Great Falls tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1921-current, 1922-08-29
RESCUE CREWS
UNABLE To AID
ENTOMb[D MEN
"a Trapped in Mine Far
Below Surface; ~
Married.

Jackson, Cal, Aug. 28.-Mine rescue
crews worked Monday without avail at
the Argonaut coal mine, in which 4S
men were entombed at Sunday midnight
by fire. The men were thought to
be between the 4,5O0 and 4,80O foot
levels, while the main body of the fire
was more than 1000 feet above them.
Employees of the mine were sent into
the Kennedy mine, which connects with
the Argonaut mine at the tunnel which
is closed by concrete bulkhead, with
instructions to break down the bulk
head and enter the Argonaut 1t had
been reported that the Kennedy tunnel
had collapsed but the report was mot
verified. Early Monday the Argonaut
succeeded il restoring the cut off air
supply to the $500 foot level and eff
forts were continued to extend the air
supply.
Soft Dirt Is Menace
The Argonaut recently was drained
of flood waters that were poured into
the mine when it was on fire and the
state industrial accident commission
announced that tthe soft dirt in the
mine was nearly as great menace to
the fire fighters and rescuers as the
fire itself, if the fire burns the timbers
in the mine.
The Argonaut mine, one of the ia
nous gold producers in California, was
opened % years ago. 1t is controlled
by New York men and is a short dis
tance from Martell, in Amador county.
The Kennedy mine adjoining was
opened in the sixties and always has
been productive.
If the tunnel in the Kennedy has coli
lapsed, little If any hope is expressed
for the entombed men. During the day
pipes were put into the Argonaut to
carry water down to the burning tim
bers. Before that water had been sent
down in skips.
AZ OF Men Married
Forty-two of the entombed men are
said to be married Most of them live
in this region. One of them, George
Steinman, has four children.
The fire has already developed one
hero, Clarence Bradshaw, shift boss.
Bradshaw, in signalling for the shift
to quit work shortly after midnight,
found that the signals would not work
after two of the miners had been sum
moned. A few moments later the shaft
filled with smoke and Bradshaw knew
that the signal wires had burned out
and communication with the remainder
of the shift was cut off.
Bradshaw quickly hustled the two
men into the skip and all three were
hauled to the top. Then Bradshaw
re-entered the skip with an assistant
and tried to plunge through the fire
filled shaft to where ne believed the
remainder of the shift was located.
He was overcome by gas at the $500
foot level and was hauled to the sur
face unconscious. He was taken to
his home. where he was revived.
The names of few of the trapped
men were given out by the company
officials but the complete list is being
withheld. Most of the men are mar
ried. A rush of anxious relatives 10
the scene of the disaster necessitated
the roping off of the main SHAFT. Many
pitiful scenes are being enacted out
side the ropes. Women and children
with tear -dampened cheeks waiting
breathlessiy for the few scraps OF an
formation that are coming from the
foremeu of the rescue crews. Nearly
n mile underground gang of half
stripped, sweating men is tearing away
at fhe bulkhead like mad in the des-
nerate hope of reaching their entombed
fellow workers. before the stealthily
creeping flxmes and the deadly gases
do their work.