Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1922-09-19
47 MEN TRAPPED
IN CALIFORNIA
MINE AUGUST 4
Rescue Crews Have Work
ed lndefatigab|y to Reach
Their Comrades: Solid
Rock Had to Be Pierced.

Jackson, Calf, Sept. 1S.-The
men imprisoned in the Argonaut
mine, who were on the night shift,
went down to work the evening of
Sunday, August 27. Shortly after
midnight, the hour when lunch is
eaten down in the mine, one of the
miners reported smelling smoke
and Clarence Bradshaw, the night
shift boss, started up the incline
shaft with two men in a skip to dis
cover its location.
At about the 5000 foot level they
encountered dense smoke and in
tense heat, but they decided to take
a chance and go ahead through it,
reaching the surface in safety, al
though Bradshaw was temporarily
overcome by the smoke.
Rescue Crew Formed.
A rescue crew was at once formed
to bring the men out in skips, but
the heat had increased so much
that it was impossible to get below
the $500 foot level. Water was
pumped down through an eight
inch pipe and skips filled with
water lowered to the $500 foot
level and dumped, but these and
other efforts to stop the fire and
penetrate the barrier failed. Tele-
phone wires were burned, making 1t
impossible to communicate with
the men below.
To prevent the flames spreading,
the main Argonauf shaft and an
air shaft called the Nuldoon, which
goes down straight f.r 500 feet and
then continues in tine form of Off
set shafts until it connects with the
lower Argonaut levels, were bulk
headed. The Muldoun shaft had q
safety ladder in it, but cgress by
this route would have taken hours
under ordinary circumstances ana
with the air filled with gas it could
not be used.
Constant Tests Made.
Constant tests were made to as
certain if the gas had diminished
or the flames ceased, but the en-
perts were not able to penetrate
the smoke barrier. After ten days
the fire apparently died down to
some extent.
The United States bureau OF
mines office in Berkeley was mott
fled Immediately and government
and state mining experts arrived
with rescue apparatus during the
day of August 2S. They Joined with
mine officials in forming an Off
cial rescue committee and it was
decided TO cut through to the Argo-
naut from the adjoining Kennedy
mine by means of two abandoned
tunnels, which were closed up in a
fire in the Argonaut two years ago.
These constituted extensions of the
$500 and 5000 foot levels of the
Kennedy.
A crew from the Argonaut force
was put to work in the $500 foot
level and one from the Kennedy IN
the $500 foot level. Their progress
at times was fairly rapid, at others
handicapped by loose and sticky
muck. The most serious setback
was a mass of hard green stone in
the $500 foot level which had TO
be passed by making a detour Of
100 feet, which took several days.
Miners coming off shift on Sept.
4 reported tina. they heard sig
nails which they were certain must
have come from the entombed
men and the town was tempo
rarily wild with excitement. EX-
perts of the California industrial
accident commission later an
nounced that no signals ever had
come from the imprisoned men
and said the supposed communi-
cations must have been the prod
ucts of nerve strain and imagina-
tion.
Vice President A. E. Stent of the
Argonaut Mining company, an
nounced on Sept. 1 that no
and other officials were convinced
all the men were dead but two
days later DIR. L. III. Duschak or
the industrial commission declar-
ed that chemical tests revealed no
signs of dead bodies in the mine.
This was followed by a statement
signed by the entire rescue COM
mittee announcing its belief that
all the men were alive. The Ar
gonaut Mining company at the
same time offered $4,000 reward
Continued ON Pnye Two.