Great Falls tribune., 1922-04-23

vast pattern of tunneling and Slopes
has been filled from the 1000 to the
1.3OO-foot level. \ similar labyrinthine
area, extending from the 800 to the
1.3OO-foot level has yet to be choked
j with slime. The big sludge pipes from
the surface are pouring in the heavy
thick fluid at the rate of 1000 tons
day. and the work will be completed.
according to the engineers, by the end
of the year.
The colossal proportions of the Job
may be indicated Imagine structure
(! OF rock and metal four times the
/ length and breadth of the Woolworth
! so far beneath the hills of Butte that
| the peaked roof of its tower is 600
| feet below the surface. Imagine that
/ structure filled with smouldering fire
and heating to terrific temperatures a
wide radius of the embedding rock,
| while great volumes of gases given off
! by It's series of superimposed furnaces
! permeate and poison many of the un-
derground avenues and alleys. so that
the miners in regions far removed from
| the actual fire have had to wall off
their workings with buikheads and bar
riers of cement as a measure of pro
lection.
10 carry the scenario further
imagine crews of men. who frequently
find the need of oxygen breathing ma
chlnes urgent, working night and day
IN the subterranean passages, setting
up huge fans to keep back gases.
establishing or re-establishing pipe
lines, or driving with diamond drills.
through highly heated rock. holes
through which the sludge may find it's
way to the fire. Imagine this and a
fair idea of the conditions and situation
below the surface as it was at the out
set OF the struggle may be had
Fire Began In 1906
But to complete the picture. it is
necessary to bring in the surface crew,
the men who day and night, summer
and winter. whether the weather be
baimy or the thermometer register 50
or 40 degrees below zero, keep the
sludge going into the buried fire coun-
try. They sluice out the slime of the
tailings pond and patrol the flume,
three quarters of mile long, through
which the sludge is carried to the point
from which il starts its descent in a
series of 2oO-foot drops to distrb-
utlng station 200 feet from the sur
't'''. Aii'N tDf ptIHtnS, ana WHfrn
the hydrochronograpb-an instrument
which measures the quantity of solids
the flowing liquid contains-to see that
the proper proportion of solids and
water IS maintained throughout every
hour OF the twenty four
lhe fire. now almost on the verge
OF complete extinguishment. began in
lFVo IN an Anaconda property known
as the Minnie IIealy mine. Fires in
metailiferouS mines are attributed to
three causes defective electrical
equipment. incendarism, with which is
linked carelessness. and spontaneous
combustion. Mr.. Rahilly. who served
as an engineer in most of the big min
ing districts in North and South Amer
lea before coming to Butte. attributes
most underground fire outbreaks to
the. latter. though highly charged wires
stripped Of insulation by the chemical
acton of mine water. are often re-
sponsible. Heat generated by ground |
movement. the oxidation of broken sui
tide, ore. or decomposition Of other min |
erai combinations frequently is suffi- |
clent, he says, to ignite Membustible |
materials such as timber rope and |
canvas left in abandoned workings The |
Minnie Healy fire is supposed to have |
started in this way on the 1.1OO-foot |
level
Measures at once were taken TO block
the fire. It was walled off with con-
crete bulkheads, and work resumed on
IA level 100 feet beneath But in the
course of the subsequent mining Oper- i
atoms. the floor beneath the fire, al
though 100 feet thick. became cracked,
md the fire passed through. eating it's
way gradually upward and downward. !
ity 1917. the year the hydraulic, or
'lndglng. process of extinguishment was
naugurated. it had invaded the neigh
boring Tramway, Leonard and West
oluSa mines.
1t became necessary to wall off i'm
nediately parts Of all three of these
nnes. from the 300 to the 1000
DOT levels and to seal the raises Of the {
.20o-foot level. The fire area then
comprised block extending 1000 feet
1orth and south. 200 feet east and I
vest and 1,GOO feet vertically Timber
md the sulphur contents Of broken ore
md stope filling rendered the passage
# the fire from level to level com
easy and expeditions.
AT the same time the temperatures
# rock formations relatively far re- i
moved from the fire zone rose rapidly.
temperatures as high as 2S7 degrees. ,
2 degrees above the boiling point, !
'ave been recorded by the fire fighters
n new openings driven toward the
Slopes.
Beginning the Work I
1t was then decided that the adop- ,
ION Of some other process was i'm 8
erative. G. l.. Berrien, now general |
superintendent of mines, but at that S
ime an assistant, borrowed the idea 4
mployed in the Pennsylvania coal mine ]
n that case the solid material used I