White Pine news. [volume] (East Ely, Nev.) 1920-1923, 1921-07-17
NEVADA STATE IN THE MAKING;
TAYLOR AND THE OLO-T|MERS


the second shot.
Believing that Wheatley must Ger
tainly have been killed, the writer at
once shouted down the shaft, Are
you alive. jack"
Yes, came the angry retort. but
for hiyins sake get me out of here
This shmoke is KILN me.
Pat Bonner and John Baird. who
happened to be near by. were attract
ed by our shouts and Immediately
went down Inc shaft and placed a
rope around Jack. who was promptly
hauled tn the surface. With the ex-
ception of sprained ankle and a
bruised spot on the fieshy part of the
back Jack was all right. but the ef-
feet of the conclusion injured his
hearing later on.
Hundreds of people AT the timo
wondered how the escape OF Wheat
ley vas possible. and yet. in way.
the explanation was simple. fer his
life was saved partly by good luck
and partly by quick thinking on the
rart OF the miner. II so happened
that the first shot was what is known
as litter directed from one side
at the bottom of the shaft The sec
ond shot was used to widen or
straighten the wall of the shaft. per-
haps three feet above the bottom.
Wheatley had presence of mind
enough 10 lie down in the side of the
shaft opposite the lifting blast and
almost directly under the second
shot. which would explode directly
outward. The first lifting shot sent
n shower of rocks into the air and
the second blast. immediately fol.
lowing. made eross-current which
broke the fall Of the rocks. While
the time between the two shots was
only a matter of seconds. Wheatley
said afterward that the time seemed
an eternity TO him, as n delay In the
second explosion meant to him the
difference between life and death
However. within a week he was up
and around. apparently none the
worse for his adventure.
Another accident, the second and
only one of importance in the his
tory OF the camp. occurred in the big
open chamber OF the Argus mine in
the fall OF 1856. Pat Duff and Char
lie Cameron were working together
Just starting a drift from the biz
chamber. While drilling out a
missed hole. Cameron acting as strik-
er while Duff held the drill. the drill
struck an unsuspected charge of dy-
Mantle and the resulting explosion
instantly killed Dun. who was lean
iDg over the hole. and blew out the
eyes OF Cameron. incidentally tearing
the soies from his nailed shoes. Parts
OF Dun : body were picked up for a
radius OF several hundred yards. SO
great was the force of the explosion
Strange as II may seem. none of the
other miners In the open chamber
was injured Dun was considered
one OF the most experienced and
careful miners in the district and
how he came to be drilling out an
unexploded hole has always remain.
cd mystery.
Taylor throughout its entire his.
tory was a quiet camp. The greatest
excitement in its history. in the mem.
ory OF the writer. was when Ed Wat
kins, fire-eating 1876 pounds of bone
and muscle. knocked big Doc Gibson
a 2f0-pounder. of the sidewalk in
1887. Eds ire was reused when
Doc called President Cleveland some
uncomplimentary names. The strange
part of the trouble was that Ed ives
a strongly partisan republican and i
delegate 10 the partys county con-
vention. while Doc Gibson, who
strongly criticised the then democrat
ic president. was himself a demo
orat and a delegate to that party's
county gathering
He may be a democrat. but at
least he's my president and entitled
10 respect. was the excuse of Wat
kins in explaining the cause of the
trouble.