The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1900-06-03

pany that they put a watering system
in all the Winter Quarters mines. SO
tnat every place can be sprinkled. This
the company mas done, and No. / mine
has started to work under the new
rules which have recommended. This
VIII make the work safer, as the
sprinkling lays the dust, and there
VIII be a great deal less quantity Of
powder in the mine
Il have submitted SAMPLES of coal
and dust taken from these mines for
analysis, but have not received the re-
turns. l VIII, however, submit the re-
turns later"
Supposition Of Probabilities.
In Inspector Thomas report refer
ence is made to the statements of As
sistant Mine Superintendent Williams.
under date of May IS, as follows:
The cause and origin Of the explO-
sion are not yet definitely known. In
vestigation is still pending. The fact
that the mine foreman and most Of
the men who were in No. mine at the
time OF the explosion were killed. makes
1t difficult to get exact evidence. No
explosive gas is known TO have been
seen in any of the Winter Quarter
mines either before or since the ex-
plOsiOn. The methods Of mining at the
time of the explosion were the same as
have been in practice for the past
twenty years in Winter Quarters Nos.
1, 2, 3 and 4 mines, which are all on the
same vein of coal
Investigation thus far leads to the
suppOsition that the explosion prob
ably originated from an accidental dis
charge Of black powder, and was aug
mented by coal dust. The explosion
seems to have spread from the upper
part of No. 4 mine entirely through
that mine and through into the rise en-
tries of No. I mine the after-damp ex-
tending some distance beyond the force
of the explosion. Many Of the deaths
in No. / resulted from this after-damp.
From the lower levels in No. 1 mine
about 1OS workmen escaped Uninjured."
Results of Examinations.
Supplemental to the state inspectors
report is a lengthy typewriter re-
Cital of the examination of the dam
aged coal mine by inspector Thomas,
Mine Superintendent Thomas J. Parm-
ley, Assistant Superintendent Williams
and Robert Forester and George W.
Snow, expert mining engineers. The
supplemental report of the examination.
made Of the mine details the condition
in which every part of the mine was
found after the explosion. Every room
and opening was explored and the eff
fects of exclusion and fire noted
At several designated places it was
found that the flame produced by the
burning coal dust, ignited by the ex-
plOsiOn of powder in the first instance,
had exploded kegs of powder in rooms
long distances from the originating
point. in such places and along the
path of the fatal flame and heat. ac-
companied by terrific force, had cOked
the coal, Charred the timber props or
stewed the latent sap to the surfaces
and had caused a mighty overturning
and wTecking of things movable and
the caVing of unsupported ground
In the rises, crOsscuts and levels OF
the main and back entries the ex-
amineTs found, invariably undisputed
evidences of explosive forces having
been at work. with occasional demon
stratiOns of flame and excessive heat,
but as a rule the kegs of powder stored
in the rooms not connected directly
with the main entry were not exploded,
although they had been touched by the
heat and flame.
Giant Powder Found.
All along it was believed that fifty
six sticks of giant powder had also ex-
plOded, but Inspector Thomas yester-
day received a telegram from Scofield
saying the dynamite sticks had been
found thus upsetting the theory that
the giant had contributed to the awful
force of the explosion.