Gilpin observer. (Central City, Colo.) 1897-1921, 1916-11-30
SMITH MILL COMPLETELY
DESTROYED BY FIRE

Fire completely destroyed the ten
stamp mill in Mountain City, owned
by w. S. Smith, Sunday morning. i
Smoke was discovered issuing from
the building at five o'clock by Mr..
Smith. who lives across the street.
He attempted to enter the building
and reach fire hose which, wcr'Td
have enabled him to extinguish the
five before any great damage was
done but the smoke was SO dense he
was forced to abandon his purpose.
He then sought to put the fire out
with water carried IN buckets from a
nearby hydrant, hut finding this pro-
cess slow, the hose ccrt at the Noun
tain City fire house was called into
commission. With TIE aid of Thorn
as Mitchell aud Thomas Atkinson,
the hose was connected to a plug
above t0,e mill, but this water Mne
Was found to be frozen and the lose
was then taken to plug below the
mill. Tire plug was so far removed
from the scene of the sire, the hose
would reach w;thin only 100 feet of
tire flames. Men We're sent to the
Central City fire house to fush the
hose cart to the conflagration, but
by the time this arrived the flames
had gained such headway, water was
OF no avail to save the structure.
Had the first plug connected with
been in working oder, the mill could
easily have been saved with loss
OF but a few dolls rs.
The fire originated from the SCOT
box OF the boiler. The boiler stood
very close to the side of the build
ing and the heat from the burning
SCOT evidently started the wood TO
burning. Af.er getting well started.
the fire burned f.ercely, with tine
aid of strong wind that developed
shortly after five O'Clock. The heat
from the flames caused the heavy
iron cam shafting of the stamps and
the main drive shafting to bend like
tin and even the massive castings
on the big crusher were warped out
OF shape. There was large supply
OF oil in the mill, which caused the
fire to spread rapidly. In one end
OF the building was stored ten pound
OF powder and 100 rounds OF .30-.30
cartridges. but these did not explode,
but merely burned. Had the powder
exploded, the citizens for blocks
around would have been awakened
from their early morning slumber.
The building and contents as they
appeared after the fire was finally
extingu.shed repr1 sent a complete
loss. About all that can be realized
from what remains is perhaps $4,000
for coal, $4,000 for ahe boiler aud
$4,000 or $4,000 fof the junk. There
WAS not a penny OF insurance ON
either the building or machinery and
MIR. Smith estimates his loss at $S,-
600, not taking into consideration
eight years of hard work. Through
tireless work and endless expert
mentation he had practically perfect
SU ule dmdISanatlOn ana cOncenITa-
ton method of handling The Gilpin
county ores and had realized his nm
bition Of having ore Of the best mills
in the district. Had the plant not
been destroyed by fire, he eventual
ly would have added the flotation
process.
Mr.. Smith has net fully decided as
to what he will do in the future, but
there Is likelihood of a new mill be-
ing built near the present site. He
may take over one OF the several
mills on Clear Creek, above Black
Hawk, and modernize II. or may en-
list financial aid to construct COM
piete new mill on a desirable site
that will be an innovation in the
treatment Of custom ores in the Gill
pin and Clear Cre:k district. Mr..
Smith has long enjoyed the reputa-