The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1909-11-15
OBEDIENCE TO ORDERS
PROBABLY FATAL

CHERRY. H.. Nov. l1,-lmpliclt
obedience by Engineer John Cowlcy 10
orders of his superior may have caused
the death of tho yeScuing party. which
went down into the st. Paul mine yes
tcrday afternoon.
At the coroner S inquest which be.
gan TODAY, CowlcY, who IS engineer OF
the main shaft. testified that he de-
cllncJ 10 scccde TO the demand of per
sons standing at the top of his shaft
that he at once lift the cage contain
ing the rcscuers. The reason be de,
cllncd he said, was because he had
been told by the third vein boss, Alex
ander Nosbcrg, 10 move the cage only
in answer TO the regular bell code
When the rescue party had been at
the bottom Of the shaft some time with
out getting in connection with the en-
ginccr by The usual means. Martin Pow
crs. DR. Howe and Herbert Lewis, the
latter brother of ono OF the rescue
party. rushed 10 Cowlcy, so the en9l-
ncer testified. They demanded that the
cage he raised Immediately.
Cowlcv refused for perhaps fen min
utes. Cowley said he would not lis
ten TO their frantic appeals, but finally
referred the matter 10 John Qulnby
of The TOP cage. Quinby besitated and
as Machinist John Chadestci entered,
| Cowley asked Chadcster what should be
done.
Nobody Alive Below,
.'Go ahead and raise il" answered
Chadester, according to Cowlcy s ties.
timopv, Hnobody is alive down there. y
! Cowley then brought the cage 10 the
TOP, but every one of tho men In the
rescue party was either dead or dying
when the top was reached.
Cowley defended himself on the
stand by saving he bad received Nos,
| = q, thn hn11 al
be1ore moving the cage, and that the
three men who demanded that the cage
be raised had no authority to tell him
According to CowIoy, he feared in
raising the cage he would risk lnlur'
ing some of the men below and that he
might leave them without means OF
escape should he lift the cage while
they were not in it.
Gowlev declared that, after the final
cage with men in it had been raised
the cage was let down and raised five
or six times. with the chance that some
of the miners might reach the shaft
lie testified that he lowered and raised
it slowly everv time.
Behind Boss S Orders.
One Of the Jurors asked why Cowiey
could not have raised tho cage slowly
when Powers, Howe and Lewis ap
pealed,
Nosbcrg's orders again were givcr
as an excuse.
Previous 10 the final raising Of the
cage bearing the rescue party, Cowlel
said the bell signals had been unusua
and disconcerting.
He received one signal of three bell:
TO ''hoist away followed almost i'm
mediatelv by q fourbell signal inca n
-. hoist slowly" At q height o
eight or nine feet the cage was stoppe'
at q oue-beIl signal and started up a
another. Then came sixbell sigma
"reverse the fam and then two bells
Clover
Cowley lowered the cage in answc
to the signal, the last ever sent from
the rescue party.
The jury adjourned after Cowiey
John Raisbeck, engineer IN the airshaf
and several relatives of the dead u
! the rescue party had testified IN
jury will meet again tomorrow. Nor
, testimony concerning Cowleys retusa
: to lift the cage will be heard.
The inquest is being conducted b
DR.. A. r. Malm of Princeton. the cor
oDer, and By L. NJ. Eckert of Prince
ton. the county states attorney. In