The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1904-01-26
FELL $500 FEET.
Fifteen Men Killed in Mine
Accident at Victor,
Cage Containing Them Fell
Down the Shaft.

Down the Shaft.
Victor, Colo, Jan. 26.-As a result of
an accident which occurred about 3
o clock this morning in the Stratton In
dependence mine, located near the CEN
ter of this city, IA men are dead and
one other severely injured. The list of
dead and injuIe ed is as follows:
DEAD.
w. r. FRAZER.
JOHN SEBECK.
JOE SMITHERUM.
EDWARD TWIGGEN.
L. A WAGNER.
H A YEOMAN.
EDWARD SMITH.
JOE OVERY.
H F. BROWN.
w. B. COLLINS.
J. L. STEWARD.
FRANK COCHRAN.
L. P. JACKSON.
HARRY COGENE.
c. c. STATEN.
INJURED.
James Bullock, body bruised and
scalp wounds
In the main shaft of the mine six
teen men were being hoisted in the
cage from the sixth, seventh and eighth
levels.
When the cage got to the surface in
reason unexplained was unable to stop
the engine and the cage with its load
of human freight was drawn up into
the gallow's frame, where it became
lodged temporarily. The strain on the
cable caused it to part, releasing the
cage which went down the SHAFT at ter
rifle momentum. Two of the occupants
of the cage however had become en-
| tangled with the timber rods near the
top of the gaIlow's frame and one OF
! T. p Jackson crushed 10
death by the sheave wheel falling upon
him The other, James Bullock, had a
| marvellous escape from death but re-
ceived painful injuries. he was res
cued from his perilous position by men
| in the shafthouSe. The shaft boss ana
a number of miners later went down
into the mine through another com
partment of the shaft and founc mat
all the IA men who started with the
cage on it's wild flight of 1,500 feet to
the bottom of the shaft were cead,
their bodies being scattered at the sta
tionS and different points Ine1r ttrHlS
and bodies were torn, their heads crush
ed and their clothing stripped II ON
| their bodies From the 700 foot level
/ to the bottom the shaft is spattered
! with blood, with here and there pieces
of flesh clinging to projections. Al the
| bottom of the shaft STANDS % feet OF
| water and into this the cage plunged
| Some of the men were carried into the
water with it.
Nearly all of the men killed leave
widows and children. Harry E. Goeg-
gin had a wife and three children, VINO
are in Michigan. w. B. Collins was a
( Baptist minister, and preached Sundays
at CSoldfeld. He was 3S years old and
came from Cornwall, England, few
months ago
I Manager Thomas Cornish was pros
1 trated by the news of the accident, and
is unable as yet to offer any explana-
tion of the affair.
A squad of military has taken charge
| of the property and citizens will not be
| allowed to enter the mine or shaft
house until after a thorough examina-
ton Of the machinery has been made
| by competent engineers.
Frank GelleSe, the engineer in charge
of the machinery when the accident
! occurred, surrendered himself to the
military and was locked up in the bull
pen. He would not express any opinion
! as to how the cage got beyond control.
Genese is a newcomer in the district,
but is said to have been strongly rec
commended as a competent engineer
| Most of the victims of the accident
were strangers in the district, having
come from the Occur D'Alene, the Lake
Superior mines and other districts to
take the places of strikers in Cripple
| Creol1
The bodies buried under the cage al
the bottom of the Sump have not yet
been recovered.
The accident is believed to have been
due to a defect in the hoisting engine
brake connections. which are controlled
by ai-.
The engine is a first motion double
reel. and the two cages work as coun-
terbalances. The cages each weigh
nearly two tons. In starting the cage
from the 500 foot level this morning
with the Is miners aboard steam was
, used. but after the cage had gone uI
a certain distance under steam pres
sure the steam was shut off by Ensi-
. neer Frank Gellese and the weight OF
the counterbalancing descending cage
, in the other shaft compartment was
! allowed to bring the load of miners
to the surface as is the custom.
When the cage with the 16 miners
. arrived at the surface in the shat
house, Engineer Gelse, to his horror
discovered that the air brakes woulC
not work.
Similar accidents, in which no lives
were lost, have occurred twice before
at the Independence with the same en-
, gine now in use there. Expert engi-
neers will be secured to examine the
engine and determine the actual cause
I if possible for its failure to do its
work.