The Miller press. [volume] (Miller, S.D.) 190?-current, 1907-05-02
GREATHOMESTAKE
MINE FLOODED
Mammoth Industry Paralized for
Months

LSdu, ApTu ~. he CITY VI Lcdu,
once the noisiest town of its size in
the world, is now the quietest. The
immense stamp mills of the Home
stake Mining company which have
been grinding and pounding away
for the past thirty years are silent.
No more the noise of mills surprises
the stranger with its steady, unre-
hitting roar, for the great works
are closed, and not stamp is drop
ping on Homestake ore. The final
shut down came last Monday morn
ing when, as it was decided to flood
the mine, it became necessary to
close all the mills in order that all
the water might be used. The mine
is on fire, Worse than that, it is fill
ed to its lowest level, fifteen hundred
and fifty feet with deadly carbonic
acid gas, which, like a thief in the
night suddenly appears in the most
unexpected places, bringing destruc-
ton in its wake.
On the night Of March 25 the news
suddenly spread from man to man
from town to town that the Home
stake was on fire. What this meant
to the people in this country, it is
hard for outsiders to realize. The
Homestake is the largest gold mine
in the world. In its thirty years of
existence it has, including the COM
panies which it has absorbed, paid
out in dividends yer $25, GOO, 900. 1t
operates on the largest scale of any
gold mine in the world: it treats ore
from the largest known deposit Of
gold ore in the world; a deposit so
famous that men come from all over
the world to look at the Homestake
lode. Never in all these years has
the company missed dividend.
Never has it known a strike. It's
shafts extend to depth of fifteen
hundred and fifty feet, and its under
ground workings would total about
one hundred and fifty miles. There
is veritable city under ground;
city under the city of Lead. This
underground town was lihgted by
electricity; it is peopled day and
night by hundreds Of busy men; it
housed several blacksmith shops:
powder magazines; it boosted lines
of railroad, dozens of cars, and com-
pressed air motors that furnished
power; horses and mules hauled the
cars in the byways, and these animals
lived below ground in the stables
furnished their for them; timber
enough to build the towns of Lead
and Deadwood over again are in
these depths, and an ore supply that
will supply the mills for quarter of
century to come. With twenty
five hundred men in its employ, and
with the magnitude of its workings,
the company hesitated as long as
possible before deciding to use the
last resort flooding. The fire was
fought faithfully and by every other
means known to man, but all with
out avail, and it was finally decided
that the only way in which to subdue
the flames and to clear the mine of
gas was to flood it. Through the
Ellison shaft, through the old Lin
eoln, through the immense open cut,
quarter of mile across, the water
is already pouring into the cavernous
workings at the rate of 1900 cubic
feet a minute. 1t will be but few
days until water is coming in from
the north end and through the Saw
age tunnel in Whitewood gulch, and
then the flow will be increased to L.
500 cubic feet a minute. At this
rate it is estimated that it will take
forty. eight days to flood the work
ings. Up to the ten hundred foot
level the mine is full. Until the
water reaches the eight hundred it
will rise rapidly, but above that
point the rise will be slow. Practic-
ally all of the twenty five hundred
employees have been laid off, and
every thing is suspended awaiting
the flooding of the mine. How
much of an expense this will mean
to the company cannot be estimated,
but it will run well up into the humid
reds of thousands of dollars.