The herald-advance. (Milbank, S.D.) 1890-1922, 1907-06-14
State News of Interest
GREAT NINE FIRE OUT At LAST,
Mine Has Been Ablaze for
Two Months.

ToFneotake Mine HaS seen Aoiaze fof
Two Months.
One OF the greatest fires that eve
occurred In a gold mine in this coUn
try has just been overcome by the
Homestake Mining company at Lead
For over two months the company
struggled with this fire, and 1t was no.;
nntil it had burned for thirty days
chat 1t was found necessary to turn
into the mine all the available water
and to food the scores Of miles OF un
derground workings. The most re
markable feature in connection with
this event is that although for days
men were carried out of the mine ur
conscious from the effects Of the q"
ly gas, though cave-ins occurred
redhot rock was mined from tu>
slopes in the hope Of getting at TIE
Are, though the shafts are full oi
water and are hundreds Of feet deep
yet there has not been a single fatality
and the death Of two horses has been
the only loss Of life.
On the evening Of March Is. just af
ter the night shift went on duty. the
people we're startled by the ringing OF
the fire bell and in a few minutes tho
word had been carried through Lead,
Dead wood, and ever into the outside
camps that the Homestake mine was
on Are. The blaze started on the
ninth floor Of the 600-foot level. and
consequently was very near the 500
foot level. 1t was supposed to have
tgnited from the blasting out OF soma
tore they went OF duty.
From the very beginning the fa,a0
were beyond control. The great
ticulty was caused by the formin5
the deadly carbon dioxide gas, whicn
made it impossible for the men to ap
proach near the fire and which over
came them by the dozens, SO that they
or raving In delirium.
Fire helmets were secured and with
the help Of these the little army OF
workers pushed somewhat neare the
blaze. Brattices were built and follow
ing along one side with compressed
air and water the fighters made an
other attack upon the blaze. Steam
was turned In, water was sent down
through tho open cut with the hope
that 1t might reach the infected spot,
tunnels were ~reopened and entrance
to the burning slopes sought in this
way. All was useless.
On the morning of April 2, after Q
night Of great danger. Supt. Grier or,
dered all men out of the mine AM ~"
fight was continued for a
through upper tunnels by means o.
small streams Of water through the
open cut, underneath which the fire
was supposed to be located, and by
repeated efforts IN the part OF the fire
brigade to reach the blaze by the help
OF their helmets and the brattices.
On April % the order to food went
forth, the last resort, and everything.
even the few mills which were still
operating, were closed. The work
ings Of the mine are 1850 feet deep
and there are over 100 miles Of under.
ground channels. The natural flow
OF water into the mine filled 1t to the
1,100-foot level. and from there up, the
work of filling was accomplished 10
an Unexpectedly short time.
The space to be filled amounted to
68. 1893 ,621 cubic feet and required So.
OOO, 900 gallons Of water. In order tc
effect this flooding, water was turned
in through the Ellison shaft, the open
cut. and even the old Lincoln shaft
was opened up for this purpose. Bv
means Of a hume water was brought
In through a tunnel 1T the north end,
and a great part Of the W~hitewood
creek vas turned in through the Saw.
age tunnel by a flume 5000 feet long
20 inches wide and 80 inches deep.
This gave q volume Of water equal
TO about $500 gallons a minute, and
this, in addition to the water the mira
makes and the additional supply
caused by heavy rains and SHOWS
brought the flood to the highest pos
sible point, about 80 feet on the 300
foot level by the 10Th of May, only
thirty-seven days from tho commence
nent When this was accomplished
there vas no question that the dre
was out.
It 10 impossible at this date to est
mate the actual loss to the COMPANY.
The greatest item. Of course. comes IN
the loss Of product, which can be
reckoned very fairly. From April 8 to
April az. only 600 out OF the 1000
stamps dropping and from April 22 to
May 30 there was no output whatever.
The average monthly bullion output Of
this company IL about $440, 000, and
hence the bullion loss for this time ap
proximates $943. 100. There must be
taken into consideration also. the fact |
that when tho mills began work on
May 20, only 40 stamps were drop |
p4ng out OF the 1000. This means that
the monthly product will be dimin.
ished by over one-half while this con.
tinues. and how long that will be it ID
impossible to say. The loss in bull |
ion may. however, be placed very con-