Amador ledger., 1907-12-06

Osborne that they had so rung, but
before he could do so he had bells to
lower. The skip had gone only a
little lower when he had bells to stop
and raise, which he started to do,
but this was quickly countermanded,
and he started to lower again. AL
most Immediately he had orders to
hoist, which he did. Before the skip
got to the top Osborne yelled for
them to hurry up that he was
suffocating. From his story, after
he had passed the seventh level,
the men below him rang him up,
thinking that another load of men
were coming down, and would meet
the same fate. But he treasured them
that there was only one aboard. SO
started down, but they warned him
away, and rang him up again. BY
this time he had begun to feel the
effects of the gases, and knowing that
nobody could live many minutes in
such atmosphere, went to the top.
As it was he was nearer dead than
alive and a few more bIeaths of the
same air would have surely killed
him. By this time the draft had
changed little, but when the skip
reached the top it drew the smoke
with it. coming out in great volume
for hours.
1t was nearly seven before manager
Goodall would consent to the men
bulkheading the2sshaft of the Fremont,
and the two connecting levels in the
Cover. In this way the mine twas
made completely air tight. All hopes
for the escape of any of the men had
been given up by this time, so when
the two Italians came out through
the Cover after three O'Clock it was
great surprise to everyone. At
midnight the fire was still raging, so
the water from the ditch just above
the mine was sluiced to the shaft
and allowed to pour into the mine.
When the two drifts we're bulk
headed small opening was left and
only piece OF box wood placed over
it. Candles, matches, and axes we're
put there so that if any of the men
should get that far they could break
their way through. But they we're
not disturbed.
Sunday afternoon the bulkhead was
removed from the top of the Fremont
shaft and a lantern and candles
lowered into the shaft. They did not
go out after running down about
three hundred feet, so four men, in
Guiding manager GoodalI, who always
went first and did not put his men
into any danger that he would not
encounter himself, were lowered, but
when they got little below 300, the
smoke was hanging in a dense
cloud, so that they had to come to
the top again. A great amount of air
had entered with the water, and the
smoke forced down. Monday morn
ing early they tried the same thing,
but could only go down about two
hundred feet. so they tried again
later, but this time could only get a
little over hundred feet.
All day Sunday they had been going
up and down the Cover shaft, without
noticing any odor of the fire. So
Monday afternoon Goodall, Osborne
and three others went down as far as
the eight hundred foot level, when
the engineer received the signal tc
hoist. When the skip reached the
top Goodall and one of the others
we're found lying in the bottom OF
the skip iD- an unconscious condition,
while the other men were so badly
gone that they all tainted as soon as
they got to the fresh air. They did
not remain unconscious very long,
but it took an hour and a half tc
restore Goodall to consciousness. A
physician was called in Immediately.
A few seconds longer and all five OF
the men would have died for want
of fresh air. As it was Osborne could
hardly pull the rope to ring the bell.
Compressed air was then turned into
the Cover shaft to clear the mine OF
the foul gases.
Tuesday the fire ins the Fremont
started up again so the water was
again turned into the shaft, while
the air has been forced into the Cover
steadily in the hope that if any of
the men should be alive this will
supply them with air. Since Satur-
day the bells have been ringing from
time to time, supposedly caused by