or thirty tons OF dirt
went down. The remainder OF the
huge mass stuck in the shaft. where 1t
is held by falling timber and rock,
which has made n barrier hard to pene-
trate. There is hardly any danger Of
this ground going further down.
The imprisoned men were communi-
Gated with during the afternoon. but
they could barely be heard. and It is
supposed that they are still at the 400
foot level The men succeeded in COM
munIcating by talking up along the wat
er pipes. and were able to make them
selves understood. They wanted lights,
md an effort was made to send down
an electric wire through the water-pipe.
but 1t was impossible to get the light
down any distance The men do not
know how much dirt is above them, or
| in what way they are 10 he released.
although an effort was made to explain
| II to them.
Several times during the late part OF
the afternoon and this evening the
| pounding on the pipes from below was
heard and goes to show that the men
are all right as yet.
1t Is a question MS to how long II will
be before the men can be reached
Work was started at once this morning
through the Star drift. which connects
with the Bon Air at 400 feet. The Star
drift is 1880 feet long, and a great
| quantity of dirt has caved In at differ
ent places so there Is little hope of
henching the men In this way within
three or four days. If that early.
1t was also decided to sink n new
shaft, which was started from the sur
face distance of about fifteen feet
west OF the old shaft. Taking the sup
| position that the caved dirt has only
gone down II distance OF about thirty
feet, and knowing that the cave oc-
CURED a distance of forty feet from the
top of the shaft. the management be-
lieves that 1t will have to sink the new
shaft only about seventy or eighty feet
to he in a position TO connect with the
| old shaft and thus rescue the men.
| .
ing Association and Superintendent
Nim0n. who has direct Charge Of the
work, are having no trouble TO get all
the help that Is needed. and shifts are
being changed every three hours in or
der to push the work.