The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1908-11-23
BINGHAM MINE
DISASTER FULL
Of SAD DETAIL
Death Came Upon Heroic Res
CuerS Without Fighting
Chance for Lives.
INVESTIGATION TO BE
MADE BY THE COMPANY
AWAIT ADVlCES FROM RELA-
TIVES OF VICTIMS REGARD
ING DISPOSITION OF BODIES.

The universal mourning which shroud-
ed Bingham Saturday night after the
mine accident in the Utah Copper com
pany's workings, in which four men lost
their lives, spread TO Salt Lake and was
accentuated yesterday when the body of
Francis Kent Smith. the heroic assistant
superintendent of the company, was
brought to this city The bodies of Hugh
Burns. George Wilson and Dominic Spla-
dere, the other victims, are still at Bing-
ham. awaiting advice from relatives re-
gardng their disposition.
Owing to the fact that a number Of the
men who can best relate the incidents or
Saturday evening were still suffering yes
terday from the effects OF their suffoca-
ton incurred during the rescue work, no
attempt was made by the company IN
begin an official lnVestiga ton, Dut II IS
expected that this will be done today.
From what was further learned yester-
day, however, the facts of the tragedy are
substantially related in yesterdays
Herald.
Must Be Investigated.
In an interview with Herald reporter
last night. r. c. Gemmell. general super
intendent of the company. said:
b, Until we have completed an official
investigation there are several things
about the accident that we cannot under
stand. One is why any Of the workers
should have been down on Level six. You
understand, these levels are all old work
ings. our present operations consisting OF
surface working. We work from the in
terror only TO blast so as to loosen the
surface for the steam shovel. Last We'd
nesday two men working on sub six in
this blasting were overcome by gas and
had TO be taken out. and fortunately they
recovered without any Ill effects IL was
discovered then that owing to the clos
ing of the entrance 10 six gas had accu-
mulated there. and both Foreman Shil-
ling and his assistant, Mr.. Smith. gave
positive instructions that no man should
be permitted down there until an OPEN
ing was made and the gas cleared For
that reason we cannot understand why
anyone should have been down there.
Sub seven was all right and the men We're
working there.
Facts as Understood.
far7 is mat Dominic SpiaderO- was known
to have been working with two other
men. When the night shift came on 10
work in seven they discovered the dead
body of Spiadero lying about half way
down the ladder on the raise between six
and seven. From this it was presumed
that his two companions were down@On
six. and Assistant Foreman Smith was
sent for. When he arrived on the ground
four men volunteered to assist him in the
rescue of the men presumed to be below.
Smith with Burns and Wilson were low
cred into six by means Of a windlass OPP
Grated by the other two men. After an
hour or so had passed. alarm began to be
felt among the other workers at the nom
appearance of the party and some went
to the windlass, where they found the two
men overcome and unconscious from the
fumes arising from the level below.
Immediately at least fifty men vOlun-
teered TO descend to recover the bodies
Continued on Page 2.