The Pioche record. [volume] (Pioche, Nev.) 1908-1925, 1909-11-20

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csszD shns unx sse tnrsg .xrasu save
ne mzsn esali dep,ast A solid con-
crete wall mnss s,s tdsneti e8eaa Gx sHe
nAaas
Tnse vaa IN bs p1sx exst.siy 90 tne
cams lines ss the GfeEt0es wab thae
suasds dvei,insfcr snrssafsea. tbs
Gter.
Only IN slkSs eose waz pYasSntcd the
enormously sfifllsuit project OF sinking
such wal, lSy fest deep into tho
earth II lad " be- twelve feet thick
to make sure that no fame could get
through II. aud 10 order 70 make
hong 'e0ough contact 10 the flames.
somethfng that ther could not work
around. II was necessary "a have 1850
feet Of II. or nearly cne-fiftt Of mile.
In some places It was found that ITO
feet Of depth was not enough. and the
wall had to be carried down to depth
Of PAT feet.
The building Of this wall was = -
rojt task .eifis were SINK. ard then
.nF ont ws walled up on all sides with
saheat.
IRE IRE Vac only 400 feet away
N hei tie worg started. The engineers
recognized that this was too close for
safety. but they Ind no choice. for u
the wall tad been built amy farther
away Ii would not have cut on the
main body of the coal basin and hence
would have been useless as u barrier.
Therefore al the risks bud TO b
borne. AZ soon as the FIRST shafts were
es,nk they created draft that carried
sisa fire literally roaring toward the
irrler line.
Fire Fighters Overcome.
/ The ground was so shattered that It
4 seemed almost like cutting through
/ qucksand. The rocks through which
i the men had to cut became so hot that
u miner could not touch them with his
bare hands. An insidious gas came
through the cracks In the rock. and Il
tiIled all the shafts Lights would not
burn In 1t, and men who were subject
ed to It's fumes quickly collapsed.
When this fire damp first began its
+, work II created panic. and volunteers
could not he induced to so down into
/ the shafts. Undefeated. President La
throp Immediately installed powerful
ventilating machinery. and field hos
pital on the ground was equipped with
the most powerful restoratives.
Il Thirty minutes at time was all
that man could stand in the shaft
and so every half hour the force al
work had to be changed, and even
with this precaution there were fire.
quent cases OF. prostration. But 80 well
did the hospital force work that not .
single death occurred In the midst Of
me aeuxsre uy5tsasAusa
r The work oftexcavation idppractical
~ completed. The line Of SHAFTS ant
the open cut have been filed up witt
! freproof material. The alternating
shafts have been sunk and filed up
|, There IL a freproof wall 700 feet long
IL feet thick. running from the top y
the hill where the coal outcrops Il
the last shaft. which at depth Of III
. feet reaches the permanent water level
> From this shaft W the boundary o
9 the coal seam. 247 feet below he sur
!. face. tunnel Is being driven III!
: will cut the lower coal seam in tw,
+ leaving not Il scrap Of combustible Ia
q teriai.
When the tunnel Is cut through
will be wnlled up With cement nm
. filled with mud. This will make til
|. fre wall 1860 feet over It's total length
2 700 Of which goes to the surface {
the ground and Is IN some places II
feet from It's top base under ground.
Q The cost Of the, work IL estimate
y ut $25O.OO0. but II 1t does Its worl
,. and there are no misgivings on tn
q point. 1t will save four hundred mi
= lion ton coal Oiled Geld and extinguis
70 fire that has burned for dfty yea
10 the recesses Of the earth.